Dodging their way to Las Vegas
They say it’s like the American rugby team coming here to take on the All Blacks. Six Cantabrians will represent Dodgeball New Zealand as part of the New Zealand team at the World Dodgeball Federation world championships in Las Vegas in August.
Simon Harrison, Nick Fargher and Lee Terewi are three of the Cantabury contingent leaving for the United States on August 6. ’It’s the sport for retired athletes,’’ says Fargher.
Dodgeball requires two teams to throw balls at each other, striking the opposition while avoiding being hit themselves.
The squad’s nine members come from Christchurch, Marlborough, Wellington and Otago. Players had to raise more than $4000 to get to America, and were ‘‘breaking up concrete and building decks in the weekends’’ to fund their venture.
By day, Fargher, 25, is an engineer, who likes to play table tennis and softball.
Harrison, 33, is a father of five, a builder and the self-described ‘‘godfather’’ of New Zealand dodgeball.
Terewi, 35, also a builder, got into the sport after spying the dodgeball league while watching indoor netball.
The New Zealand team was selected from two tournaments, including a trans-Tasman clash.
The Kiwis hope to make the semi-final at the world champs, and are confident they can beat Australia. Dodgeball is ‘‘just easy,’’ Terewi says.
‘‘You turn up with yourself. I call it couch potato sport.’’
‘‘It’s the greatest loophole in sport,’’ Harrison says.
In Las Vegas, the Kiwis will play in exhibition matches and two further tournaments on top of the world championship, including one played on trampolines.
Fargher had his first taste of dodgeball while in Year 11 at Marlborough College, about the time the movie Dodgeball, starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, hit the big screen.
‘‘After the movie, everyone started getting interested.’’ How much does art imitate life? Just ‘‘the social side’’ after the games, Harrison says.
‘‘You work as a team at the end of the day,’’ Fargher says.
The engineer says it is awesome to be part of the sport in Christchurch, which they consider to be New Zealand’s dodgeball hub.
‘‘You get rewarded for throwing balls at people.’’ Every Thursday, the men play in a league at Riccarton’s Howzat centre.
The six-a-side sport requires a high level of fitness. ‘‘I’m shattered the night after a game,’’ Terewi says.
The sport ‘‘relies on honesty’’ – players know when they have failed to dodge the ball. ‘‘If you’re not honest it ruins the game’’, Harrison says.
The players hope the world champs will help raise the sport’s profile in Christchurch. Find the team on Facebook, at Dodgeball New Zealand