Friday Night Dodgeball

Remember back in elementary school during recess, you would get a bunch of your friends (and maybe a few kids you never met) and play dodgeball? A line of 5-10 kids along a wall, dodging a big red rubber ball and one kid being the thrower through out that peticular game? Yeah that was always fun until someone (or I) got hit in the face. Then it was a mighty fine trip to the nurse's office. I know I spent a lot of quality time there for recess-related activities. Kickball was another sport that I had some injuries from..... Not so much baseball (that was my main sport going into elementary and middle school). Never seemed to get an injury from playing baseball. Hmm, that might be telling me something. Hahaha.

Now that I am a young adult, I learned a different version of dodgeball. Since the 2004 movie Dodgeball came out, it seems that more and more dodgeball leagues are starting, including where I work (I work at a recreation center). Where each team has 6 people on each side with 6 balls laying in the middle of the court. The game goes on until all 6 people on the opposing side is eliminated. We play until the first team gets 6 victories (it's a best out of 11 series). In our league, we have 10 teams in it. At first, I thought it was the stupidest thing in the world, but I actually think it's funny. Just the different reactions everyone has. The different emotions people have.

One thing I have noticed, being a spectator (and referee) and as a player is the emotion and the physical aspects that goes into the game. Emotion such as how hard you throw the ball. The emotion you get if you get hit (whether it's in the chest or in the face). Its really amazing how people act when they get hit or were able to get the victory for their team. Trust me, there were times that I was frustrated when I was the last one standing for my team and lost (and maybe the occasional swear word....). Or when I was the last one standing on won the match for us. However, everyone has different ways of reacting to things.

For example, when I referee, players often have an upset look after I say that they got hit with the ball, but that person didn't know he/she got hit. Or when someone doesn't understand the rules (such as when it bounces off the wall and someone catches it - it's legally a dead ball if it hits the ground or wall). Remember: No one's perfect.

Of course, there is the physical feelings of playing. The couple of times that I have played, I ended up having a sore shoulder for a few days. Even other people who play in the league has had some sort of pain after playing. The thing is: until I need to have surgery, I'll continue to work through the pain. Okay, I might be exaggerating.

Much like any-other sport, you have to go into the game feeling confident that you are going to do well. You know what, forget about you. You and your team have to go into the game feeling confident and ready to win. But as well all know, with any kind of sport, you win some and you lose some. The best thing to do is to accept the loss, and hope for the best possible outcome the next time you play. There's no point of losing one week and then going into the next week with a mentality to lose.

In the textbook, it states that "Feeling confident can make the difference between success and failure in everything from giving a speech to asking for a date, whereas feeling insecure can ruin your chances". It continues to say "Feeling angry or defensive can spoil your time with others, whereas feeling and acting calm will help prevent or solve problems".