Dodgeball Makes the News!
http://www.somdnews.com/stories/050506/entecov181428_32122.shtml
Dodgeball evolves
Maligned playground game finds toehold as an adult sport
Friday, May 5, 2006
By Susan Craton
Staff Writer
Staff Photo by Reid Silverman
Members of the dodgeball club at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and visiting students from Great Mills High School scrimmage at the college last month during one of the club’s regular late-night gym slots.
Staff Photo by Reid Silverman
John Hillan of Lexington Park, far right, a member of both the college’s club and a team made up of current and former Great Mills High School students, makes an attack during one of the games.
A game starts off with six playground balls placed in a row down the centerline of the court.
Members of each competing team crouch in a starting position lined up along both ends of the court, eyes trained on those balls.
‘‘3,2,1 — Dodgeball!” a moderator yells.
The players sprint to the center hoping to snatch one of the balls before a player from the opposing team gets there first. They retreat just as quickly. And team members begin hurling the 8 1⁄2-inch balls at their opponents, while twisting, leaping or diving to avoid balls aimed at themselves. Shoes squeak on the slick gym floor as team members cheer particularly athletic dodges or particularly impressive attacks.
‘‘Nice!” yells James Solier of Deale, a student at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and commissioner and co-founder of the college’s dodgeball club, as one of his players throws a ball that suddenly curves, catching an opponent off guard.
The play is intense, sweaty and high-adrenaline until all the players from one of the teams are eliminated from the court.
‘‘I love it. It’s so fun,” said Chris Zelinsky of California, a senior at Great Mills High School who participated in one of the college club’s scrimmages last month. Zelinsky, a former skateboarder, tries to explain the appeal of dodgeball as a sport, how it feels to throw a ball and hit an opponent square on the chest.
‘‘It’s the best sound in the world, I think,” he said with a wide smile.
Dodgeball, once a playground staple, has moved on to the bigger, more aggressive (and more lucrative) world of adult sports.
Andrew Roper, supervisor of physical education, health and athletics for the St. Mary’s County public schools, said that while dodgeball is not officially banned in county schools, the playing of the game is not encouraged for the county’s kindergarten through high school programs.
‘‘It can be a very dangerous activity when other students are the target,” Roper said. ‘‘And for the less athletic student it’s going to be a very negative experience. You wouldn’t want to encourage a game where students are throwing things at other students.”
Roper also said the game isn’t included in Maryland’s voluntary state curriculum, making it hard to justify teaching the game in the schools’ physical education classes. The instruction there is intended to encourage enthusiasm about athletics, rather than the concept of being eliminated and sitting out the rest of the game, he said.
Some public schools systems in states like New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, Maine and Massachusetts have even banned the playing of dodgeball.
But, while dodgeball may not be so common on school playgrounds anymore, recreation departments are sometimes offering dodgeball league play for adults. For instance, the St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation, Parks and Community Services has plans to offer dodgeball as an elective for older players for the first time this coming fall. And colleges like St. Mary’s are sponsoring dodgeball clubs.
The game has morphed from a playground game to an adult sport. There are even professional players, people who make a living by playing dodgeball, Solier said.
The game’s intensity seems to be part of its draw. ‘‘It’s incredibly demanding in terms of athleticism. You have to be nimble, quick,” Solier said, and then elaborated a minute later with a smile, ‘‘It’s incredibly violent.
‘‘There is actually a national league that’s going to be on syndicated television in, hopefully, a year,” said Solier. And he is in the midst of organizing an intercollegiate tournament at the college for next year.
The reason for this shift in dodgeball interest is debated. Many suggest that the game was already being seen as a more serious sport on the West Coast and in the Chicago area. But few dispute the shot-in-the-arm that the Twentieth Century Fox 2004 movie, ‘‘DodgeBall, A True Underdog Story,” gave to the movement.
Ed Prentiss, commissioner of the National Dodgeball League based in Minneapolis, said that pockets of adults were playing dodgeball at a variety of places across the country. The movie boosted the sport’s visibility exponentially, causing people to search out information on organized dodgeball on the Internet. ‘‘Two things made [the sport] explode,” Prentiss said. ‘‘The movie was the catalyst. The Web was the vehicle.”
Now, two years after the movie’s release, the ‘‘sport is going through a maturation,” Prentiss said.
‘‘Actually, there was big thing after the movie,” said John Hillan of Lexington Park, a member of the St. Mary’s College club team and also a member of the Medics, a team made up of current and former Great Mills High School students.
Hillan was a student at Great Mills when the movie was released.
The impact was immediate, Hillan said. Dozens of students from the school, as many as 80 at a time, began to meet every Sunday at Chancellor’s Run Regional Park to play the suddenly popular game.
Those numbers gradually diminished. But from those high school players, several got together to create a more serious dodgeball team, the Medics, which included Hillan and Zelinsky. That team has competed in two tournaments so far.
They came in 10th in one tournament and placed ninth in another, a $10,000 tournament that included 140 other teams held in February in Falls Church, Va. The Medics plan to compete in a tournament with a $5,000 total prize package in June.
