La Salle’s student-teacher dodgeball tournament debuted on Saturday, Dec. 10, inviting the La Salle community to witness the defeat of the teachers and the victory of the team “Eas Mo Dragons.”

“Glad to clutch up for the boys,” senior Finbar O’Brien said, having been the last player on the court in the final moments of the tournament. O’Brien made the defining shot against senior Will Ceballos of “The Nutcrackers,” securing the overall win for his team.

Organized by Athletic Director Mr. Chris George and Vice Principal for Student Life Mr. Aaron Hollingshead, as well as other members of La Salle’s administration and members of student leadership, the dodgeball tournament was created as “an opportunity for students to have fun,” Mr. George said.

“I think people are a little bit on edge, ready to be done, and they’re stressed,” Mr. George said. “So we saw that come out a little bit. … But, I think [the tournament] came at a good time.”

The tournament also was an effort to move toward achieving one of the school’s goals this year of increasing the number of unofficial athletic events and non-dances outside of school hours that students can participate in and “finding different outlets for students to get involved,” Mr. Hollingshead said.

The day began with nine teams in the running — eight of which were students, and one of which was teachers — bringing with them their team names, coordinated outfits, and strategies for winning onto the court.

Director of STEAM and Innovation and Design teacher Ms. Carie Coleman — of the faculty team “Porschia Ball” — explained prior to the tournament that her outfit for the day was a part of her tactics to win, and said that her “cat, space, kitten leggings,” would bring her team good luck.

“I have won tournaments in this before,” Ms. Coleman said.

However, despite being optimistic about her team’s outcome prior to the matches beginning, Ms. Coleman is “a realist,” she said. “We probably won’t win. But I’m still going to talk trash, still going to have fun, and I’m still going to own it.”

Others were much more confident in their abilities as a team. Senior Harris Ngyuen from the team “The Nutcrackers,” otherwise known as “the best team in the league,” according to Ngyuen, said after being defeated by “Eas Mo Dragons” the first time, he was sure his team would win and that “we just need to beat them twice. That’s no biggie. I’m not even worried.”

His team, however, did not take home the dodgeball champion trophy that afternoon.

While eight teams were inevitably eliminated by the end, many players remained positive in their outlooks at the end of the day.

“My team just got double eliminated, so I’m pretty upset, pretty angry,” senior Ella Wedin of the team “Great Balls of Fire,” said. “But I’m having a lot of fun.”

And, despite her entire team being made up of senior students, Wedin said, “We’ll be back next year. We’ll be back.”