Cosmic Dodgeball

The vibrant, neon drawings of dragons whirl through landscapes of stars and planets decorating the ceiling-to-floor windows of the AOERC gym. Their gleaming eyes pierce through the low-light of the basketball courts remodeled in shining UV vibrance— paper stars cascading from the nets, and duct tape demarcating the courts. Amongst it all, glowing silhouettes of eight dodgeball teams throwing spheres of light through the shadowy air of night fall. Our athletes competed in a double-elimination tournament, with each team playing a minimum of two games. Each game ran for 15 minutes, with teams accruing one point per every full-team elimination. By the end of the 15 minute game period, the team with the highest number of points would win. If it came to a tie, the win would be given to the team with more players still currently in. 

In the event that the number of players were the same, a two minute sudden-death match would be held. Unlike the rest of this year’s events, Cosmic Dodgeball is the first event to feature a non-traditional sport. Compared to beach volleyball, track and field, and soccer, Stanford does not have a formal dodgeball team. Carter Staggs, 27’ believes that “there’s a lower barrier to entry for dodgeball than more traditional sports.” This lower barrier of entry speaks to the popularity of this game in particular—105 athletes showed up to represent their neighborhoods, with over half of them being first-time Farm Games participants. “You’re at Stanford, [we have] world-class athletes, and so for us NARPS [Non-Athletic Regular People] we’re able to kind of get in, have some fun… people haven’t been training for it, so you can add more to a team,” Jack Murawczyk confirms. Beyond the heightened atmosphere for the games courtesy of the UV lights and neon decor, as well as the excitement of returning to Farm Games after the winter break, the accessibility of dodgeball was likely a major contributing factor to its popularity. “It’s… nostalgic because back in middle school I used to play dodgeball a lot, so being able to do it now when I’m older—and it just looks better with the aesthetic of the neon lighting… Yes, Farm Games is really fun,” says Ubadinaobi Egeonu, 27’. 

Beyond the rule specifications of Farm Games’ own approach to dodgeball, very few players needed to be reminded of how to achieve victory— stand your ground upon the court and avoid every neon ball screaming through the air. And screaming there indeed was, as Redwood snatched up their second Farm Games victory of the year, coming down to the wire in a double-overtime match against Sequoia, with Magnolia finishing in third in the tournament. Along with shiny medals and bragging rights, the winners received Stanford Nike puffer jackets, and the second-place team received Nike Farm Game beanies. The event came to a close long after night had fallen over Stanford campus, but the energy remained high. For many, Cosmic Dodgeball was less about the competition and more about a 2 venue of entertainment to be shared with friends: “A lot of my friends were out of town, and the friends that were here really wanted [a] fun thing to do over the weekend. It seemed like a good way to spend the evening” (Staggs, 27’). Not just for our athletes, but for our spectators as well, who braved the flurry of glowing dodgeballs to cheer on their neighborhoods. Even for passersby making their way across campus past the AOERC gym, the luminescence of Cosmic Dodgeball turns heads. The ultimate closing remark from our athletes? “Love dodgeball!”