The annual Londonderry High School Fall Dodgeball Tournaments generate excitement within much of the school’s student body each autumn, and funds raised through the events are put to great use. And all of that certainly happened again last week during the 2017 LHS tournament.
A total of 16 pumped-up teams started out in the tournament amidst good-natured trash-talking on night one Monday, Nov. 13. And when play had been completed the next evening nobody had been able to defeat the colorfully-named title-winning team called Duck Duck Chuck.
The fall tournaments are directed by the Londonderry High Athletic Leadership Council, and funds raised go to the school’s Little Acts of Kindness charity. This autumn, however, the money which was raised – more than $500 – will be divided up between the Little Acts of Kindness cause and LHS 12th grader Courtney Johnston’s senior project, which will establish a support group for Londonderry students who struggle with mental illness. The school’s athletic leadership council advisor Crystal Rich is Johnston’s senior project mentor, and Rich was present for all of the 2017 tournament’s action.
“It’s really nice to see the kids come together for a good cause,” she said. “While it looks like they are out there on the court being competitive and having fun, it’s really much more than that. The money they raised will help support a fellow Lancer in need. It might provide school supplies, food, or even clothing for a student who has been struggling. It will also help to make the halls of LHS a more comfortable place for all students who struggle with their mental health. While only one team is crowned champion, they are all champions to me and I’m proud to be associated with them.”
Four teams were weeded out of the initial crowd of 16 on Monday night the 13th as double-elimination play got rolling.
With a dozen teams still in contention for the title on Tuesday night there was exciting action in best-of-five game matches, with The Throwbocops, The Dodgefathers, The BB’s, and Duck Duck Chuck winding up being the last four teams standing. And the finals match-up became solid when The Dodgefathers disposed of The BB’s in semifinal play to advance to play the unbeaten Duck Duck Chuck crew.
As The Dodgefathers had already absorbed one match loss in the double-elimination tourney, they needed to be able to beat their unbested opponents twice to snag the title.
The championship squad needed to take a match consisting of a possible seven games in the finals, but Duck Duck Chuck bagged a 4-1 victory in match one in collecting the 2017 title.
The championship squad included Anthony Federico, Patrick Murphy, Ricky Perry, Cole Britting, and Jake Dionne, and the runner-up crew consisted of Cam Degraw, Luca Amarena, Jacob Croteau, Zach Deleo, Josh Rutina, and Owen Creed.