Dartmouth students came out in force both Friday and Saturday to play in and watch the first annual spring dodgeball championships, which raised $1,500 for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.
The tournament saw tremendous turnout, with 60 separate six-person teams registering to play in the men's/co-ed and women's divisions. After all of the balls had been thrown and dodged, only two teams were left standing: the "Loose Cannons" squeaked out a win in the men's/co-ed division, and the "D-squad" rose above its competition on the women's side.
The "Loose Cannons," a group of players from Dartmouth's basketball team, narrowly edged out a victory over the baseball-comprised "Replacements," winning the best-of-five finals by a score of three games to two.
The "D-squad," a group of female basketball players, matched up against a team of KDE dodgeballers, winning the finals without nearly as much trouble as their male counterparts.
The idea of a dodgeball tournament first came over the summer on the heels of the success of the movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," which starred well-known comedic actors Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. Dino Hall '06, along with Sarah Berger of the athletics department, organized and ran the tournament last summer through the Inter-Fraternity Council, raising money for the United Way Foundation. Hall stressed the importance of Berger's help, as well as that of the physical education/intramural sports department, saying that they were every bit as responsible for the success of both tournaments as he was.
The tournament this spring is intended to kick off the IFC's latest philanthropic campaign, a year-long endeavor with the goal of raising $10,000 for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.
"The IFC wants to have its own charity, and in order to focus our efforts, we came up with a campaign, where it's like, Greek men are 'supermen,'" said Hall, "and a lot of our [the IFC's] activities are going to surround the idea that Greek men are able individuals."
Christopher Reeve, of course, was best-known for his role as Superman in the movies of the same name in the late '70s and '80s, so it is only fitting that the IFC chose his foundation as their charity.
Hall was very pleased with the turnout for the tournament, as the 60 teams that signed up eclipsed the 40 or so teams that were hoped for. He said that while the primary goal of the tournament was to raise money rather than awareness about the foundation and its goals, future activities will do more to educate the student body about the foundation.
There were a wide variety of interests represented at the tournament, ranging from DOC organizations, such as Ledyard Canoe Club, to students from Tuck and varsity athletes. Despite there being an obvious advantage for the teams of athletes, the general consensus was that everybody had a lot of fun.
As Bennet Meyers '08, who played on Ledyard's team, said, "We got put in the same division as the hockey team and the basketball team. Those guys pretty much decimated us, but it was still an awesome time. It was kind of funny to see a motley group of kayakers try to take on organized teams of jocks. Good times. I would definitely be down to play more in the future, it's a great game."
When asked about the potential for having the tournament again next year, Hall said that "I'm definitely positive I'll do it again next year. It's not even a question. Probably again in the spring, during the mud season when people don't have as much to do."
What about having another tournament sooner, or even more often?
"There're a lot of other events that we want to focus on. I don't want to tap the well too deep. Always leave them wanting more."
