Adults have been flinging rubber balls at each other with competitive ferocity Monday nights in February and March at Roberts Creek Elementary School to beat the winter doldrums.
On March 11, The Monstars beat more than winter. They outplayed the Mighty Duckers four games to three to become champions of the Sunshine Coast’s first adult dodgeball league.
“Fun is the priority, but it was getting heated,” said Justin Samson, organizer of the Sunshine Coast Dodgeball League and Mighty Duckers player. “The championship game was quite competitive.”
Snoop Dodgey Dodge won the award for best-dressed team and last-placed Dodge Caravans won the award for most fun team.
The league has been on a “trial run,” but Samson said his expectations were surpassed after his Facebook page announcing the league garnered more than 100 Likes soon after he launched it. Samson capped the league at eight teams comprising 10 players. About a dozen other teams had requested to register.
Each match has three games, which can last anywhere from 20 seconds to four minutes. To accommodate the more than 50 players who showed up to play each Monday, the elementary school gym was divided into two playing surfaces. Samson consulted the Vancouver Dodgeball League to establish rules of play. Games are largely self-refereed, but Samson plans to hire refs next season.
Players throw 8.5-inch rubber balls and two smaller “stingers” that land harder. Catching the ball is key because it lets players who have been hit and eliminated return to the game, while eliminating the thrower.
“The winters here are pretty tough, there’s not a whole lot going on,” said Samson, explaining why he launched the league. Carlee Benner, another Mighty Ducker, was impressed by the turnout. “It brings the whole community together,” she said, joking that her favourite part of dodgeball is the opportunity “to get some anger out,” and because it “brings back the childhood.”
The inaugural season’s success means Samson is looking for a repeat, with the aim of starting the season in the fall and expanding it to 20 teams. “People are sad that it’s over,” he told Coast Reporter after the championship playoffs. He’d also like to see the matches take place at a high school gym.
Aside from a few shots to the head and some bruises, said Samson, no players suffered any injuries over the course of the five-week season.
