A new twist on an old gym class classic

This may be the hottest thing to hit tennis courts since Anna Kournikova.

That's pretty hot.

On March 9, 2002, 21-year-old Jackson native Josh Tomlin and a few friends sat down to play a dodgeball video game. It didn't take long before they decided to separate the virtual from reality. Tomlin and his college friends took a trip to Wal-Mart, bought a dodgeball and headed to Jackson City Park's upper tennis courts.

Since that momentous day, the Jackson Underground Dodgeball League (JUDL) has met every Friday at 8 p.m. at the Jackson courts, which have been renamed "The Cage" by the dodgeballers. The organization, however, is not much more than a social gathering -- there are no set teams, divisions or playoff races.

"It's more like a weekly ritual rather than a league," said Tomlin. "It first started out with eight people. After a couple weeks it was 24, and it just kept getting bigger. It's year-round, and we've played in rain, ice, cold, everything."

But last week the atmosphere was different at The Cage.

Hundreds of fans came out Friday to watch the second annual JUDL Invitational. After weeks of organizing the event, Tomlin was overjoyed to see the number of people in attendance.

"This was the greatest turnout ever," he said between matches. "I couldn't be any more ecstatic. This is definitely more than we expected; at one point there was over 150 people here."

The single-elimination tournament included 13 teams, five more than last year. Two matches were played simultaneously, and each match consisted of a best-of-three series.

The JUDL tournament, which allowed up to eight members on a team, played by rules based on the Nintendo game, Super Dodgeball, from which the league originated. Three dodgers from each team are stationed inside the tennis court on opposite sides of the net. They are surrounded by three throwers from each team, stationed opposite the other team's throwers but on the same side as the opposing team's dodgers. Dodgers may also throw, but only dodgers may be thrown at. Players do not exit when hit; rather, each hit counts as one point. The game, played with one ball, concludes when one squad reaches 10 points with at least a two-point lead.

Each team is allowed three timeouts, and only then are substitutions allowed.

Around midnight and after nearly four hours of dodging, Tomlin and his teammates captured their first JUDL Invitational title, earning the right to sign the Adam D. Morris Cup. Along with Tomlin, members of the champion Seven Tickets to Paradise team included Brett Price, Jon Reno, Brian Rhodes, Lucas Walker, Ricky Feiner and Matthew Shayphr.

While the participants enjoyed the fun, friendly atmosphere of the tournament, rivalries existed.

"The competition is furious," Tomlin said. "People get pretty intense. But we play hard and have fun."

Nathan Nichols, a student at Jackson High school, received the Most Valuable Player award. The honor, in its first year in existence, is given to the person who displays sportsmanship and skill throughout the tournament.

"This," said Tomlin, "is for people who want to do something different."