Christmas dodgeball tournament hits west Edmonton

By Tyler Loutan

EDMONTON — The malls have been prepping for the season since Halloween, and holiday episodes are all over TV, but for some, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas without dodgeball.

The Edmonton Sport and Social Club dodgeball league hosts its bi-annual tournament on Saturday, Dec. 10. Previous tournaments have showcased a country or an “I love the ‘80s” theme, but this time it will have a Christmas theme.

“It’s going to be hard to dodge a ball dressed up like a Christmas tree, or run with jingle bells,” said Jason Bridger, the ESSC marketing manager. “But it’s all in good fun.”

The tournament has 40 teams registered to play at various levels of experience ranging from recreational to competitive. Each team will play four games in the round robin with the top teams advancing to the playoffs to determine a champion.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Bridger. “There’s going to be teams dressed up in Christmas gear, Christmas music playing, prizes, extra contests, it’s going to be a good time.”

The ESSC dodgeball league runs throughout the year. The sport got a boost in 2004 with the release of the Vince Vaughn/Ben Stiller movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

“The movie helped the popularity for sure,” said Chris Berry, ESSC design and sports administrator. “It’s a game familiar to our childhoods and it’s a sport with no expectations. No one grows up playing competitive dodgeball, it’s just something people picked up again and had a lot of fun with.”

The appeal has a bit more to do with the sportsmanship and culture of the league than the sport itself.

“Dodgeball is my life,” said Berry. “It’s not just a sport, there’s a social aspect. Barely a Saturday night will go by where I don’t hang out with other dodgeball players and talk about dodgeball or cool plays that happened or the season.”

While the real playoffs will come later on in the season, this tournament is a fun mid-season event for the league.

“Some people are going to come out to dress up and have a good time,” said Berry. “But some teams are going to take it more seriously. Either way, it’s going to be awesome.”

The Christmas dodgeball tournament will take place at the St. Francis Xavier Sports Centre, 9240 163 street, starting at 9 a.m. Saturday. No admission for viewers — just watch out for flying balls… dodgeballs.