Flashes Go Bananas

Slide 01 – KJ

Flashes Go Bananas - We catch up with two alumni on the Banana Ball Tour

Slide 02 – Bananas Chaos

A man on stilts. A princess singing for her subjects during a tea party. A surprise appearance by internet sensation MrBeast.

And that’s not even including any of the baseball.

The Savannah Bananas are a baseball team focused on making baseball more fun and family friendly by including dances, skits and a full cast of characters — as well as participants from the crowd — all within two hours.

Slide 03 – Bananas 101

These are real baseball games, with four professional teams: the Savannah Bananas, the Party Animals, the Firefighters and the Texas Tailgaters. They were originally part of the Coastal Plain League, a summer collegiate league, but in 2022, they left the league to play Banana Ball year-round and have since become a cultural phenomenon.

Slide 4A – KJ backflip

The Savannah Bananas game feels like a fever dream as excitement thrums through the stadium. But then Kyle Jackson — known as KJ — is announced and does a backflip on the field, and the cheers get even louder.

Slide 04-B – Intro to KJ (Card)

Baseball trading card featuring Kyle Jackson of the Savannah Bananas. He’s mid-swing at the plate in a bright yellow uniform with blue trim and tattoos visible on both arms. The top reads “Flashes Forever,” his name “Kyle Jackson” appears in bold, and the bottom lists his position as “Third Base” with the Kent State and Savannah Bananas logos.

Reverse side of Kyle Jackson’s baseball card showing a smiling portrait of him wearing a Bananas cap and yellow jersey. Text on the card lists: Position: Utility Graduation Year: 2023 Major: Sports Psychology Minor: Theater Performance Interests: Baseball, modeling & acting Accolades: All-Star “Flashes Forever” and both team logos appear at the bottom.

Slide 05 – Set up KJ Student Support Quote

An infielder for the Kent State baseball team, he lived the student-athlete life while on campus. He managed the workload of being a student-athlete by sticking to a routine and leaning on university student support.

Slide 06 – KJ Student Support Quote

[I managed] by being in the right place, surrounding myself with the right people and being in the right environment. Kent State took care of its athletes. We got our schoolwork taken care of just as much as we did on the field.

Kyle Jackson, '23

Slide 07 Alternate

But he was also always interested in modeling or acting.

A back injury made him contemplate life without baseball.

It led him down a path toward the best of both worlds.

Slide 08 – Back Injury Video

Slide 09 – Coach Duncan

Kyle “KJ” Jackson of the Savannah Bananas stands smiling with Kent State baseball coach Jeff Duncan after a game, both posing on the field under stadium lights.

"He was a great player, very gifted. He had all the skill or the tools to be a professional. He was a joy to coach.”

Kent State Head Baseball Coach Jeff Duncan and his staff suggested the Bananas to Jackson when he brought up being interested in Hollywood in his senior meeting, after a back surgery. The staff knew the head coach of the Bananas and told him about KJ, who went to audition in Columbus.

“The rest of history," Duncan said. "They put them on the Visitors [team] immediately ... and then within the year, which is amazing - it doesn't happen like this - he was on the Bananas. And now he now he's one of the most popular Bananas.”

Slide 10A – KJ Teammates Quote

His college teammates are still important to him, and a big part of his success.

Slide 10B – KJ Teammates Quote

Yeah, all those guys, they're still my best friends. They are still the reason I am who I am. They supported me, they held me accountable, they did all the things that a good teammate should do and I'm very blessed to have had them in my corner throughout all those years.

Kyle Jackson, '23

Slide 11 – AJ Intro

Baseball trading card featuring AJ Scilla of the Savannah Bananas smiling on the field, pointing to a yellow softball he’s holding. He wears a yellow polo and a blue Kent State hat. The card header reads “Flashes Forever,” his name “AJ Scilla,” and the bottom text lists “People & Culture” with the Savannah Bananas and Kent State logos.

Reverse side of AJ Scilla’s baseball card showing him smiling in a dugout wearing a yellow Bananas shirt and blue Kent State cap. Text on the card lists: Position: People Operations World Tour Coordinator Graduation Year: 2024 Major: Public Relations Favorite Mascot: Flash “Flashes Forever” runs along the side, with both logos at the bottom.

Slide 12 – AJ as Flash and Student Support

Scilla worked on the athletics marketing team throughout his time at Kent State, and was most notably Flash from fall 2021 through December of 2024. He said his PR classes prepared him for a lot of the work he did with the marketing team and that his professors were always supportive of the work he had to put in as Flash.

“I was really proud of how I was able to perform throughout all of my classes in college. So it was a lot of balancing. A lot of late nights sometimes, but we always got it done at the end of the day,” Scilla said.

Slide 13A – AJ Snow Angels

Scilla’s favorite memory of his time as Flash came after the basketball team won the MAC championship in 2023 in Cleveland.

