Dodgeball Mayhem

Chucking small black balls of fury becomes art, pastime for many students

It was all out war in the Christianson gym when the North Idaho College Rec. Sports program hosted a dodgeball tournament on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Five teams consisting of free agents and prior signed-up players came out to participate in the competition for a chance to win a highly coveted Rec. Sports championship T-shirt. Jessica Johanson, NIC’s Rec. Sports and challenge course coordinator, even decided to join in on the fierce competition.

When the chaos ended, the final team left standing consisted of members from the NIC men’s soccer team. Kyle Hammond, 19, education, Missoula, Mont., was a member of the winning team and he said his team’s strategy was simply “ to win and hoard the balls.”

His reason for playing was shared amongst many of the co-eds who came to huck balls at innocent students.

Hammond and some friends said that when they saw the posters in the Student Union Building (SUB) it “sounded like fun, so we decided to play.”

Jenifer Rosie, pre-med, said that she played for the same reason, but the tournament also provided a break from homework. Rosie was a unique player in the competition, utilizing her softball pitching skills to send balls whizzing at opponents underhanded.

“It’s easier and natural for me,” Rosie said.

Even though the reasons for participating were similar, strategies differed from team to team. Some were more thought out such as Steven Junkermier’s, 18, education, Spokane, plan to “play smart.”

“Once we had the numbers, we would all throw at once,” Junkermier said.

Other strategies were much more simple such as Cody Davis’s, 18, pre-law, plan to “throw a lot of balls.”

The dodgeball tournament was one of the last events put on by the Rec. Sports program for the fall semester. Co-ed 3-on-3 basketball will continue every Monday and Wednesday night until the semester ends.

Rec. Sports will have a whole new schedule for students when they return for spring semester on Jan. 9.