The Concordia Stingers hosted their fourth annual dodgeball tournament on March 24
If you are familiar with the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, then you know the five Ds of dodgeball: Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge. These are the skills needed to become the ultimate dodgeball player. On Friday, March 24, Concordia students and student-athletes from all sports put the five Ds to the test by taking part in the fourth annual Concordia Athletics Dodgeball Tournament.
All funds raised by the tournament will be donated to a charity that will be decided on later. However, according to one of the tournament’s organizers, Andrew Barlett of the Concordia Stingers football team, the event is also meant to build the Stingers family.
“The main reason behind the event is to build a sense of community within the Stingers family, and build a camaraderie between athletes of different sports teams within the Stingers family and the Concordia community to develop more school pride,” Barlett said.
The participating teams consisted of athletes from almost every Stingers team as well as regular students. The teams were co-ed, as one of the rules was to have at least two members of each sex per team. The tournament had a friendly, fun and competitive atmosphere. The other tournament organizer, Antoine Marchand, goaltender for the Stingers men’s hockey team, jokingly said he was not expecting the tournament to run as smoothly as it did.
“In past years, people got very heated because we’re all athletes so we want to win. But everyone was very happy with how it was run this year,” Marchand said.
Several friendly rivalries between the dodgeball teams were formed, as men and women from the same sports joined forces to take down the other sports for bragging rights. Katherine Purchase, goaltender for the Stingers women’s hockey team, fielded a team of hockey players who faced off in the finals against Trenton Miller, quarterback of the Stingers football team, and his squad.
Purchase’s team came out on top in a heated battle where blood, sweat and even some tears were shed. In the end, bragging rights belonged to the hockey players. The tournament’s biggest surprise was Anthony Gingras, defenseman on the men’s hockey team, and his cannon of an arm that propelled Purchase’s team to the championship. He also won tournament MVP.
This is the fourth annual dodgeball tournament organized by Barlett. He organized the original tournament alongside former Stingers place kicker Keegan Treloar and Eric Noivo, a former defensive end for the Stingers. “We thought that people would be more willing to pay if the money being raised went to charity rather than the football team, so we’ve continued that route for the past three years,” Barlett said.
Sixty athletes and students made up this year’s 10 teams, which was less than last year. However, Marchand and Barlett both feel this year’s tournament was a success.
“I’d say the timing of [the tournament] this year posed a bit of challenge,” Barlett said. “It’s on a weekday and people have class and other stuff going on.”
“As long as it’s consistent with the amount of athletes showing up and bonding together over this fun activity, there will be the sense of community—which is what we’re aiming for,” Marchand added.
This year is Marchand and Barlett’s last as students at Concordia University, so the future of the event is currently unclear. However, Marchand is confident it will continue to be an annual tradition.
“The reigns are there for the taking for whoever wants to run this event next year,” Marchand said. “It’s an event put on by students for students, so we’re not expecting huge turnouts. As long as there is that community feel, the event is a success.”