Kris Latimer, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Santiam, wasn’t really sure what she was getting into when she decided to hold a dodgeball tournament as a fundraiser for the club.
She had a gym – in Sweet Home – and some local interest. So she put the word out and, presto, 12 teams showed up Saturday, April 13, for the inaugural tournament.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “It was crazy. It was just a hoot.”
Beef and brawn showed up dressed in … creative outfits. A team from Portland showed up, along with another from Eugene – Team Venom.
Turns out, dodgeball is big in the cities.
“They have playground leagues, for adults, where they play mostly dodgeball and kickball,” Latimer said.
One team, Team 1-Z Arm-ee (logo was an emoji of an arm followed by “ee”), was decked out in a mix of Army-Globetrotter gear. They ended up winning it all.
Other participants were the 21st Century Ballers (Boys & Girls Club, Hawaiian-themed outfits), Dirty Rhinos (Pink Rhino Crossfit gym of Lebanon), Letterkenny and Squirley Dave (not sure), Triple D (Dangerous Donut Dodgers, Sugar Vibes), Columbia River Special Culls (again, not sure), Freedom Ballers (Bender Mechanical), Weyerhaeuser Santiam Mill (wearing T-shirts that read: “If you can dodge a 2×4, you can dodge a ball”), Laura Gillott Home Team (“Dodge This” shirts), and RAM Trucking (Team ‘Merica).
“It was really a lot of fun,” Latimer said. “Everybody had a good time watching adults play what is usually a kids game.”
She said Monday she wasn’t sure what the profit had turned out to be, but she was planning for more.
“It’ll be a once- or twice-per-year event from now on because we know from the feedback we got that the demand will increase. It was probably the funnest fundraiser that I’ve done so far.”