Survivor Ball Tournament 2019
December 21, 2019
Dodge balls fly through the air . Students cheer from the bleachers. Everyone watches closely. Welcome to the 2019 Survivor Ball tournament.
This annual event takes place two days before Winter Break. Instead of going to elective, students spend two periods on December 18th and 19th in the gym cheering on their peers. There are boy and girl rounds across each grade level. P.E. teachers referee as teams compete in 5-minute rounds. Winners move on while the losers are eliminated. This continues until there are two winning teams for each grade.
Each player is requested to give $5 to participate in the tournament. The money goes to the charity of their choice. Students can donate to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, American Heart Association, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Childhood Leukemia Foundation or American Lung Association. When students sign up, they also receive three PBIS points, part of an online reward system used at Day Creek to promote positive behavior.
Teams range from 2 to 10 people, and they can show their spirit by dressing up in matching costumes or wearing colors to represent the charity of their choice. Students also come up with creative names for their teams.
The winning teams of the Survivor Ball tournament receive 9 PBIS points, a free Coyote Run Pass (similar to a mile pass) and a pizza party after Winter break.
The results of the tournament are below. Great job, Coyotes!
For the first time, 6th graders experienced the annual Survivor Ball tournament.
6th Grade Survivor Ball
6th graders chatter loudly in the halls as they walk towards the gym. This was going to be their first time experiencing the Survivor Ball tournament. Many appeared confident, while others were a nervous wreck. Everyone all wanted the same thing: to be the champions.
In the boy’s semifinals, The Beans competed against Milk & Cookies, and the Bro Squad played the Upper Classmen. The Beans vs. the Milk & Cookies was a pretty simple game. The beginning was mostly dodging and stalling, but near the end of the game the Beans started attacking offensively and hit most of the Milk & Cookies. The Milk & Cookies started to attack too, but they were too slow for The Beans. When The Beans hit the last Milk & Cookie, the crowd erupted in cheers. Now it was the Bro Squad vs. the Upper Classmen. The game was mostly neck and neck until players from the Bro Squad realized that the Upper Classmen throws were somewhat weak. They started catching some of the throws, and eventually eliminated everyone from the Upper Classmen. Nice strategy!
After many long games of throwing and dodging, The Beans and the Bro Squad were up. By the middle of the game, the Beans eventually cut down the players in the Bro Squad, until there was only one Bro left. Although the one Bro tried hard, he was soon hit, securing the win for the Beans.
In the girl’s tourney, the Dolls & Balls were up against the S.T.A’s (Save the Animals), and the Red Dragons faced the Turquois Turtles. The Dolls & Balls vs. the STA’s was a very close game. They had the same number of players at the beginning and middle, but near the end, the S.T.A.’s tried their best and made strong, quick throws. The Dolls & Balls couldn’t react quickly enough and eventually started losing players. When the last Dolls & Balls player was out, the S.T.A’s celebrated like they were on the top of the world.
The Red Dragons vs. the Turquois Turtles was a typical match. Both teams caught, threw and dodged. But the Turquois Turtles moved quicker. They dodged most of the Red Dragons’ throws and threw back at them. In the end, the Turquoise Turtles beat the Red Dragons.
The S.T.A’s vs. the Turquois Turtles was a thrilling game. The Turquois Turtles had a small lead, but that didn’t stop the S.TA’s. The S.T.A’s made a quick comeback and eventually beat the Turquois Turtles. Both teams believed in themselves and wanted to win badly, but there can only be one champion.
Kennedy E., an S.T.A, said, “We thought this would be impossible to do (win), but we just believed in ourselves (and) had faith in out other teammates, and we won!”
This was just their first year of Survivor Ball. Who knows what would happen next year?
The Bouncing Balls of Fury hoped to redeem themselves after their 6th Grade Defeat.
7th Grade Survivor Ball
After a year of experience, the seventh graders came in with confidence. But then again, you never know who will win when participating in the Survivor Ball tournament.
One of the teams that thought for sure they had it in the bag was the Defending Champs. They won the finals last year. But they lost to the RIP Juicy Boi in the second round. The Dodging Daddies, RIP Juicy Boi, Bouncing Balls of Fury, and Toilet Paper all made it to the semifinals.