Slide 13B – AJ Snow Angels

Confetti is raining down from the ceiling and there were just some kids out on the court and I was in the bird suit doing my thing and there was a kid making snow angels in the confetti. So I went down and I made snow angel confetti with him, confetti snow angels, and that was one of my favorite moments. And it's also one of the moments that really showed me how much I can impact fans and everyone in a sports organization. So that was really, really meaningful for me.

AJ Scilla, '24

Slide 14 – AJ Intro to Bananas

The impact that a sports organization makes on people is something that has carried him to his time at the Savannah Bananas – in fact it’s how he got interested in working with them in the first place. In his Intro to PR class that he took with Michele Ewing, professor in the School of Media and Journalism, “[She] showed this baseball team in Savannah, Georgia, who did well on social media because they danced and did funny things,” Scilla said. From there, his passion grew for the team started to grow.

Slide 15 – AJ Attends first game

When the team played at the Akron RubberDucks stadium, Scilla couldn’t get tickets; it was sold out. He realized that paying to park in the lot across the street gave him a perfect view from the garage roof, so he watched the game from there.

“I went home and I spent about three hours writing down notes on my phone about the game and how we could incorporate some of those things at Kent,” Scilla said.

Slide 16 – AJ Video How He Got the Job

Slide 18 – AJ Quote about his role

After graduation, he was hired full time, helping to set up merchandise tents and oversee teams responsible for staffing tents across the city.

Within my role, I get to hire a lot of our local game day teammates. Normally they're local university students, local college athletes, that kind of thing. And as a student at Kent State, I would always love these experiences of working with other teams and other organizations. So now I actually get to offer that to thousands of people across the country.

AJ Scilla, '24

Slide 19 – Transition to how it’s about the p…

For Jackson and Scilla, their favorite parts of their jobs always come down to the people.

Slide 20 – AJ closing quote

Even after a weekend, people will be texting me and saying, 'That was the best work experience I've ever had.' To be able to make that lasting of an impact on people that we've worked with for less than three days sometimes is absolutely amazing and will always be one of the highlights of my job.

AJ Scilla, '24

Slide 21 - KJ Closing Quote

My favorite part about being a Banana, I would say it's really just the interactions that I'm able to have with the people and just the experiences I've had as a young 23-year-old straight out of college. Being able to travel, play to these sold-out crowds and just interact with the people and hopefully impact a couple people along the way.

Kyle Jackson, '23

FINAL SLIDE

Story by Jen Lennon and Deanna Stevens Ulrich
Interactive Design and Development by Paul McKinney
Photos by Rami Daud
Video by Mike Rich, Jon Jivan and Ashton Blake
Logo Design by Jason Zehner

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Catching up with two alumni on the Banana Ball Tour

Slide 01 – KJ

Slide 02 – Bananas Chaos

Slide 03 – Bananas 101

Slide 4A – KJ backflip

Slide 04-B – Intro to KJ (Card)

Slide 05 – Set up KJ Student Support Quote

Slide 06 – KJ Student Support Quote

Slide 07 Alternate

Slide 08 – Back Injury Video

Slide 09 – Coach Duncan

Slide 10A – KJ Teammates Quote

Slide 10B – KJ Teammates Quote

Slide 11 – AJ Intro

Slide 12 – AJ as Flash and Student Support

Slide 13A – AJ Snow Angels

Slide 13B – AJ Snow Angels

Slide 14 – AJ Intro to Bananas

Slide 15 – AJ Attends first game

Slide 16 – AJ Video How He Got the Job

Slide 18 – AJ Quote about his role

Slide 19 – Transition to how it’s about the p…

Slide 20 – AJ closing quote

Slide 21 - KJ Closing Quote

FINAL SLIDE

Mailing Address

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Slide 01 – KJ

Slide 02 – Bananas Chaos

Slide 03 – Bananas 101

Slide 4A – KJ backflip

Slide 04-B – Intro to KJ (Card)

Slide 05 – Set up KJ Student Support Quote

Slide 06 – KJ Student Support Quote

Slide 07 Alternate

Slide 08 – Back Injury Video

Slide 09 – Coach Duncan

Slide 10A – KJ Teammates Quote

Slide 10B – KJ Teammates Quote

Slide 11 – AJ Intro

Slide 12 – AJ as Flash and Student Support

Slide 13A – AJ Snow Angels

Slide 13B – AJ Snow Angels

Slide 14 – AJ Intro to Bananas

Slide 15 – AJ Attends first game

Slide 16 – AJ Video How He Got the Job

Slide 18 – AJ Quote about his role

Slide 19 – Transition to how it’s about the p…

Slide 20 – AJ closing quote

Slide 21 - KJ Closing Quote

FINAL SLIDE

Mailing Address

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