LRHF Raises $257,000+ With “Dodge For a Cause” Tourney

After months of planning and dozens of teams signing up, it all came to a head last night at the Hoop Factory.

Transformed from its usual standing as a basketball training facility and open play area, the floor became the setting for a dodgeball tournament that would even make Patches O’Houlihan proud.

In the end, the final teams to survive (which did NOT include 106-1 The Goat’s ‘Average Goats’, despite heart, effort, and definitely sweat equity), were the Bar Engineering Blackout and a team of friends known simply as “Sitting Ducks”.

The fury on the court was intense, despite both teams having played several rounds throughout the day.

The Blackout were particularly vulnerable, having played their semi-final game to get the shot at the championship just minutes before the final game.

After nearly 12 hours of play, the Hoop Factory smelled of sweaty humans, pizza, and the occasional whiff of massage oil or Rub A5-35, depending on where you were at the moment. Still, the drama couldn’t be any more intense, as the final game would begin.

The “Sitting Ducks” would take the lead in the opening frames, as the teams had two 7-minute halves to compete and win as many games as possible. It would look as though it would be an easy win for the camouflage-clad crew, but after the second half, a new fire would come from the Bar Engineering team.

A star player on the blackout team, a man simply known as “Jimmy” would find himself alone on the court, dodging, dipping, diving, ducking and dodging until shear exhaustion – a task he had already faced once earlier in the tournament.

As the final buzzer would approach, the Blackout were actually mounting the comeback of all comebacks, as the started picking off Sitting Ducks one by one. After nearly forcing a 3-3 tie would would require an overtime game, the buzzer would ring, and the Sitting Ducks were declared the 2023 champions.

As the teams celebrated and winced at the new pains they would undoubtedly suffer the next morning, the real winners here were the people who benefit from the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation.

The event raised a total of $257,850 for the LRHF and their initiatives to install a first-of-its-kind air filtration system in Western Canada for Pioneer Lodge and House as well as Youth Mental Health Initiatives put on through assistance of the foundation.