Outdoor Lighting for the Backyard Sportsman

This article is intended for those individuals who enjoy a nice rousing game of some sort in their backyard every now and then. Now this game could be football (touch or tackle), basketball, or even croquet for that matter. Whatever gets your competitive juices flowing to the point where there’s a good chance you, a friend, or a family member will make an ass of themselves. For me and my family, that game is wiffle ball. This isn’t the wiffle ball where the kids take turns hitting while an adult or older kid lobs underhand pitches. Kids aren’t invited to this game. The wiffle ball we play involves some serious hurling and manipulation of that unpredictable plastic sphere. In fact, I almost took a physics course in college in hopes of better understanding just what makes that wiffle ball do what it does. Almost.

The point of this article isn’t really about wiffle ball, however. As I mentioned earlier, the game could be anything from football to Frisbee. The point is that many of these hotly contested battles are waged into the evening hours when the sun begins to set and our once infallible vision begins to blur with the lack of light. The solution to this problem is to add some outdoor lighting to your ballpark, err…backyard and keep the games going long into the night, or at least until your neighbors start to complain.

There are tons of options to consider when making your yard night game-friendly. Post-mounted lamps and lanterns are a good option, as you have some flexibility when it comes to placement. For small to medium sized yards, placing a few of these around the perimeter should provide ample lighting and be out of harms way enough so nobody impales themselves. A trip to the ER is definitely not what we’re looking for.

Outdoor wall sconces placed around the perimeter can also work and generally pose no risk of injury. Place these fixtures wisely, however, or you’ll be replacing them often. Any game where an object is hurled or hit at any rate of speed is a sure-fire way to damage one of these light fixtures. For larger yards, you may need a combination of these outdoor lighting options and maybe even a portable spotlight or two. Be creative and don’t let the sun determine your game’s length.