MORGANTOWN — Living in California for several years, Aaron Hess found that dodgeball was a big deal in sunny Los Angeles. When he came back to West Virginia, he wanted to bring the dodgeball back with him that resembled that of the game he played in LA. Also, he wanted to break up the misconceptions about the game that it’s not your hyperbole of childhood nightmares from your grade school gym class.
On Saturday, the group took to the court for the inaugural Monster Dodgeball Tournament. The co-ed fun loving five-some teams went head to head at SteppingStones for prizes like a bar tab to The Apothecary Ale House & Café.
Saturday Danielle Conaway participated in the tournament. When she saw a flyer hanging at the Suncrest Towne Centre for the dodgeball league it intrigued her, and she figured she would give it a shot. What she found out soon is that she loved it, and the people she plays with.
“It’s just a really good time, and you know what it’s unfortunate that a lot of people think that it’s going to be a bad gym class experience like when they were kids,” Conaway said.
She did mention it is a lot more fun as an adult. She laughs most the time, and laughs at herself. She said it challenges her a lot. She said you work up a great sweat and it always engages not only your mind but your body. From the sidelines, Conaway appeared to be dominating the floor, between ducking and diving to landing blows and getting people “out.”
“It’s an intense game, but it’s good, it challenges you. I hate exercising, I really do, but I love this,” Conaway said.
According to Conaway, the group playing Saturday was inclusive of those mostly coming to open gym on Tuesdays at Morgantown Learning Academy, but there were a couple new faces. The comradery was amiable, with everyone working together with high fives, laughing, and having a good time.
“This started back in February and I think we’ve always had a pretty good group, at the most probably like 25 to 30 people, it’s just really fun,” said Conaway.
Hess said the league is very inclusive and has a high participation of women. He also encourages people to come play, anybody with $5 can come to Morgantown Learning Academy Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m. and participate. As a newer venture, the group has seen pretty good growth and Hess said dodgeball is such a great workout, out. Interested individuals can check out the Monster Dodgeball page on Facebook.
