Thursday, 21 March 2013 13:09

Dodgeball, Anyone? Local Players Will Attempt to Break Guinness World Record with 43-Hour Game

By Chelsea DiSchiano | Sports

HALFMOON – While most people can’t even bring themselves to stay awake for 43 straight hours, two groups of dodgeball players will attempt to do so while playing the grueling and competitive game of dodgeball Friday, March 22 in their efforts to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest dodgeball game.

 

Local physical education teacher at BallstonSpaHigh School, Rob Immel, has taken the lead in organizing the area’s latest effort in attempting to break the world record. Immel was a part of an upstate dodgeball team that set the record at 31 hours three years ago before getting beaten out by a group from Castleton, Vermont, who set the record at an impressive 41 hours.

“I’ve been involved in dodgeball locally, nationally and played in world championships over the past 10 years, so I wanted to go a little bit more globally and break this record,” Immel said.

Immel will be playing with local team members of Upstate Empire, and recruited players from the area and New York City to play on the opposite team.

“I wanted this to be competitive and I wanted people that can last 43 hours playing competitive dodgeball,” Immel explained. “I’ve played tournaments with and against these players, so I think we came up with two great teams and we’ll definitely put on a good show, have fun and be competitive for over 1,000 games of dodgeball.”

Immel didn’t just recruit players from the Big Apple—a dodgeball player named Toshiya Yoshida from Tokyo, Japan has actually flown into New York just to play on Immel’s team and try to beat the world record.

“Dodgeball is actually really big in Japan, and his family owns a dodgeball facility in Tokyo,” Immel said. “I met Toshiya last August at the dodgeball world championships and we got along, and I needed a player for this team so we just kind of recruited him to come down.”

Immel added that he has found a strong camaraderie in the sport of dodgeball.

“It’s really special with dodgeball players—of course there are certain teams that people just don’t get along with, but it’s kind of a cool sport where you can throw a ball as hard as you can at somebody and laugh about it five minutes later,” Immel said.

Immel said he is drawn to the sport of dodgeball because of the amount of athleticism it takes to play the game.

“It’s the amount of athleticism that’s needed—in a single game of dodgeball you can be all over the court, up in the air, down on the ground making a catch—the action never stops and there’s never a dull moment in the game,” Immel said. “It’s the most physically grueling sport that I’ve ever been a part of.”

So how is Immel, along with the other 19 players, going to partake in this grueling activity for 43 straight hours?

“Everyone keeps asking me that, but dodgeball is not something I get bored of,” Immel said with a laugh. “A lot of it will be mental—I have to realize I’m not going to beat the clock no matter how hard I play or how hard I try. The clock is going to remain the same, so I’m just going to try to stay in the moment and live for every little play and celebrate every hour that passes by until we reach our goal.”

The 43-hour game will be played competitively and by official rules and strict guidelines set by Guinness World Records. Each team has 10 players total, but will play six-on-six with six balls. The teams will be allowed a five minute break after each hour of play.

The potential record-breaking group isn’t just playing for the title, though—the event will also serve as a fundraiser for the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), an organization that focuses on honoring veterans who were injured while serving.

“The Wounded Warriors Project kind of struck home for a bunch of us, we feel it’s pretty important and pretty immediate,” Immel said. “You can see the effects the WWP has on veterans that were overseas, so when that idea came up, we decided we wanted to raise awareness and funds about it.”

Anyone can donate to the Wounded Warriors Project by visiting www.support.woundedwarriorproject.org/group-fundraising/43hours, or by stopping by the dodgeball game to make a donation and cheer on the players.

“I would recommend anybody to come out this weekend and give some support or a high five, or slap us in the face a little to wake us up,” Immel said. “Anybody that’s there is motivation for us—it’s a lot easier to play if people are watching, so if people want to come and support us, that’s awesome.”

The opening ceremonies for the game will begin at 7 p.m. on March 22, and the game is expected to last until around 3 p.m. on March 24. The event will take place at the Sportsplex of Halfmoon in the upstairs arena.

For more information on the event or to learn more about the players, visit www.43hours.com.

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