Dodgeball Tournament: Republicans vs. Democrats Living Social

Living Social Adventures recently hosted, «Dodgeball Tournament: Republicans vs. Democrats» on 04÷28÷12.
This tournament was FUN. It wasn’t your standard über competitive dodgeball tournament. Well, until it came to the finals where Team Awesome and Don’t Tread on My Balls duked it out, but more on that later… This was my first outdoor tournament, and it took place at the Yards Park on 10 Waterfront in SE. Surprisingly, not a bad venue for this kind of event. The event was co-​hosted by Flying Dog, DC Brau, and Zog Sports (thanks guys!). Mojo Truck and Tasty Kabob also made an appearance, which was helpful for squashing any food cravings acquired from so much running around.
The deets, and some of the rules:
There were six balls total, three on the left, and three on the right. there were four GIANT red balls (10″), and two standard sized 8″ dodgeballs. All balls were foam.
At the start of each round, there are usually 2 – 3 «runners» that run up to grab the balls at the line. In this tournament, you had to run to the left side, then bring the ball to the back line before you could throw it.
Pinching (grabbing the skin of the ball to give a slight curve to your throw) was strictly not allowed.
Teams were divided into Democrats and Republicans. Democrats had to all play each other, as did the Republicans. Then the winners of each bracket played each other.
Each participant (including spectators) got two drink tickets (woot woot!)
WAR PAINT — I didn’t personally add any, but saw some entertaining face paint by others.
Now, given the loose nature of this tournament, many of the «competitive» dodgeball teams did not come out to play. This ended up factoring in to be a lot more fun for everyone else. I consider myself a pretty competitive dodgeball player, however, it was a great experience to participate in one that wasn’t so serious (and i mean really, how serious can one get about dodgeball?).
I had the fortune of running into Team Awesome, who played for the Republican side. We were also lucky enough to have two additional players join us to complete the team of six, that were GREAT additions to the team (they caught EVERYTHING). After several rounds of dodgeball, Team Awesome went undefeated on the Republican side, and at the end of the day, ended up playing the winning Dems, Don’t Tread on My Balls.
By the time the finals came around, it started raining. It was INTENSE. The showdown of the Dems Vs. Repubs was crazy. Eventually, we all ended up covered in mud, there were gladiator rounds, i got hit in the boobs, players started doing flips to avoid getting hit, slipping and sliding all over the place! It was close, and Don’t Tread on My Balls just barely beat Team Awesome for first place. We toughed it out through the mud, sweat, and tears (yep, there were a few tears shed, fortunately not mine), and had a great time.
It was a hard earned second place finish, and I’ll definitely be back for the second dodgeball tournament on May 6^th, where it will be Pirates Vs. Ninjas!