The Springfield Salvation Army is looking for dodgeball teams to help raise money for at-risk youth.
Theninth annual fundraising tournamentwill be held in March.
Ryan Ray is development director for the Salvation Army. He says the tournament's mission is to reassure neighborhood young people of their worth.
“We work with the kids that, typically, people don’t necessarily want to work with," he says. "This tournament is a gift to them, if you will, to let them know they matter, that they’re worth it."
Ray says proceeds from the dodgeball tournament will go toward funding another sporting event - a basketball tournament - later this year - that will also feature music from a Christian hip-hop artist.
"There’s probably enough people that enjoy dodgeball, or there might be some nostalgia from your school days. So, it just had an attraction to it because it was unique, but also could be played in a pretty good team setting,” he says.
Salvation Army officials say young people ages 15 and up can play in the tournament, and the deadline to register is March1, 2018.
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