Brandon Smith has earned the title of Last One Standing.
The 28-year-old team member of the Winmar Warriors took home the prestigious prize of surviving the Last One Standing competition at the fifth annual GenNext Dodgeball Tournament. Smith faced off against competitors from the 31 other teams at the tournament held at the Sports Dome on Saturday.
He said he wasn’t sure how he was able to last as long as he did.
“I just hung in there until the end,” Smith said. “I just started throwing as many balls as I could. I just try and stay away from all the traffic and then when it gets near the end start throwing.”
Smith has participated in the tournament for the past three years and said he keeps coming back because it’s such a fun experience as well as helping out a good cause.
Scott Schooler, chairman of the organizing committee, said they sold out the event and all the money raised goes toward the United Way. The tournament raised about $29,000 last year and has brought in nearly $39,000 since it started in 2008.
Schooler said he hoped to surpass last year’s amount.
“It’s 10 months of work that goes into this thing,” Schooler said. “It is a lot of work but it is worthwhile. It’s great to see this many people out having a good time and raising a ton of money for the United Way at the same time.”
He said the tournament gives players a unique experience because there aren’t many opportunities to play dodge ball at this scale.
“(Dodge ball) isn’t the exact same thing that everyone does,” he said. “I think everyone reminisces a little bit about dodge ball as a kid and it is just something different.”
