It’s no secret that CHS is not widely regarded as an athletic powerhouse.

To start, the school has no organized sports teams; it’s too small, and not enough students are athletes. There is a fitness center, though there have been instances where students have been caught napping on the bench press.

So when the freshman class council organized the first-ever CHS Dodgeball Tournament, a thought from the Will Ferrell movie Dodgeball pierced the school: “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for [them].”

From Monday, March 20 to Wednesday, March 22, a section of the cafeteria became an official dodgeball court for the seven teams to play in a double-elimination tournament. It was cordoned off with crime scene tape borrowed from the forensics classrooms. Don’t worry –– there wasn’t a theft, although a team in the tournament was named the Crooks.

“We were trying to do something fun and make a little money at the same time,” freshman class advisor Jennifer Baldaccini said. “[The class council] came up with a dodgeball tournament.”

The teams were composed of five students and were required to be co-ed. There was a $15 buy in for each team.

The winners: seniors Brian McGowan of Wall, Rob Gill of Wall, Tommy Mazza of Wall, Matt Wheeler of Wall, Michael Tarigo of Sea Girt and Bree Biesiadecki of Spring Lake Heights. They were “The Crooks.”

“I enjoyed it because we won,” Biesiadecki said. “Good job to all the other teams, but we won, so…”

Although Biesiadecki was joking, there was a feeling of camaraderie and good sportsmanship that rippled throughout the cafeteria on each of the days.

“I had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get out there with my freshman homies,” said sophomore Tanner Grigoli of Ocean, who participated in the tournament with the team “Brody’s Big-Headed Benefactors.”

The winners received $15 from Pasquale’s Pizza, four free meals from Bubbakoo’s Burritos, four free meals from Turning Point, and five free ice cream cones from Sundae’s, The Ice Cream Place. All of the prizes were donated to CHS by the participating restaurants.

The freshman class council, who played as the “Coun-soul Crushers,” came in second place. Freshman class president Shawn Ribeiro of West Long Branch believes that future dodgeball tournaments will have much more participation.

“I think although only seven teams signed up, a lot of people chose to watch,” Ribeiro said. “I think it’ll be even more successful in the future.”