Meramec campus hosts dodgeball tournament to raise money for ‘Make a Wish’ foundation
By: CHRISTIAN HARGAS
Sports Editor
No blood, no tears, but plenty of sweat and enjoyment. Music was blasting; people were laughing. This was the setting of the 2015-16 STLCC Archer Madness Dodgeball Tournament in the Meramec Physical Education building on Friday, Apr. 15. 10 teams entered the tournament, one came out victorious; the Dodge Fathers. Led by team captain Erik Muschinske, the Dodge Fathers were stoked about the win, Muschinske said.
“I had to get out towards the end, but I put my trust in my teammates and they got it done,” Muschinske said. “I was scared for a second, like ‘oh my gosh’, then they got it and we were going crazy.”
Sponsored by Campus Life, this event was student led and initiated, Campus Life Manager Carolyn O’Laughlin said.
“They [campus life] told us what they wanted to do, when they wanted to do it, and we helped facilitate that,” O’Laughlin said. “The Student Activities Council and Student Governance Council came up with the dodgeball idea. So, the folks who made all the arrangements were in these organizations.”
Meramec student and head chair of the Archer Madness Dodgeball Committee Camille Hernandez said they wanted an enjoyable, but more competitive, event for April.
“We were planning a fun event for April,” Hernandez said. “Something where the students can interact with each other. We had a dodgeball tournament in my high school, and I kind of knew how it worked. I wrote up a proposal for the basics of a dodgeball tournament; people seemed to like and agree with it. We ended up going through with it.”
Another team entered in the tournament was called “The Write Stuff”. They were composed by a couple of student workers and Cindy Clausen from the academic center, Jeannine Vesser, writing tutor, said.
“Our student worker, Nicole, thought it was a good idea for the writing center to form a team,” Vesser said “We sent out an email to the library and the academic center. We had fun, but we should have practiced. We should have had more people on our team.”
Meramec Human Services and Addiction Studies student Mallory Mason said participating in the event was very stressful, but fun.
“Dogeball was my team name,” Mason said. “My anxiety was bad. Being the last one on the court was very high; my blood was pumping. I was like ‘oh gosh,’ but I was ready.”
Sitting at the top of the bleachers, Forensic Psychology student Rose Glisson said the event was pretty exciting with a lot of laughs at friends getting hit.
“[I was rooting] for my friend’s team,” Glisson said. “I think they were called ‘the Cream Team,’ but they already lost.”
The music for the event was provided by TKO D.J Marlon Cross. The energy in the room was great, Cross said. There was not a certain playlist of songs for an event like this, but rather high energy, upbeat music such as techno or hip-hop.
“Everybody is attentive, participating and rooting for people,” Cross said. “I play more of a freestyle [music], so I really kind of judge what I play based on the room and the crowd.”
The outcome of the event, O’Laughlin said.
“I think that traditional wisdom says that Friday afternoon events at STLCC, and nobody will come, nobody will be here,” O’Laughlin said. “But look at this, we got more than 100 people. We had 100 shirts and now they are all gone; people are engaged.”
The most difficult part of the event was getting teams to sign up as complete teams, Hernandez said.
“We need six to eight players for each team,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes, people do not have enough people for those teams and sometimes people are not available during the time.”
It [event] was a step-by-step process, always having something that is concrete first and simple first, before adding your colorful balloons and confetti, Hernandez said.
“This is our first time doing this and there are a lot of problems we are working through,” Hernandez said. “But we are definitely learning from this event. Always have a concrete, very simple, non-colorful idea to start with and tell your whole team about it and how you exactly want it to play out.”
In terms of hosting another dodgeball event, it always depends on what the students are doing, O’Laughlin said.
“Look at the interest,” O’Laughlin said. “There are first year students here [who are] interested, feeling good about this. Students who are jazzed and excited about things going very well could end up being here another year. The students guide us as to what activities are going on and we help them get there.”
