By Alyssssa Zucker
Staff Writer
Mira Costa is a school with a tradition of athletic excellence, and a team of six students takes this excellence to a new level in an uncommon sport.
The students participate in Costa’s dodgeball tournament every year, and have swept the last three titles, their most recent coming earlier this year. The team chose the name “Amateur Hour” during their freshman year when a group of seniors assumed they would be easily defeated. Winning the tournament as freshmen, sophomores and first-semester juniors at Costa, they hope to finish out high school undefeated.
“We came together as a team in seventh grade, and won the middle school tournament,” junior team captain Jack Hadley said. “We proceeded to win as freshmen, sophomores and juniors earlier this year.”
The team consists of juniors Gordon Cardenas, Travis Bradford, Luc Alexiades, Grant Southwood, Jack Hadley and Wyatt Hunt, who joined the team freshman year.
“The team chemistry is fantastic,” Cardenas said. “The dodgeball tournaments have only strengthened our friendships. We are all friends in and outside of dodgeball and love to hang out and have fun.”
The team does not go out of its way to practice for the tournament.
“We really focus on not making mistakes,” Hadley said. “We are not the very best at throwing or catching, but we are cautious and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
What really motivates the boys is their fans. At the finals last semester, the gym was crowded with Amateur Hour supporters. According to Bradford, the chatter coming from the stands continues to keep the games moving and add energy and excitement.
“I really enjoy watching Amateur Hour play,” junior Montana Hunter said. “They are all really athletic and competitive, which makes their games fun to watch.”
Amateur Hour has become the team to beat as it continues on undefeated in the 2012 tournament. The final game occurred yesterday, but the results were unavailable by the time of production.
“The teams that tell us they can beat us only fire us up more,” Cardenas said. “The more they trash talk, the more it makes us want to win.”
Though the team has experienced much success, the boys realize that they are not invincible and that a new team could beat them at any point.
“We know not to go into each game overly confident,” Southwood said. “We try to forget our past victories and only focus on the game at hand. That way we go in with our best efforts.”
Southwood identifies Los Bomberos, the team comprised of juniors Dillon Shambaugh, Casey White, Scott Stephanoff and Grant Chalmers, along with seniors Keith Waddell and Jackson Carr, as Amateur Hour’s biggest competition this year.
“Amateur Hour is a skilled team of veteran dodgeballers who have bested us in past tournaments, but this is our year and we are going to take them down in an epic battle, ” Shambaugh said.
According to Southwood, the key to the team’s success is the boys’ love for dodgeball and their long-standing friendships.
“We have so much experience and just love the game,” Hadley said. “At the end of the day, it is really a team effort.”
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