LAURA EMBRY / Union-Tribune
Eric Hengesbaugh tried to duck a shot from Brandon Kinsella (left) while Adam Hurley took aim during dodgeball practice at Grossmont High School. the school will host a high school dodgeball tournament tonight. |
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EL CAJON – Grossmont High School teacher Jeremy Hersch remembers his elementary school days playing dodgeball.
“During P.E., we used to make a circle, and someone would get in the middle, and we'd all try to hit that person with big red balls,” he said. “If you hit someone, then you would get to go in the middle. I loved playing.”
The times and the balls have changed, but the activity is making a comeback. Although it has traumatized many (after all, the object is still to hit someone as hard as possible with a ball) it has also blended generations to become a popular high school game in East County.
Fourteen student teams from seven schools in the Grossmont Union High School District are scheduled to compete for the title and prestige of dodgeball champions tonight at the first District Dodgeball Tournament.
“It's a fun thing,” Grossmont High School senior Adam Hurley said as a ball ricocheted off his shoulder at a recent practice. “We take it seriously when we're playing, though.”
Faculty teams also will compete tonight, said teacher Bob Wakefield, who serves as the Associated Student Body adviser at Granite Hills High in El Cajon.
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The first District Dodgeball Tournament will be at 6 p.m. tonight in the new gym at Grossmont High School, 1100 Murray Drive, El Cajon. The event is open to the public. Admission is $5, students with a district Associated Student Body card $4. Seating is limited. For more information, call (619) 668-6000.
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“I've never seen something so great that gets so many people together to do something fun,” Wakefield said. “It's like a big company softball game. Whether you're good or not, you play.”
Granite Hills started the East County trend with a schoolwide dodgeball tournament last year. The idea sprang from the 2004 movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller as opponents in a life-changing, winner-take-all dodgeball match.
Students at Granite Hills were looking for an activity that would boost school spirit, and dodgeball seemed attractive because “anyone can play it,” Wakefield said.
“My ASB president last year found official dodgeball rules online, I designed an arena, and then we started including clubs to sell concessions,” Wakefield said.
Teams were required to wear uniforms and, as in the movie, some toed the line between funny and downright peculiar.
Wakefield's all-faculty team named themselves “The Incredibles,” after the 2004 animated movie, and members wore red and black tights, nylon leotards, black masks and shirts with their team name. An all-girls team donned brown United Parcel Service uniforms. Another wore green tights and feather hats to resemble Peter Pan.
The school's first tournament was a success. “We had people lined up to the street buying tickets,” Wakefield said. “We probably raised $3,000.”
Word spread through ASB classes around the district. This year, seven of the district's high schools held preliminary dodgeball tournaments.
The top two student teams from each participating high school will compete in double-elimination rounds at tonight's tournament, Hersch said. The winning team will receive a cash prize, with the amount determined by the event's profits.
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All you need to know about dodgeball
 Teams must have 6 to 10 players, but only 6 are allowed on the court at one time.
The arena is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide (the dimensions of a volleyball court).
A “live ball” is a ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything.
The object of the game is to eliminate all opponents by:
Hitting an opponent with a live ball below the shoulders.
Catching a live ball that was thrown by an opponent before it touches the ground. If it's caught, the opponent who threw it is out, and another member of the team that caught the ball gets to join the game.
All players must remain within the boundary lines.
Each game is three minutes long.
Official 8-inch foam dodgeballs will be used tonight.
And if you want to seem really cool, try some of these “Dodgeball” movie quotations during a game:
“Nobody makes me bleed my own blood.”
“Stick it in your ear, La Fleur.”
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”
“If you're going to become true dodgeballers, then you've got to learn the five d's of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge!”
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“Dodgeball is something all students can do,” said Hersch, the ASB adviser at Grossmont. “You don't have to be the stud football player to play. It's not all about competition.”
Grossmont's winning team at the preliminary level was “The Roids,” an all-male team that dressed up as famous baseball players suspected of using steroids.
“Our jerseys have the player's name and a picture of two syringes on them, which we made with a permanent marker,” said Adam Hurley, said. the Grossmont senior. “I'm Sammy Sosa.”
At a practice earlier this week, Adam ran onto the court as a yellow ball whizzing by narrowly missed his head. At the sound of “1,2,3, dodgeball!” sweaty teenage boys picked up blue and yellow dodgeballs and hurled them at their teammates. Their throws bounced off walls, the bleachers and, of course, each other. Hersch joined them, giving the students the opportunity to ambush their teacher.
“The balls don't hurt,” said Hersch, who will play on a faculty team tonight. “They're like sponges.”
As the balls flew through the air, the boys made sudden, quick moves, jumping feet to elude a throw aimed at their legs, or dropping to the ground in a push-up position when the target was their head.
Their strategy? Any true dodgeballer knows:
“You just do whatever you can to dodge,” senior Wes Fransway said.
Sharon Heilbrunn:
(619) 593-4957;
sharon.heilbrunn@uniontrib.com
Sharon A. Heilbrunn is a community news assistant in the East County office.
