Bates Intramural Sports has once again brought together a wide mix of students for this dodgeball season, with 23 teams and over 200 players participating. 

At Bates, excitement about intramural dodgeball begins building in mid-February. One person acts as a team captain and gathers players to join them. From there, teams form in all kinds of ways. Some are built from friendships, or friends-of-friendships, others from clubs or teams trying to spend more time together outside their main activity; some are strangers looking for a team through the Bates recreation page. This year’s Multifaith Chaplaincy Fellows have formed a team called “Springfellows,” Bates men’s tennis plays under the simple name “Team BMT,” and the “Page Ballerz” all reside in Page Hall. 

The flexibility of the teams is what makes it work. Players can skip a game if they have to study for a test or go to play rehearsal, and it’s easy for students to sub in when they’re registered with Intramural Sports. Some players return to teams they already know, while others join entirely new groups. 

Delphine Mailhot ’28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was part of a team last year that was “just made up of people who the captain or other people on the team knew.” She was recruited through her club ski team, but met a range of players from other settings. Last season, her experience reflected what a lot of players feel.

“I was a little weird and felt awkward with these people who I knew only tangentially,” she says. “But it was honestly so normal and good. I love to show up and try and that’s all we did.” By the end of the season, that same group had made it all the way to the semifinals.

This year, despite being invited back to last year’s team, she opted to play for “Sailor? I Hardly Know Her,” a team consisting of members of the sailing club for which Delphine serves as a social chair. “It’s going to be a good way to build more team camaraderie within sailing, and that’s something that we’re working on.”

The team names and the shared identity that comes with them are a large part of the fun. “Dodgenomics is somewhat like a cult,” says Jillian Pastore ’26 of Ridgefield, Conn., founder and captain of the team. “Tenured members even have customized T-shirts with normal distributions and cash signs drawn on them. Throughout Dodgenomics’ career, people have graduated, so we are now mostly a crew of friends with no major specification required for entry.” Members of the team “Forfeit” like to tell about when the opposing team didn’t show up to their first game because they assumed the name meant the game was already canceled. 

Even in this fun, low-stress, environment, the games can still deliver high-stakes moments. Henry Cea ’29 of Metuchen, N.J., a “We Huck Dots” player says, “In one of our games, when we were playing the rowers, we were down to one person against five. Shoutout to ‘Walk-Em Down’ Will McLean [’29]! Our last person held out and finished off the five rowers!” 

Pastore, whose team made it to the finals this year, says that things can get theatrical. “People screaming at each other, presenting long-winded debates with the student referees over a call, jumping up and down like lunatics when their teammate lands a hit on their opponent. That is what makes these higher-stakes intramural rounds so memorable for me. They’re a testament to how much people love competition and sports, regardless of the level.”