SUPERIOR – On Friday, March 28, accuracy, speed and agility will be tested as teams attempt to nail one another with balls during Superior’s annual Business Professionals of America Dodgeball Tournament.

As of Friday, March 21, there were approximately four teams signed up for the event. McKenzie Stager, chapter president for Superior, thought they would have at least eight teams by the day of the event. 

In the past, teams from Charlo and St. Regis have made appearances at the tournament. There have also been years where college students have come home for spring break and created a team.

“It varies,” Stager said. “You get the strangest people will come and have teams and it’s so much fun.”

According to Stager, the event has had teams of all sorts each year. She recalled one year where she was on an all-girl team of junior high kids and went up against a team of college guys.

“You have literally everybody,” Stager said. “Every kind of thing you can think of is there.”

There are 16 slots for six-person teams in the competition. The tournament will be broken into double elimination brackets. In double elimination, when a team loses they enter a consolation bracket and go up against another team to re-join the competition. If a team loses twice, they are out of the tournament.

The tournament does not always have the full 16 teams. Stager said some years they have only had eight or nine teams participate. In these cases, the teams open with a round of unofficial matches. Afterwards, the actual bracket begins.

The top three teams will be awarded prizes for their victories. The first place team gets a commemorative T-shirt with the BPA logo and the date. Stager said the prizes would work slightly differently this year.

In the past they have premade shirts in advance and given them to the victors as is. This year, they will make the shirts on site with a press before presenting them. She said this was a good way to ensure everyone got the right size.

“So you don’t have a little teeny guy wearing an extra large T-shirt,” Stager said.

The second and third place teams get different prizes each year. Stager was not sure what the runner up prizes were for this year. She said they are usually coffee cards or baskets full of different items.

Stager emphasized the competition was just for fun. The tournament has been happening for many years and has been around for as long as she can remember. The hope was for some of the younger kids to come forward and join in. While it could be intimidating, Stager hoped the kids realized how much fun it was.

“Just because we’re high schoolers, and older people, doesn’t mean we’re going to judge them or beat up on them,” Stager said. “We all went through it too and it’s just for fun.”

The tournament is usually held in the first weeks of spring. Because the teams are between sports seasons, this is a good time to hold the event. In the past the event has happened between the winter sports season, but this time of year is preferred.

For more information check out the event’s Facebook page by searching for Superior BPA Annual Dodgeball Tournament. This is the first year the event has a Facebook page. Stager hoped the page would help spread word of the event.

Registration will remain open until Thursday, March 27.