MOUNT VERNON — “Teams ready? 3-2-1 Dodgeball!” And with that the inaugural KICKS (Knox County Kids Succeed) dodgeball tournament was underway.
The event took place last week in the Energy Field House at Mount Vernon High School. Ian Lashley, President of the KICKS Foundation, explained the reason for the tournament.
“We are trying to help families and/or children in Knox County that are underprivileged or cannot afford extracurricular activities without some help,” Lashley said.
There are programs to help students while they are involved in school-sponsored activities.
“We want to help students with activities outside of school sports, for example, music, martial arts and things like that,” Lashley said. “We are trying to get sponsorships to help kids with outlets that these kinds of activities can provide
“We are just trying to get these activities to the kids because they can be very good for them.”
Why dodgeball for the fundraiser?
“A lot of people have seen the movie ‘Dodgeball’ and a lot of people love dodgeball,” Lasley said. “We played it in school. Nearly everyone is familiar with the game and the rules are pretty simple.”
In this version, Lashley explained that teams are comprised of six people.
“It’s a nice little team sport that gets people together,” he said.
The goal for the tournament was to attract 10 teams paying a $60 entry fee, or $50 if a team pre-registered. When the first ball was dodged, there were seven teams.
Lashley plans to make this an annual event.
As for the rules, Lashley explained that many of the traditional rules apply, no crossing of the center line, no going out of bounds. If a player is hit by a ball they are out, but all is not lost, if a player catches the ball all of the players on that team are allowed to reenter.
“We are trying to keep the rules simple and for everyone to have a good time,” he said.
The tournament followed a double-elimination format, meaning a team had to lose twice to be banished to the sidelines.
After the final ball was thrown, Weber’s Warriors hoisted the championship trophy. This squad consisted of members of the Mount Vernon High School football team led by head coach Mark Weber.
Next year Lashley hopes to move the fundraiser up on the calendar.
“If we move it to early April there may be less conflicts, I would like to see 15 to 20 teams.”