Teachers Are No Match for Students Where It Counts: Dodgeball

The teachers never stood a chance.

With a championship game Friday, students at Los Alamitos High School completed a monthlong dodgeball season and promptly turned their sights on the faculty. All-star student dodgeball players squared off against teachers, coaches and Principal Grant Litfin as more than 100 screaming fans cheered them on.

“These kids have cannons. It will be over pretty quickly,” Litfin predicted before the game.

“It’s pretty lighthearted. Everyone’s out here to have fun,” he added.

Dating back longer than anyone at the school can remember, the lunchtime dodgeball tournament brings students from every clique together for a little recess competition. With markers, puffy paint and bedazzlers, students made their own jerseys featuring names such as Mayhem and Sharkboy.

On the teachers’ side of the court, Litfin was all business with a terry headband and wristbands, while boys basketball coach Eddie Courtemarche stood out with a tight blue Griffins uniform circa 1980.

With every ball, caught, dodged or thrown, the packed bleachers in the school gym erupted in shouts and collective groans.

Before long, English teacher Lori Franzen was the last adult left standing against almost half a dozen students. She was a clear favorite among the students, who took aim and lobbed softballs at her. Her defeat was followed quickly by hugs and words of encouragement from the students.

“I am just not very athletic,” said Franzen. “But it’s fun. I love playing, and I love my students.”

The teachers demanded a rematch, but the second game ended with identical results.

Played according to dodgeball regulations, six-member teams attempt to knock out opposing players by hitting them below the torso. If a player catches the ball, one of their teammates who had been knocked out can return to the game. Each team includes a minimum of two female players.

The real suspense came Friday in the championship game between the students. It was the Heat versus the Sasquatch Gang. Though the Heat had dominated teams all month, the Sasquatch Gang were the underdogs that recently managed to beat the top-seeded team, composed of water polo players.

Sasquatch player Matt Millar, clad in a blue jumpsuit, a homemade cape (by Emma Wsocki) and a bandana headband, started things off by chucking a ball directly into the stands. After the startling start, the game took off at a rapid pace. Before long, the Heat were up four players to one,  and the crowd chanted, “Let’s Go, Sandy,” for the lone man left for the Sasquatch Gang. He manage to pick off his opponents one by one, but the game ended abruptly when the last girl on the Heat caught the ball, automatically knocking out the final Sasquatch.

“No one expected us to win, but this team has a lot of heart,” Millar said of the Sasquatch Gang. “The crowd was really into it. I think everyone had fun.”