What do Staples students and police officers have in common? They both bleed blue and have a knack for dodgeball!
Staples’ Teen Awareness Group and the Westport Youth Commission, in conjunction with the Westport Police Department, held their 13th annual Dodge-A-Cop dodgeball tournament on Monday, Dec. 16, at 5:30 p.m. in the Staples fieldhouse. Typically held in November, this year’s tournament took place in mid-December to allow fall sports athletes to participate.
“We had some struggles after COVID-19 finding enough teams, but we decided to move [the event] this year to after football season, so all the football players could participate, and we’ve had a lot of success,” Co-President of TAG Samantha Sandrew ’25 said. “We really hope that this event can bring the community together.”
Participants registered as part of teams of five, with a registration fee of $10 per team. In all, the competition hosted 18 teams, making this year’s tournament one of the most attended in “Dodge-A-Cop” history. The money earned from the event will be put towards a local charity that is yet to be determined.
The purpose of Dodge-A-Cop is to improve relationships between Staples students and the Westport Police Department. At the beginning of the night, all participants, cops and students alike, were asked to rate how comfortable they felt around the other. Then, a cop was assigned to join each team of five students, and rapport was built through teamwork and friendly competition.
The idea for Dodge-A-Cop came in 2011, shortly after the release of the movie Dodgeball, in an effort to bridge gaps between police officers and local community members, Kevin Godburn, Director of Youth Services, explained.
“I really hope that participants can get comfortable with each other, for our kids to get to know our police officers, and on the flip side, for our police, especially our new officers in town, to get to know the kids,” he said.
Brian Quick is a member of the Westport Police Force. He loves Dodge-a-Cop because it allows him the opportunity to be active, both physically and within the Westport community, and help to break the stigma surrounding police officers.
“I just want to show people that cops are human, that we’re just like everyone else,” Quick said. “[Dodge-A-Cop] is huge to be able to give back. Most of the time, people only see us in uniform, and it can be intimidating, but this is a way for us to just hang out and be ourselves.”
Dodge-A-Cop is a knockout-style tournament with teams going head-to-head for a set of three games, with the first team to get to two wins advancing. There is a winners bracket and a losers bracket, with the top team in each bracket facing off to determine the ultimate winner.
The first-place team, consisting of James Pretty, Anthony Armentano and Casey Bag (’25), Charlie Clark, Nick Weil (’24) and Officer Mike Davis, earned trophies and $20 Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards to commemorate their win.
(Samantha Sandrew ’25)
“Dodge-A-Cop was a great experience,” Pretty said. “It was really nice being able to interact with all the local law enforcement in a fun and competitive way. Some might say a little too competitive, but I think it just added to the fun.”
To TAG Advisor Ally Follett, Dodge-A-Cop is about teaching students to engage with members of their community without the presence of drugs and alcohol.
“This is our way of bridging gaps between different members of the community, students and law enforcement officials especially, and really just showing people that it’s possible to have fun sober.”
