The second annual dodgeball tournament crowned team Galaxy Destroyers as champs. Galaxy Destroyers consisted of all junior players and junior coach, Adam Mael. The championship was a best-of-three series and when Galaxy Destroyers took game 1 they had all the momentum possible on March 7.
Game 2 went down to the wire. The opposing team, The Avengers, lost 5 players leaving only Junior Nolan Yates attempting to extend the series by getting the last two players out. The time ran out and Galaxy Destroyers had two players while The Avengers had only one. Galaxy Destroyers were initially confused, but when they realized that they won, they jumped and screamed across the court.
“It feels like I’m on top of the world,” said junior Brandon Figuerido before the win.
Coach Adam Mael agreed with Figuerido saying, “[It] felt good. Players executed the game plan to perfection and we left it all out on the court.”
A major component of the tournament is the themes and costumes.
All 16 teams had themes and most teams had costumes. The team that won most spirited was The Babies who coordinated their costumes very well: matching PJs and pacifiers.
“Playing dodgeball with my friends and against my other friends is fun, and it’s coming up with the idea of a costume and creating the costume that is enjoyable,” said sophomore Sam Jackson, member of team Cade en em’.
The Dodgeball tournament wasn’t all lighthearted to the players. Some players even went as far as yelling at refs and hosts of the tournament, so much so that humanities teacher Caitlin Bradford resigned her referee position after her calls were disregarded.
Many players would ignore the referees when told they were out, the most prominent example was when junior Andrew Klinedinst, a member of the team Bill’s Builders had to be ejected by assistant principal Dan McAnespie.
“I blocked the ball with another ball and the judges were trying to tell me it hit my shoulder. And I was like h***no,” said Klinedinst when asked about the incident.
This year the tournament brought in over 100 coaches and players. The dodgeball tradition started last year for the Community Council and was a hit, bringing in many people. As a result of this high turnout and the demand for another, The Council decided to make it an annual event. This year the council showed up in force putting all of their effort into making it as fun as possible for everyone.
“It brings people from every group in the school together and is one of the only events with that much competition,” said freshman and community council member Brayden Folan.