‘‘These guys are good,” Solier said, motioning toward several of the players in red Medics shirts who had arrived to scrimmage with players at the college.
The college dodgeball club is only in its second semester. ‘‘But it’s gained a tremendous amount of support in a short amount of time,” Solier said. Being a club, the college’s dodgeball team ranks in seriousness somewhere above intramural play and below a varsity sport.
Those who play in the dodgeball club at the college are required to have physicals and turn in release and hazing forms, the latter of which is an agreement that the club and members of the club will not ‘‘haze” members, in that members will not be forced them to do anything unorthodox as an initiation process.
When the college club plays a match with the Medics, a team created outside of the college system and its restrictions, they do so off campus at Chancellor’s Run Regional Park, Solier said.
The club roster includes close to 60 names, both men and women. A normal practice usually draws about a quarter of those players. The club practices four nights a week in the gym at the college’s Athletic and Recreation Center from 10:15 to 11 p.m. — a time that illustrates one of the drawbacks of being a club rather than a varsity sport.
Neil Feldman of Westminster, a junior at the college, is the tallest player during this night’s scrimmage. The smaller, wiry players appear to have an advantage, particularly when it comes to avoid being hit by an attacking throw.
‘‘I’m lanky and I’m awkward. And I’m not very athletic,” Feldman, co-founder of the college’s club team with Solier. ‘‘But I have fun.”
Zelinsky stood outside the dodgeball court’s boundary line during scrimmage play. He pointed out some of the strengths of other members of the Medics. ‘‘John [Hillan] is just a great leader,” he said. ‘‘[Mark] Cherra’s a great catcher. That’s what he’s known for.”
Other players noted that Zelinsky is noted for his dangerously fast curve balls. He shows the trick to his throw. The player grasps the ball around the air nozzle, digging into the ball with every finger but the thumb, he said. It gives the player tremendous control, but the hold scrapes the skin away from the four fingers.
‘‘Only a few of us know how to do it good,” Zelinsky said, holding up his throwing hand to show how the skin above his fingernails was damaged. ‘‘It just rips the first layer off.”
Zane Jones of California, a senior at Great Mills and another member of the Medics, slumps against the wall as he waits for his turn to return to the game, which happens when someone on his team catches one of the balls thrown as an attack.
‘‘Just the fast pace,” Jones said is what he likes about dodgeball. ‘‘The adrenalin’s pumping.”
The sound of rubber soles squeak wildly out on the court as another attack is thwarted in the ongoing play.
‘‘Nice!” yells Solier.
E-mail Susan Craton at scraton@somdnews.com.
Dodgeball evolves
Maligned playground game finds toehold as an adult sport
Friday, May 5, 2006
By Susan Craton
Staff Writer
Staff Photo by Reid Silverman
Members of the dodgeball club at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and visiting students from Great Mills High School scrimmage at the college last month during one of the club’s regular late-night gym slots.
Staff Photo by Reid Silverman
John Hillan of Lexington Park, far right, a member of both the college’s club and a team made up of current and former Great Mills High School students, makes an attack during one of the games.
A game starts off with six playground balls placed in a row down the centerline of the court.
Members of each competing team crouch in a starting position lined up along both ends of the court, eyes trained on those balls.
‘‘3,2,1 — Dodgeball!” a moderator yells.
The players sprint to the center hoping to snatch one of the balls before a player from the opposing team gets there first. They retreat just as quickly. And team members begin hurling the 8 1⁄2-inch balls at their opponents, while twisting, leaping or diving to avoid balls aimed at themselves. Shoes squeak on the slick gym floor as team members cheer particularly athletic dodges or particularly impressive attacks.
‘‘Nice!” yells James Solier of Deale, a student at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and commissioner and co-founder of the college’s dodgeball club, as one of his players throws a ball that suddenly curves, catching an opponent off guard.
The play is intense, sweaty and high-adrenaline until all the players from one of the teams are eliminated from the court.
‘‘I love it. It’s so fun,” said Chris Zelinsky of California, a senior at Great Mills High School who participated in one of the college club’s scrimmages last month. Zelinsky, a former skateboarder, tries to explain the appeal of dodgeball as a sport, how it feels to throw a ball and hit an opponent square on the chest.
‘‘It’s the best sound in the world, I think,” he said with a wide smile.
Dodgeball, once a playground staple, has moved on to the bigger, more aggressive (and more lucrative) world of adult sports.
Andrew Roper, supervisor of physical education, health and athletics for the St. Mary’s County public schools, said that while dodgeball is not officially banned in county schools, the playing of the game is not encouraged for the county’s kindergarten through high school programs.
‘‘It can be a very dangerous activity when other students are the target,” Roper said. ‘‘And for the less athletic student it’s going to be a very negative experience. You wouldn’t want to encourage a game where students are throwing things at other students.”
Roper also said the game isn’t included in Maryland’s voluntary state curriculum, making it hard to justify teaching the game in the schools’ physical education classes. The instruction there is intended to encourage enthusiasm about athletics, rather than the concept of being eliminated and sitting out the rest of the game, he said.
