By Sean Yoo

On Thursday, October 24, I had the opportunity to take part in the annual Dodgeball Inferno hosted by ASB. I played for the Mock Trial team. Initially, when our captain signed us up, we thought we had no chance. Usually, academic teams are overlooked in dodgeball inferno, considered guaranteed first-round exits. Although we weren’t able to win the whole thing, Mock Trial made it to the semifinal round of the tournament (top 4), proving that the Granada Hills Charter (GHC) students shouldn’t count out our academic teams.

The first game of the event was a highly anticipated match-up between Mock Trial and Model United Nations. Each team had ten players on the court and two substitutes. There were nine balls total in play, and the game started with everyone touching the walls. When the whistle blew everyone rushed in, and the game was in action. It was a close start, and as two minutes passed, our team gained momentum. We started to pick off MUN members one by one and we seized victory. 

After that first match, there were seven more games including mostly sports teams like Softball, Football, and Cheer. These games were overall a blowout. These teams were able to move on with ease.

Mock Trial’s next game was the quarterfinal match against Girls Basketball. Our team was nervous to be pitted against an athletic team for the chance to compete in the semifinal match. The game was surprisingly pretty even. We shifted our strategy of trying to catch the ball instead of throwing it. Eventually, it worked in our favor and we were able to move on to the next round. 

“It was a really cool experience of being able to move so far,” senior and Mock trial member Evan Shin said. “With every round, it felt like we could really win this thing.” 

In between our quarter-finals and semi-finals, there was a huge upset when the varsity football team beat baseball dethroning their victory streak. Everyone in the crowd went wild and we as a team saw a slight possibility of a victory.

“It was frustrating, to say the least,” said junior and baseball player Max Szczcech “We’ll get them next year.”

The other games were between Cheer, Boys Soccer, Softball, and Boys Basketball. Boys soccer beat Cheer by a landslide and boys basketball barely squeezed through for a victory. 

In our final match, we went against Boys Basketball. The game started with an absolute landslide. One by one, my team got picked off like flies. It was so bad that it became an 8 v 1. 

That one? It was me. 

I saw no hope of any victory and I decided to enjoy the moment. I started dodging ball after ball that came my way and my ego became more inflated than a helium balloon. It became higher than Mt. Everest, and I started dancing in the middle of the match. Maybe that was the reason why they started crossing the boundary line again and again. It got to the point where 6 basketball kids were out. 

It was when it became a 3 v 1 that I started to think that I could actually win this thing. That was when I got so confident that I tried to catch a ball. 

I failed. Miserably. 

The final match was between Boys Basketball and Boys Soccer. Both teams played tirelessly but in the end, boys basketball was crowned champions after outnumbering their opponents 3 to 1. 

This event showed that the stereotypes of academic teams were wrong. We showed people that pretty athletic people exist on our teams. You never know, maybe an academic team will take it all next year.