Launching studio during kicks sometimes leads large pause

[KatieWoe]

Device
Samsung
OS
Win 11
Browser
Chrome
Problem Description
Found during, phetsims/qa#1063 but I believe it is unrelated.
If you launch a sim from studio while soccer balls are being kicked, sometimes there will be a large pause in the sim before kicking begins again. This does not always happen. I have two theories as to when this happens, but it is hard to reproduce either way. Theory one: If you launch after a new character appears but before it makes a kick, this may happen. Theory two: if you launch between sets of kicks this may happen (you pressed kick 1 then kick 5, and pressed launch between kick 1 and 2).
Visuals

Standard.PhET-iO.Wrapper.-.Google.Chrome.2024-03-25.15-41-32.mp4

[KatieWoe]

I was able to reproduce this in phetsims/qa#1064

[marlitas]

Hmmm that is interesting... Not sure if it's within the scope of this maintenance release. @samreid, what are your thoughts?

[samreid]

I recommend against investigation for the current maintenance release. We would like to get the crash in #619 corrected as soon as possible without other delays or complications.

To me, this seems like it should remain open until we return focus to this simulation. It does not seem like it is frequent enough or severe enough to warrant fixing in the branch (unless a client informs us otherwise).