Students master the five Ds of dodge ball

Dodge, duck, dip, dive, dodge.
Those were the five words the six teams playing in the inaugural dodge ball tournament lived by this past Saturday in the Centennial Center.
The single elimination contest, hosted by the Campus Activities Board (CAB), consisted of more than 50 students competing for the crown as GCSU dodge ball champion.
“Dodge ball has started to become popular at a lot of schools recently, with many schools holding tournaments,” said Joel Sanderson, Coordinator of Intramural and Recreational Sports. “I organized a tournament at my last school, Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and decided to do a tournament here.”
The object of dodge ball is to eliminate all opposing players. Players are eliminated by either hitting an opposing player with a ball thrown below the shoulders or by catching a ball thrown by your opponent before it touches the ground. If a player catches a ball, a player from their team who has been eliminated may also come back into the game.
The game begins by placing the dodge balls along the center line – three one side of the center hash and three on the other. Players then line up behind their end line. Following a signal by the official, teams rush the centerline to retrieve the balls.
Teams may only retrieve the three balls to their right of the center hash. Once a ball is retrieved it must be taken behind the attack-line before it can be legally thrown. The first team to eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner.
The day began with pool play to determine seeds for the tournament. Each match was decided in a best of three series. After an hour and a half of pool play, the seeds were set and the crazy competition began.
In the semifinals, “The Clap” beat “Uncle Jean and his Hoo Dilly Stew” while “Shennanigans” beat “Tu Madre.” In the finals, “Shennanigans” beat “The Clap” to become the first GCSU dodge ball champion and receive free orange Wheaties t-shirts.
The tournament was nothing short of outrageous fun and intense competition. “Uncle Jean and his Hoo Dilly Stew” dressed up in full hillbilly regalia to show team unity, while one student had so much passion for the game he sacrificed his body to save his team from losing. Junior computer science major Jason Hendrix busted his chin and chipped his tooth to help his team win.
“In one game, it was down to me and another player,” Hendrix said. “I dove to catch a ball and while I was in the air another player threw a ball at me. I used the ball I caught as a shield and instead of catching myself with my hands I fell on my face, bruising my chin and chipping one of my teeth.”
After many questioned calls and several gashes and bruises, the tournament was all about a campus uniting together to have a good time during the weekend.
“One of the things that stood out was the amount of fun the students had,” Sanderson said. “When the tournament was over it didn’t matter who won or lost, the players were just upset that it was over.”
CAB hopes to hold another dodge ball tournament next Fall, but the students want another one in the next couple of weeks. When asked if a student would play again he answered emphatically.
“Oh yeah,” sophomore nursing major Alex Pate said. “I hope they will do one again before next semester. I would love to do this again real soon.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 2 2007. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry