Dodge Ball Tournament By Stephen Rehagen                                                                The week of Thanksgiving, many students were preparing to visit relatives in different states or cities. Other students were already tasting warm turkey and soft mashed potatoes. However, some true warriors were preparing and training for one goal—a championship in the annual Crusader Clash dodge ball tournament, played on the tennis courts at the Firley YMCA. Anyone walking around Helias High School could have realized from the buzz going around that there was to be a dodge ball tournament that weekend. Teams made strategies on how they would win the competition or win a trophy for best uniforms. Members from different squads were often arguing over whose team was better or even betting on the tournament. “It really brought competition among the students,” stated Sam Thoenen, a sophomore at Helias. Finally the day arrived and the dodge ball tournament, sponsored by the baseball team, began. There were three divisions in the tournament: fourth through sixth graders, seventh and eighth graders, and a division for high school level students and above. The dodge ball tournament was played under the normal Helias rules, played with by all the physical education classes. Two teams played at a time, divided by one line. Only the members of one squad could be on their half of the court at a time and their opponents could not pass the line. Six players played at one time, although the teams had as many as ten members. The players on each side tried to throw one of the dodge balls at a player on their opposition. If the thrower hit the opponent with the ball, the person who was hit was out of the game. However, if the person who was thrown at, caught the ball, the thrower was out and a member of the catcher’s team came back into the game. Games lasted until there were no players left on one of the teams or until the games reached a time limit.  The team that won three out of five of the games was the winner of the match. As fast as it had begun, the dodge ball tournament was over.  This year the champions of the high school division were the Gumbies and the second place team was the Blue Mooners. Costumes at the tournament consisted of anything from superheroes to dog fighters. Overall, the dodge ball tournament was a great success, and as Jacob Sandbothe of the Blue Mooners said, “It was just a really fun weekend.”