Aliso Niguel’s student dodgeball tournament consists of teams of seven competing against each other to gain a spot to play against teachers and other schools.
This event was set up by ASB and their activities director Carrie Ross. The main organizers were Faith Huebner (11), Sabrina Leisner (12), and Sierra Yoon (11).
This dodgeball tournament is held once a semester for all students to participate in and watch during lunchtime. The activity is held for fun and it encourages students to show off their school spirit when eventually one team represents Aliso Niguel in the district tournament.
The dodgeball tournament has been their most popular lunchtime activity over the years. It has been held every year consecutively apart from last year.
Captains and their teams had to submit paperwork for their crew before the tournament to ensure everyone was safe and ready to play at their best.
The teams were Goon Squad, Trader Joe’s, Asboy’s, Football Boys, Team One, and the Water Polo Boys. Their captains were Quinn Curtis (11), Trevor Curameng (11), Josh Gillebaard (12), Hunter Najm (12), Cade Saito (11), and Ethan Olivarria (12), respectively.
The tournament started on Nov. 29 with the first match-up consisting of Trader Joe’s versus Team One. Trader Joe’s earned a hard-fought victory over Team One and advanced to play Hunter Najm’s team the Football Boys.
On Nov. 30, the Asboys went up against the Goon Squad who had a solid lineup of athletic students. The Asboys showed their dominance over the Goon Squad, easily beating them three to one.
On Dec. 1 Trader Joe’s played a difficult game against the varsity lineup for Football which included Hunter Najm, the starting varsity quarterback for Aliso. In an intense back-to-back game Trader Joe’s pulled through and won their second consecutive game.
The Asboys went up against the Waterpolo boys led by Ethan Olivvaria on Dec. 4. The Asboys easily defeated them and clinched a ticket to the semi-finals where they played the fan favorite team, Trader Joe’s.
On Dec. 5, the stakes were at their high with the championship on the line, and most of the students were cheering for the underdog Asboys.
The game started with Trader Joe’s taking the lead, lowering the hopes of the students. But the Asboys didn’t give up and tried their best to stay in the game.
The game started turning around for the Asboys and they started making a comeback in the third round. Massive uproar erupted from the crowd and everyone got chills from watching the intense game.
The last round came around and the stakes were high with a score of 2-2. The game started and both teams ran towards the center grabbing every ball they could get their hands on.
The game came to an end with Trader Joe’s having two players while the Asboys had their star player, Jack Patterson (10).
In the last moments, Jack hit an unexpected shot and brought the close game down to a one-on-one. The last two were facing off when a ball was thrown by Trader Joe’s, bouncing off of Jack when he caught it, clutching it for the Asboys and thus making them victorious.
All the ASB members run onto the court and carry Jack on their shoulders for playing such an amazing game.
In an unexpected turn, the Asboys pull through for the win in the finals game against Trader Joe’s.
Sierra Yoon comments, “Running the dodgeball tournament is very rewarding with the amount of students who came to watch it. I’m glad that students enjoyed this event.”
