Kickball tournament fosters friendly residential rivalry
RHA and UDCR hosted a kickball tournament on April 14 during One Day, One Dayton. Photo of the kickball tournament courtesy of Ren Sikes.
Ren Sikes
During the one day mini break on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, the University of Dayton community took part in some friendly rivalry— residential rivalry if you will.
The Residential Housing Association (RHA) partnered with University of Dayton Campus Recreation (UDCR) to put on a kickball tournament. President Spina even made an appearance to kick off the event.
The tournament took place on Stuart Field where One Day One Dayton was set up. One Day One Dayton is an annual celebration of the UD community. Their main goal is to support UD through donations and philanthropic efforts. They also helped run Residential Rivalry as well as several other events on campus.
One Day OneDayton offered prizes as well as free snacks and Pepsi merchandise. Free Sweet P’s popsicles were also handed out at the event.
RHA Executive Vice President Rachel Veneman was the primary organizer of the kickball tournament. She helped put on a similar event in the fall, a cornhole tournament. Her plan is to make Residential Rivalry an annual or semi-annual event.
“I’m very proud of the way the event turned out. The hard work and enthusiasm from UDCR and One Day OneDayton truly made the event a success for all those that came out to partake in the tournament,” Veneman said.
The event was a success, as 11 teams made up of 102 students gathered to play kickball. The entirely in-person event was a nice change of pace from the streak of online events that had previously characterized the semester.
While wearing masks and social distancing was still enforced, it was a great way to enjoy the weather and the company of the community.
The in-person aspect of this event was vital to its success—obviously you can’t play kickball over Zoom, unless they create one in Game Pigeon for iOS. The fact that the event was in person was essential.
Friends, family and faculty gathered to watch the games and students from all over campus made appearances to grab free popsicles. I have been a member of RHA since the fall and have attended weekly meetings every Monday. That being said, the event was the first time I actually met the RHA Executive Board in person.
As I write this article, I am nursing a sunburn and craving more popsicles. If you had the opportunity to attend this event, you can probably agree with me that it was a much needed social experience. Now I will move on to the actual important stuff, the final standings of the kickball tournament.
The semi-finals included Angelo’s Knights, a freshman team, and Donny Thornberrys, a senior team. Angelo’s Knights defeated the Donny Thornberrys and moved onto the championship game.
The second semi-final game was Team Jerry versus Zonsius, both senior teams. Team Jerry took the victory and the second spot in the championship game.
The championship game featured Angelo’s Knights and Team Jerry, with Angelo’s Knights taking the final victory.
Overall, Residential Rivalry was a successful event that brought students from all over campus together. I, for one, had a lot of fun during my time there, and I sincerely enjoyed getting to spend time with people in person.
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