MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marines and sailors stepped onto the Penny Lake soccer fields here Sept. 24 to take part in the second to last challenge of the 2010 Commander’s Cup Challenge called Earthball.
Earthball is similar to soccer with the main exception of the soccer ball being 6 feet tall and goals double the normal width.
Three teams consisting of five members competed in the single-elimination tournament, which kicked off at 11 a.m. The three teams’ placement in the tournament was randomly determined.
The games were 10 minutes long; however, every two minutes, play was stopped and restarted at midfield after a 30-second break.
“The hardest part of the tournament was trying to pace myself throughout the game and not get burned out too fast,” said Lance Cpl. Dexter Criner, competitor for Combat Logistics Company 36. “Also playing on defense against the wind was a task in itself, let alone playing against bigger players.”
With the wind blowing extremely hard from the north side of the field, the two-minute resets were badly needed for some.
“The wind was our number one weapon,” said Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Matura, coach for Marine Wing Support Squadron 171.
All teams that showed up earned 20 points for participation toward their total earned points.
The teams that came in first, second or third earned an additional 10, seven and five points respectively. CLC-36 took first place, earning $100 toward its unit party fund followed by MWSS-171 earning $75 and Logistics earning a nice day in the sun.
MWSS-171 came out with plenty of confidence after dominating last year’s Earthball event. Unfortunately, the confidence wasn’t enough as 171 fell to CLC-36 in overtime.
“The team that gave us the biggest challenge was 171’s team,” said Criner. “No offense to Logistics’ team, but 171’s team came out running and showed that during the round robin that, they were the team to beat. Not only that, but the competition between us (CLC-36) and 171 gave us extra incentive to win.”
Gladiators is the next competition to take place Oct. 22. With it, the Commander’s Cup is still up for grabs. MWSS-171 is in a relatively comfortable lead with 502 overall points followed by CLC-36 with 419 and Operations with 300.
“I feel the Commander’s Cup is a good opportunity to build unit morale as well as the base as a whole,” said Criner.
For more information on the upcoming event or Tuesday Tune-Up, contact Marine Corps Community Services Health Promotions at 253-5051.