Dodgeball is in the air for an expat affair

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Dodgeball is in the air for an expat affair

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Players take their positions during a dodgeball tournament at Bosung Girls’ High School in Haebangchon, Seoul. By Moon Gwang-lip

Sometimes a sporting event is used for fund raising, but dodgeball?
Last Saturday, a group of expats living in Seoul got together to break the norm. And while the players were serious, the event turned out to be hilarious.
Around 120 foreigners gathered at Bosung Girls’ High School in Haebangchon, adjacent to Itaewon, for a dodgeball tournament hosted by the Seoul Sisters Rugby Club, an all-womens’ club. The game was to raise money for the club’s trip abroad.
“When we talked about fundraising, we thought, ‘Oh, why don’t we do a dodgeball tournament?’” said Charlotte Baikie, a member of the rugby club who organized the event. “So we began advertising in all the magazines in Itaewon six weeks ago.”
Baikie added she also got a hint from “Dodgeball,” a Hollywood comedy movie starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller.
The movie also featured a cameo by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who visited Korea in August. Armstrong said he hears about the movie almost everyday.
The promotion seemed highly successful. Turnout was good and the players were motivated.
Players from 12 teams at the indoor gym of the school looked focused even during practice an hour before the games started at noon.
“I am a bit scared because the ball is fast and hard,” said Rob Miles of Richmond, Virginia, while watching his Cobra Kai teammates practice.
While he was speaking, one of his teammates screamed “Ouch!” as a fast-flying ball hurled by a teammate hit his head. “I’m just glad these guys are on our team,” Miles said.
The games began and two teams of eight players each faced off with a line separating them. The international rules were simple: Eliminate all opposing players by hitting them with one of the six balls.
Dodge, duck, slide, catch, slip ― the players’ movements on the court drew applause and exclamations of awe from players on other teams who doubled as spectators from the second-floor stands.
Grant Warfield, an American English teacher at a local college, belonged to a losing team, but he didn’t mind.
“I am here primarily for spirit and enthusiasm,” he said. “We lost, but just barely. We did a good job, except for me.”
Just like in the movie, many of the teams wore funny costumes.
That was mainly because a prize for best costume was up for grabs, said Alison Olson, a Canadian player for the Dodge Deer. Her team featured one player in a Santa Claus costume and seven others who wore paper deer horns on their heads.
“It’s like going back to childhood,” Olson said.


By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]
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