You may not find a Vince Vaughn or Ben Stiller on the Clear Creek Middle School courts, but you will find plenty of competition and laughs in the recreation center’s dodgeball league.
The dodgeball mayhem sweeping the nation has arrived in Clear Creek County on Thursday nights at the middle school, where eight teams compete for fun, exercise and, most of all, pride.
The intensity was evident in the eyes of Georgetown Charter School physical education teacher Paul Dalpes on Nov. 20 when he threw a crazy, underhand curve ball across the court at Darin Stiles’ ankles. Dodging the ball, Stiles eluded Dalpes’ missile and threw another ball across the court.
In the first week of play, with little practice and strategies not quite figured out, the dodgeball players fought back the anxiety of stepping back into a middle school gym to face peers in an intense competition.
“After the first week of competition, no match went over two minutes. That’s how fast the games were going,” said Laura Allen, dodgeball referee and Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District program manager. “Now that the players are getting the hang of it, the games are at least lasting two to three minutes.”
With the longest game so far at just four minutes, Allen hasn’t had to worry about calling a game at the end of the five-minute limit. If five minutes expire, whichever team has the most players left wins the match.
During the third week of play, a fierce battle ensued between the Scorpion Kings and the Fuzzy Balls. The Scorpion Kings, dressed in all black with their red scorpion logo, were not distracted by the antics of the the Fuzzy Balls, who arrived dressed in numbered Golddiggers yellow — a symbol representing their pride, as they are a team mostly of Clear Creek Middle School teachers and their spouses. And in the first few matches, the Fuzzy Balls won, thanks to mascot and key player Dean Mayfield. Dressed in the team shirt, Mayfield also wore short, tight shorts with a jock strap on the outside.
“They call me ‘Danger,’ ” Mayfield insisted.
Mayfield decorated his jock strap with a skull and bones, a definite distraction for the opposing team.
But even Danger couldn’t stop the inevitable. The Scorpion Kings gathered as many balls as they could find and formed a firing line as close to the line of scrimmage as possible, then chucked the balls all at once. Their persistence paid off, and they beat the undefeated Fuzzy Balls.
“They went down. The Scorpion Kings wupped … on the Fuzzy Balls,” Kings player Michael Hill said.
The players took Thanksgiving week off, but if you’re dying to attend a local sporting event that will give you lots of laughs, plan on being at the middle school Thursday evening for free, fun local entertainment. The games begin at 6 p.m. Dec. 4, when Huckers Haven takes on the Fireballers. On Dec. 18, Allen plans to hold a tournament with a winners and losers bracket.
When Allen decided to start the league, she hoped at least four to five would join.
“This is the most participation I have seen from the adults since I have been here nine years,” Allen said. “Even the stands are getting full.”
Spring signups
Signups have already begun for a spring league. The six-week league runs from Feb. 12 to March 19. Each team needs at least six to 10 people and at least two women that will show up for every game. The cost is $75 per team.