Dodgeball IV

A Wildly Popular Community Event

Check out and download photos courtesy of Blue Sky’s Studio

Draft dodgers, nerds, zombies and a brave Speedo-clad few stepped onto the courts of SchoolPower’s 4th Annual Dodgeball Tournament last Thursday ready to feel the sting of textured red rubber against skin.

The point of dodgeball, the venerable gym class game, is to nail your competitor “anywhere but the face” and is a wildly popular community event and fundraiser for Laguna Beach’s education foundation. This year, approximately 400 students and adults comprising 54 teams in three divisions embraced the opportunity to take out a friend with one devastating throw.

In the middle school division, a team of masked crusaders known as The Supers used extraordinary powers to vanquish arch enemies. The hippies of Peace, Love and Dodgeball set off their own revolution on the 4th and 5th grade division courts and proved that love, in fact, does conquer all. Prizes for best costume were awarded to Motley Crew, Apocalypse and Nerd Alert.

Covered live by Laguna’s local KX 93.5, the radio station proved to be an enthusiastic community partner by bringing the KXtreme team to compete in the high school/adult division. In their bracket, elementary school staff faced off against middle school teachers and Laguna Beach firefighters took on city lifeguards in a battle for dodgeball supremacy. At evening’s end, the triumphant Laguna Beach lifeguards stood on LBHS’s center court holding aloft their second coveted Golden Skull trophy.

Last year, SchoolPower raised over $900,000 for Laguna Beach schools. Standing in a gym packed with cheering spectators, President Lynn Gregory noted that this event is most valuable for uniting the community. “SchoolPower is all about kids and families,” she said.