Entertainment / Family Fun

Dodgeball Showdown open to youth this year

By Stephanie De Pasquale | Friday, July 04, 2008 | () comments

Last year, a father and son drove 50 miles to see Candlebox perform after the the annual District Dodgeball Showdown hosted by the Daiquiri Factory. The problem was, the son was only 17 years old, so Daiquiri Factory owner Kyle Peters had to turn them away.

“I felt horrible,” Peters said. “They drove 50 miles to come out here. He’s with his dad and just wants to come see this really huge outdoor concert and they weren’t able to.”

After turning away the father and son and hearing several requests from teens wanting to compete in the Dodgeball Showdown, Peters worked with the city of Rock Island to make the annual event open to all ages for this year’s competition and show.

“They’re the ones playing it currently,” Peters said of teens and dodgeball. “We get teams that are of all ages that come out that haven’t played dodgeball for 20, 30 years. The kids that are playing right now have a pretty good shot.”

This year, two additional dodgeball cages have been set up for a youth division open to 13- to 17-year-olds in addition to the adult division, which is for those 18 years and older.

“We’re trying to get families to come out,” Peters said. “It encourages physical activity versus playing Nintendo. I like Nintendo and the Playstation and all that stuff, but it’s nice in the summer to get out and do some physical activity.”

The tournament is played according to National Amateur Dodgeball Association rules, with regulation 8-inch balls on 50- by 30-foot courts that are created using temporary fencing.

“It’s a cage match is what it is,” Peters said. “We use 6-foot chain-link fencing and make a cage.”

Teams of six with two alternates play best-two-out-of-three matches in a double-elimination tournament. There will be an exhibition match between the Hooters Girls and the Hardee’s Hotties before the championship match.

Peters said the game action can get pretty intense and the dodgeballs sometimes are thrown so hard that they pop when they hit the fencing.

“You can tell the guys or girls who are softball pitchers or baseball pitchers, quarterbacks,” he said. “You can just tell the ones that have an arm on them.”

The intensity may stem from the available winnings. The 30 adult division teams will compete for a first-place prize of $1,000 and second-place money of $250.

In the teen competition, the first- and second-place teams will receive trophies, VIP passes to the teen nightclub Energy in Moline and a four-pack of Monster Energy drinks. The first-place team also will receive tickets to Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam at the i wireless Center in Moline on July 30.

Registration for the adult and youth divisions closes at 10 p.m. today. Participants can register online at daiquirifactory.com or in person at the Daiquiri Factory, 1809 2nd Ave., Rock Island. Teens need a legal guardian’s signature to participate.

There will be an informational meeting for teams at the Daiquiri Factory at 7 p.m. Friday. Brackets will be available at the meeting.

IF YOU GO

What: Fourth annual District Dodgeball Showdown. A concert follows with Candlebox, Small Town Sleeper, Kessler and Three Years Hollow.

When: Saturday, June 28. The dodgeball courts open at 11 a.m., the tournament begins at noon; the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Daiquiri Factory, 1809 2nd Ave., Rock Island

How much: Youth teams $80, adult teams $120. The dodgeball fee includes concert admission. For the concert only, it’s $19 in advance, $22 at the gate.

Information on the Web: daiquirifactory.com

Also on the Web: candleboxrocks.com, myspace.com/smalltownsleeper, myspace.com/kesslerband and myspace.com/hollowqc

Stephanie De Pasquale can be contacted at (563) 333-2639 or sdepasquale@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.