Video: Douglas High hosts 3rd annual dodgeball tournament

Perhaps at no other time during the school year does chaos so openly reign in the Douglas High athletic department.

Athletes clad in anything from motocross gear and spandex to capes and tie-dye take turns zipping foam projectiles across the Douglas gym.

Yes, this is the annual end-of-the-year dodgeball tournament, which took its third run at the school on Monday afternoon.

Everyone was open game as balls shot into the bleachers, hitting spectators in the face while participants cartwheeling, dove and spun out of the way.

It's the basic dodgeball you played in grammar school, with four- to five-player teams picking eachother off until only one team has any players left standing.

Getting hit with the ball is an autmatic out, but players can deflect oncoming shots with a ball they're already holding. If they can catch the shot, the player on the other team who threw it is out.

Of course, there were complications as sometimes a ball from an adjoining court would roll into play. A player hit with a "dead" ball got to remain in the game,

pending a referee's ruling. Each court had balls with corresponding colors to determine if what was being used in play was live or not.

The tournament has grown every year and is something a lot of teams spend time preparing for in the weeks leading up to it.

"We practiced three or four times," said Jordan Hadlock. His Slumpbusters were 4-2 heading into the elimination bracket. "We don't have any strategy so to speak. We were just working on our arms, how to throw the ball. We worked it out enough to where we can get some pretty good movement on the ball."

Other teams didn't take quite as disciplined an approach.

Tyler Hoelzen, who was playing with fellow basketball players, said his team's strategy was simple.

"Just go out there and try not to get hit," Hoelzen said. "We played last year and the balls were harder. They're softer this year and that makes it a little harder to throw."

Players used multiple forms of delivery for the ball, the most unique of which came from softball standout pitcher Stephanie Harper, who used her trademark windmill motion to propel the ball across the court.

Team DAT 775, which included baseball players Jeff Crozier, Kyle Fencl and Brett Hartley, won the tournament.