On March 22, Kimberly Samulack and Melissa Zubrickas decided to host a stress-relief dodgeball tournament as part of a legacy project for ADMN4100.
They were trying to do something that was going to be fun, and not academic! Their main objective was to create a project that students from any discipline could participate in for free.
Dodgeball is a game that anyone can participate in; it doesn’t require any skill or previous athletic abilities, which made it perfect for the event. They wanted students to come out, have fun, and relieve some stress before the busy exam season began, and the end of semester creeped up on us all.
Dodgeball is an activity that allows you to be active, competitive and social.Melissa and Kimberly’s hopes for this tournament were just for people to enjoy themselves. As they said, March can be a really stressful month, and many students want to stay at home and just focus on school work and relax.
The goal of this tournament was to allow students to be active during this busy month, as well as allowing them to be able to socialize with their friends and other students from Trent.
In order to encourage students to come and participate, Bulk Barn on Chemong Road in Peterborough donated prizes for the winning team. They were hoping to have anywhere from four to ten teams, with five to six players in each. A total of five teams showed up to play, and each were very unique in their own way.
Each group was to play every team competing at least once, until there were only two teams left to play in the finals. The gym was divided so two games were played at once. They played the games as if it were a round robin type of tournament, as all of the groups were anxious to get to the finals.
The conveners used an easy point system to keep track of the teams’ progress; a win gained one point, and a loss, zero points. The teams needed three points to make it to the final game.
There was a great atmosphere and teammates were very supportive of one another, especially if there was only one remaining player on the court. If there was one player left, their goal was to get the ball in the basket ball net as this would result in an automatic out for the opposing team.
The finals came down to the two teams that originally played against each other, The Comeback Crew and The Economists. It was an exciting game as each group was desperate to come out on top.
There was some friendly chirping going on between them, but in the end they were all there just to have some fun. The Comeback Crew ended up winning the game.
The final standings were:
The Comeback Crew: 4
The Economists: 3
Alex McKee and Crew: 2
Team 4: 1
BBA All the Way: 0
At the end of the tournament I was able to speak with Melissa, one of the two girls who put this event together. She was very excited about the whole thing and was pleased by how the event turned out. The tournament exceeded her expectations, as she was not sure how it would span out during the planning process. She was unsure of how many people would attend, but eventually the turnout was successful.
Overall, the tournament was great. Everyone had a great time and Melissa was very grateful that so many people supported their legacy project.