Some public schools systems in states like New Jersey, Texas, Virginia, Maine and Massachusetts have even banned the playing of dodgeball.
But, while dodgeball may not be so common on school playgrounds anymore, recreation departments are sometimes offering dodgeball league play for adults. For instance, the St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation, Parks and Community Services has plans to offer dodgeball as an elective for older players for the first time this coming fall. And colleges like St. Mary’s are sponsoring dodgeball clubs.
The game has morphed from a playground game to an adult sport. There are even professional players, people who make a living by playing dodgeball, Solier said.
The game’s intensity seems to be part of its draw. ‘‘It’s incredibly demanding in terms of athleticism. You have to be nimble, quick,” Solier said, and then elaborated a minute later with a smile, ‘‘It’s incredibly violent.
‘‘There is actually a national league that’s going to be on syndicated television in, hopefully, a year,” said Solier. And he is in the midst of organizing an intercollegiate tournament at the college for next year.
The reason for this shift in dodgeball interest is debated. Many suggest that the game was already being seen as a more serious sport on the West Coast and in the Chicago area. But few dispute the shot-in-the-arm that the Twentieth Century Fox 2004 movie, ‘‘DodgeBall, A True Underdog Story,” gave to the movement.
Ed Prentiss, commissioner of the National Dodgeball League based in Minneapolis, said that pockets of adults were playing dodgeball at a variety of places across the country. The movie boosted the sport’s visibility exponentially, causing people to search out information on organized dodgeball on the Internet. ‘‘Two things made [the sport] explode,” Prentiss said. ‘‘The movie was the catalyst. The Web was the vehicle.”
Now, two years after the movie’s release, the ‘‘sport is going through a maturation,” Prentiss said.
‘‘Actually, there was big thing after the movie,” said John Hillan of Lexington Park, a member of the St. Mary’s College club team and also a member of the Medics, a team made up of current and former Great Mills High School students.
Hillan was a student at Great Mills when the movie was released.
The impact was immediate, Hillan said. Dozens of students from the school, as many as 80 at a time, began to meet every Sunday at Chancellor’s Run Regional Park to play the suddenly popular game.
Those numbers gradually diminished. But from those high school players, several got together to create a more serious dodgeball team, the Medics, which included Hillan and Zelinsky. That team has competed in two tournaments so far.
They came in 10th in one tournament and placed ninth in another, a $10,000 tournament that included 140 other teams held in February in Falls Church, Va. The Medics plan to compete in a tournament with a $5,000 total prize package in June.
‘‘These guys are good,” Solier said, motioning toward several of the players in red Medics shirts who had arrived to scrimmage with players at the college.
The college dodgeball club is only in its second semester. ‘‘But it’s gained a tremendous amount of support in a short amount of time,” Solier said. Being a club, the college’s dodgeball team ranks in seriousness somewhere above intramural play and below a varsity sport.
Those who play in the dodgeball club at the college are required to have physicals and turn in release and hazing forms, the latter of which is an agreement that the club and members of the club will not ‘‘haze” members, in that members will not be forced them to do anything unorthodox as an initiation process.
When the college club plays a match with the Medics, a team created outside of the college system and its restrictions, they do so off campus at Chancellor’s Run Regional Park, Solier said.
The club roster includes close to 60 names, both men and women. A normal practice usually draws about a quarter of those players. The club practices four nights a week in the gym at the college’s Athletic and Recreation Center from 10:15 to 11 p.m. — a time that illustrates one of the drawbacks of being a club rather than a varsity sport.
Neil Feldman of Westminster, a junior at the college, is the tallest player during this night’s scrimmage. The smaller, wiry players appear to have an advantage, particularly when it comes to avoid being hit by an attacking throw.
‘‘I’m lanky and I’m awkward. And I’m not very athletic,” Feldman, co-founder of the college’s club team with Solier. ‘‘But I have fun.”
Zelinsky stood outside the dodgeball court’s boundary line during scrimmage play. He pointed out some of the strengths of other members of the Medics. ‘‘John [Hillan] is just a great leader,” he said. ‘‘[Mark] Cherra’s a great catcher. That’s what he’s known for.”
Other players noted that Zelinsky is noted for his dangerously fast curve balls. He shows the trick to his throw. The player grasps the ball around the air nozzle, digging into the ball with every finger but the thumb, he said. It gives the player tremendous control, but the hold scrapes the skin away from the four fingers.
‘‘Only a few of us know how to do it good,” Zelinsky said, holding up his throwing hand to show how the skin above his fingernails was damaged. ‘‘It just rips the first layer off.”
Zane Jones of California, a senior at Great Mills and another member of the Medics, slumps against the wall as he waits for his turn to return to the game, which happens when someone on his team catches one of the balls thrown as an attack.
‘‘Just the fast pace,” Jones said is what he likes about dodgeball. ‘‘The adrenalin’s pumping.”
The sound of rubber soles squeak wildly out on the court as another attack is thwarted in the ongoing play.
‘‘Nice!” yells Solier.
E-mail Susan Craton at scraton@somdnews.com.
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