The semifinal matches for the boys involved RIP Juicy Boi vs. Dodging Daddies and the Burning Balls of Fury vs. Team Toilet Paper. The Dodging Daddies vs. RIP Juicy Boi was a very close game. Paxton P. made the winning catch and eliminated the last RIP Juicy Boi. Team Toilet Paper went on the offense in the first ten seconds, but the Burning Balls stood their ground and won when Owen N. caught the winning ball. The finals for the boys included the Dodging Daddies and the Burning Balls of Fury.
On the girls’ side, last year’s champions, the Weirdos 2.0, went against The Crazy Cowboys.
The Weirdos’ throws were hard and fast. In the final few seconds, it was two Weirdos vs. one Crazy Cowboy. The Trenta no whip half-cap double shot espresso 10 pumps raspberry light ice won the match against The Warriors with four against two. The Weirdos 2.0 and the Trenta no whip half-cap double shot espresso ten pumps raspberry lite ice competed with each other for the championship.
Everyone in the bleachers watched carefully as the championships began. The girls’ round began first. The Weirdos began by grabbing the balls first and backing up, while the Trenta team played offensively. The Weirdos came out quickly with a seven to one lead and defeated the Trenta no whip half-cap double shot espresso ten pumps raspberry light ice by getting Natalie C. out. The Weirdos returned to their seats with everyone in the gym cheering for them.
The Weirdos pose after winning the 7th Grade Girls Survivor Ball Tournament.
The Dodging Daddies were called out first when they played the Burning Balls of Fury. The teams were neck and neck by stalling and dodging most of the game. Then at 0:49 seconds, Paxton P. got hit and the Bouncing Balls of Fury won. They were congratulated by the huddling boys in the bleachers and cheering students and staff.
After a year of experience, the Seventh-grade Survivor Ball was intense. Who knows how it will turn out next year with a second year of competition?
8th Grade Survivor Ball
Fueled by the knowledge that this year’s competition would be their last, DCIS 8th graders brought their A-game to the annual 2019 Survivor Ball Tournament. It’s almost as if the last two years of competition were only practice, all in preparation for taking home the gold.
8th grader Lauren A. kicked off the tournament with the national anthem, an amazing performance. As soon as the word “brave” hit the ears of the crowd, the gym erupted in cheers.
A few minutes later, Baljeet played Trent Disposal. Baljeet consisted of one player- Sohum M., an expert at dodging. The whole crowd chanted: “Baljeet! Baljeet!” There were even some boos toward Trent Disposal. Everyone wanted Sohum to win. However, much to the crowd’s dismay, Trent Disposal eliminated Baljeet and continued to the semi-finals.
The Average Joes, Trent Disposal, Moms of the P.T.A, and the Smurfs lost to the Compton Daddies, Big Spoons, Chicken Nuggets 3.0, and Thick Thighs in the semi-finals. Those winning teams worked their way up to the top of the pyramid. Each of them were mean throwing machines.
The final girls’ game came next: Thick Thighs against Chicken Nuggets 3.0. Both teams played evenly until less than a minute was left on the clock. Isabella M. was the only Thick Thigh player left on the court, standing alone against six intimidating girls. In the final few seconds, Maddie H. from Chicken Nuggets 3.0 caught Isabella M.’s final ball, yet she stepped over the boundary line! The referees debated the outcome of the game before deciding that Maddie caught the ball before she overstepped. Chicken Nuggets 3.0 took home the gold!
The Compton Daddies and Chicken Nuggets 3.0 pose together after winning the 8th Grade Survivor Ball Tournament.
The boys competed soon after. When the Compton Daddies strolled confidently onto the court, the crowd began to boo! Most of the onlookers cheered loudly for the Big Spoons. Both teams fought hard, and the result was a very close match. Finally, the Compton Daddies took the lead, with four Compton Daddies against one Big Spoon. With 38 seconds left, Aidan C. made the winning throw, sending Caleb R. straight to the bench and the Compton Daddies to 1st place!
This year’s Survivor Ball tournament was awesome, Coyotes! Sadly, we won’t see these champs again next year. But on the bright side, they fought hard and gave their all. This year’s tournament was certainly one to remember.