Teams dressed as nuns, wrestlers, film villains and more take to dodgeball court for annual Fort St. John fundraiser

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The sounds and fury of a youth sport took over the Kids Arena Fieldhouse in Fort St. John during the weekend, as dodgeball raised funds for a local sports organization.

The City of Fort St. John, in partnership with the North Peace Gymnastics Association (NPGA), hosted the city’s annual adult dodgeball tournament on Saturday, March 7th.

With a beer garden, 50/50 draw and concessions, proceeds for the event went toward the NPGA for participation in travelling competitions.

The NPGA said totals raised from the event have yet to be finalized.

While 20 teams – including an entry from Energeticcity.ca’s parent company, Moose Media – registered, the final entry had 18 teams participating, according to City of Fort St. John recreational programmer David Green.

“This is a fun event for the gymnastics club,” said Green. “It’s a fun partnership between the club and the city to help them out and raise some funds.” 

The tournament itself featured a round-robin and knockout stages to determine an overall victor, who were the Moss Pigs. Empire took second place overall followed by No Ballz in third position.

No Ballz, who were dressed as Mexican luchador wrestlers, also won the award for best dressed, while the Cramp Champs took most enthusiastic squad and Nun Shall Pass, dressed as nuns in a convent, won most sportsmanlike team.

There were a smattering of creative costumes – including even a team paying homage to the Globo Gym Purple Cobras from the 2004 film ‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.’

Marc Schaefer, a participant with the Purple Cobras, joked, “I’m always the villain, we are having fun with it,” and added the outfit took him about two days to complete.

Ryan Bruvold’s team – the Velvet Thunder – participated in the tournament a year ago, with their multicoloured fitness outfit uniforms stemming from a “random Facebook conversation.”

“It’s fun,” said Bruvold. “It’s great to participate in a tournament like this, with the whole community playing.”

The day-long annual dodgeball tournament took place on Saturday, March 7th at the Kids Arena Fieldhouse.