Local competitors were dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and of course dodging again for charity on Saturday.
The sixth annual Sun Life Financial GenNext Dodgeball Tournament turned hundreds of the city’s grown-ups into schoolyard kids again as they sought to destroy every Winston they could find at the Lowerys Sports Dome. “This is the only event I think that you kill each other for charity. You go for the jugular, you go out there and you try to create as much carnage as possible,” GenNext chair Ian Wright said. “And it raises really needed important dollars for the city of Thunder Bay.”
The tournament has raised more than $130,000 to date for the United Way with another $35,000 expected this year thanks to the 32 teams who join in. “Another sellout year, we couldn’t be happier,” Wright said.
Fashion has become another element in the competition. What started as a handful of teams dressing up is turning into the city’s second Halloween. 80s themes to Mexican wrestlers were out in full force on the dodgeball court.
While it’s all fun and games, Wright said a lot of people don’t realize how physically demanding the tournament can be. Teams now train and get in shape for weeks before the first game is held Saturday morning. Wright still remembers how brutally unprepared he was his first year. “I was in tears massaging my legs after the second game,” Wright said.
The event is going to keep trying to expand and grow to raise as much money as it can. “We’re always looking for new and better ways to raise these funds through this dodgeball tournament,” Wright said.
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