On Wednesday November 24, 2021, Derry will be reviving their annual Thanksgiving Dodgeball tournament. With 11 teams signed up to compete, including the Crossballers, Delta Dodge, Charlie’s Angels, and the Grapes, students are more than excited to be back participating in the tournament. After pausing the tradition last year due to Covid, students and teachers are finally able to catch a glimpse of normalcy by returning to some of the activities that occurred prior to the pandemic. 

The freshman and sophomore classes both get to experience the high school tournament for the first time. 

Sophomore Maize Legge expresses her excitement about the tournament because her grade has not been able to participate in a tournament since middle school. “It is one of my first real high school experiences I get since I missed out on that as a freshman,” Legge says. 

This event is something that the district has looked forward to for months now. Freshman Alayna Williams knows that having the tournament is a bright patch in the pandemic. “It gets me excited that we are kinda getting back to doing normal activities that we did other years,” Williams says. 

The tournament is a small ray of light at the end of the tunnel for students. 

The junior and senior classes have both set high expectations for themselves, all stating that they will be the best. With this being the first tournament back, the upperclassmen are taking it very seriously. 

Senior Nick Thomas stops at no cost to make sure his peers know his expectations for his team, stating that “we are bringing home the gold for sure.” For Thomas, winning the tournament means earning bragging rights for the right of the year, and for him, the rest of his high school career. 

Junior Chuck Banks expresses how just being able to have the tournament is a win for the school district itself. All in all, the students are more than thrilled to be back playing the game they love. 

Banks explains the situation perfectly stating, “Derry – 1, Covid – 0.”