Historic pitch | Scene Through the Lens

Sitting on a bench in Independence National Historical Park after covering defendants leaving nearby federal court, I noticed a couple carrying off one of those crowd control barricades (cops and protesters call them “bike racks”) from a stack along Market Street East.

In a similar scene played out a few years ago, I watched a tourist load up the basket of their child’s stroller with a couple of Belgian Blocks. A souvenir, I guessed, of Philadelphia’s historic streets.

The couple with the metal fence section weren’t going far. They set the section down, got out a ball and started playing some one-on-one soccer, using it as a goal, right on Independence Mall. Their own private pitch.

That’s something Alex Hiznay has been doing all summer, with other friends who also live in the city, but this was the first time with Gabby Rybicki (they’re dating). He likes the location, with lots of nearby watering spots. “It’s great after working up a little sweat.”

Hiznay and his friends never hold large games there so as not to be disruptive for tourists. Plus he says, the small goal makes it more about ball control, “and finesse.”

Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:

» SEE MORE: Archived columns and Twenty years of a photo column