One of the most popular events on the school calendar is right around the corner – and this year, it could pay to play.

The fifth annual StuGo dodgeball tournament is slated for Feb 25 in the main gym, and this year the winning team will take home $200.

Senior Isaiah Patterson, who is a member of the dodgeball committee, expects another large turnout for the event, especially with the cash prize looming with dodgeball glory. It will cost every participant in the tournament $5 to play. That money, according to Patterson, goes to the cash prizes for first and second-place winners, as well as “paying for the medals and concession stands,” he said.

In the past, the tournament served as a springtime fundraiser for StuGo, and was always a popular event. This year, however, StuGo has decided to invest the money they make from the event directly back into it.

“Part of it is to gather more interest,” assistant principal Kevin Ames said.

“There was a time and place where there weren’t very many teams signing up,” he explained, “and so it was a way of seeing if we could get more people to come in and join and make the tournament bigger and a little more fun for everybody.”

In any case, the event has always proven to be successful and students seem to look forward to it every year. “It’s an opportunity for…friends to get together at school and [create] memories,” senior StuGo dodgeball committee member Mia Scibona said.

“When I grew up, every week you had a day of dodgeball,” Ames said. “That’s really one of the things that in P.E. classes you really don’t have an opportunity to do much anymore. It’s one of those things you can be a part of and cut loose and just do something different.”

StuGo has also provided a signup list for students who would like to participate in the tournament but cannot come up with a full 8-member team.Those who want to participate have until today to sign up outside room C-105.