On Saturday evening, students from all walks of Dartmouth life showed their competitive spirits at the annual IFC Dodgeball Tournament. Nearly 300 students signed up to participate in a night of heated battles.
This year, 48 teams -- 10 women's teams and 38 men's/co-ed teams -- competed in the tournament.
Team Jerry Curls, a group of women's basketball players, successfully defended its title in the women's division.
Team GDX, composed of football players in Gamma Delta Chi fraternity, defeated Ham Wallet, defending champions of the tournament, in the semi-finals to capture the golden dodgeball in the men's/co-ed division.
The event raised a total of $1,150 for the Christopher Reeves Paralysis Foundation (CRFP).
"I think it was absolutely a success," IFC vice president for programming and organizer of the tournament Alex Howe '08 said. "I think everyone enjoyed themselves a great deal."
Although past tournaments took two nights to finish, construction on the new fitness center forced this year's tournament to be packed into one night.
However, the central problem was that not enough warning was given to the team leaders about the specific time periods for their games. Therefore, most teams showed up at 7 p.m. even though only three courts could be used at once.
"It wasn't easy herding around three hundred people, especially considering the fact that I only recruited a handful of people to help out," Howe added.
Despite the few bumps in the beginning, the tournament went smoothly for the rest of the night. In addition to the 300 players who signed up to play, friends and fans came to support the teams.
The tournament, as in previous years, was dominated by members of athletic teams.
"Athletes do have an advantage because they have learned how to work together as a team," organizer Sarah Berger of the Dartmouth Athletic Department said. "But everyone who participates still has a lot of fun."
In the women's division, two teams remained after hours of intense competition: Jerry Curls and Team Rubik's Cube -- a hybrid team that consisted of current or ex-athletes in Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority.
Prior to the women's finals, Rubik's Cube member Lizzie Bildner '08 said confidently that "the golden dodgeball belongs to us."
Teammate Sarah Isbey '08 added that her team participated in the tournament "to prove that KDE is the dodgeball powerhouse on campus."
Yet, despite Rubik's Cube's efforts in the final match, Jerry Curls used a combination of strength and strategy to defend their title.
"We want to repeat last year's victory," said Jerry Curls' member Jeannie Cullen '06, the leading scorer on Dartmouth's Ivy champions women's basketball team. "That s why we are here again."
The men's/co-ed division was especially competitive this year, as teams refused to budge on any calls of slight or serious consequences.
In the semi-finals, the four teams that remained consisted of only men: Tri-Kap, Powerline, Ham Wallet and GDX.
Powerline defeated Tri-Kap before GDX bested the Ham Wallets in one of the most spirited matches of the night.
However, the Cinderellas of this year's dodgeball tournament were the men of Powerline -- a group of seniors who lived in either McLain or Hinman Hall during their freshmen year.
"We came a long way, and we are just glad to be here," Powerline member Ian Wanda '06 said. "We didn't have support from a fraternity or practice like some athletic teams did."
In the finals, members of Team GDX won rather effortlessly as the majority of its team remained on the floor when the last of Powerline's players was struck out.
Founded three years ago by Dino Hall '06 and Berger, the tournament originally came about partly because of the success of summer blockbuster "Dodgeball: A True Underdog story." The movie inspired the organization of the tournament and the annual charity event for the IFC.
This year's tournament was sponsored by the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Programming Board and the Athletic Department, with proceeds going to the CRFP. The Foundation commits itself to funding research that develops treatment and cures for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders.
But the tournament does more than raise money for a good cause; It also creates a sense a unity among students through friendly competition.
"The tournament brings together people from all sides of campus that don't usually interact," Berger said.
However, despite the success that the tournament has enjoyed since its creation, its future remains uncertain.
"Who knows?" Berger said. "Maybe this tournament will become a tradition at Dartmouth, or maybe it will end this year."
Howe received help from Hall, IFC president Alex Lentz '07 and Kelvin Quezada of the Athletic Department.
