‘It’s good, clean fun’

Dodgeball continues to make a comeback with
the Jewish center’s third
annual high school
tournament.

By JORDAN COHEN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — They don’t play dodgeball in most schools these days. Fears about injuries and possible lawsuits have taken that classic childhood game out of gym class.

But dodgeball hasn’t gone away, as illustrated by the success of a raucous Ben Stiller/Vince Vaughn movie about the sport several years ago.

At Youngstown’s Jewish Community Center on Sunday afternoon, dodgeball was back with a vengeance, accompanied by a surprising light-hearted spirit.

It was evident by such team names as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, the Steel Valley Psychos, and the politically incorrect Caucasian Invasion and the Fighting Hookahs.

All competed in the center’s third annual high school dodgeball tournament, sponsored by B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and AZA , a Jewish social organization.

The gymnasium was packed with mostly high school students and a few supportive parents.

“The movie had a lot to do with the rekindling of interest,” said Benjamin Kranitz, JCC program director. “We knew the kids wanted to play so we started the tournament after the movie came out.”

On Sunday, 17 teams signed up to play in the single-elimination tournament with each team paying $30 to register. Kranitz said the funds raised by the tournament will be donated to the BBYO International Service Fund.

Some of the teams dressed as though they should have been extras in the movie. “Marky Mark,” actually Mark Wagoner, a Howland High senior, wore a black fright wig and a Groucho Marx mustache that didn’t stay on very long. He said the tournament is “all about having fun and having the athletic ability to win.”

Another team member, Scott Barkett, said his team may not have “the manliest men and we don’t have uniforms, but we’re bringing pink back.”

The Funky Bunch won its first round.

As for the tournament, this was not the disorganized dodgeball chaos that most people of a certain age remember. The goal, of course, hasn’t changed: to eliminate the opposing team by hitting each member with the ball (and hoping they don’t catch it, which eliminates the thrower). The teams, with six members each, played for seven minutes, and the team with the most players left at the end of the period was declared the winner. Teams were divided by a center line in the gymnasium, and players were prohibited from touching their opponents with anything but the ball.

To ensure accurate scoring and eliminate the possibility of arguments, Kranitz and Dwayne Lomax of Youngstown served as referees.

The hard throws that came rocketing and ricocheting across the gym sent visitors on the sidelines scurrying. That didn’t seem to bother either the players or the few hearty parents who came to cheer on their offspring.

“I think it’s a blast,” said Sharon Jones of Howland, whose son was among the competitors. “It brings the communities together.”

“I didn’t know what to expect when I came here, but this is pretty exciting,” said Miles Dotson, father of a 14-year-old player from Howland.

Despite the emphasis by the teams on the originality of their names, the winner took a decidedly countercultural approach: it went nameless.

“The winners actually called themselves ‘Team Name,’” said surprised tournament chairman Mark Banks, a Liberty High School senior. “That’s all they put down.”

For the record, the team members — all students from Howland — were Kevin Vellente, Sumit Kovoor, Eric Albani, Stefan Stelk, Joseph Prezioso and Matt Schultz.

Banks said he hopes for a bigger tournament next year, but all of the interviewed players and parents said they don’t want to wait. They wish dodgeball would return to their schools.

“That would be awesome, and plenty of kids would play,” said Michael Pasternak of the D-Bomb Squad, a junior at Lakeview and dodgeball veteran, who was on a team that won a recent tournament in Cortland.

“It’s good, clean fun,” said Jones. “The schools really ought to bring it back.”