Behind the Scenes with X-Games star Tom Schaar

I’ve always been a little envious of people who could skateboard; their ability to glide through space and twist their bodies, creating 360′s 720′s and more. I fall, I’m really good at falling, ok, actually I’m bad at falling, watching the pros gracefully skid to their knees on the ramp, I realize they’re good at falling, I’m even bad at falling.

On an early Saturday morning, I had the pleasure to do behind the scenes photos for Buzz Media’s shoot on Tom Schaar, as part of bing.com’s “Summer of Doing” series. Tom might only be a minor (he’s only 12!), but he is a major star of the X-games! Tom is the first person to land a 1080 (he’s even in the Guinness Book of World Records!), a trick that also won him a gold medal in the China X-Games (making him the youngest ever x-games champ). However, what I quickly learned is that not only is this kid an amazing skateboarder, but he’s also just a great kid!

Looking up to his older brother John, Tom started skating around the age of 4, entering his first competition when he was only 7. So although Tom is only 12 years old, he’s been skating for most of his life. Now a professional skateboarder, years before he can even apply for a learner’s permit, Tom’s family is hugely supportive, but also wants to make sure he enjoys being a kid. I was really impressed by the Schaar family, they are truly a special group and I’m excited to see what the future of skateboarding holds for Tom!!

Below are behind the scene photos from the shoot, to see the awesome video Buzz Media put together click here!

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Taking it to the “Next Level” … Basketball that is

On May 19h and 20th Next Level Sports Complex hosted the “May Madness” youth tournament, hailing close to 50 teams and yielding close to 20,000 photographs! YIKES!! Below are some my favorite photographs from my team (yes thankfully there was a team of photographers and desk people and they rocked!!).

Wow, two in a row of non-dodgeball posts!… Ok, well sort of non-dodgeball posts, I did meet the people for the baseball team and the basketball league because of dodgeball. Gotta say, shooting basketball, made shooting dodgeball feel like cake! However, there is something special about youth sports; the excitement and the purity of kids going out there, competing and having fun is a pretty great thing to be a part of.

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Jordan High School Baseball

I have a backlog of blogs I’ve wanted to post, but with the end of school year chaos, dodgeball tournaments, birthdays, etc, I’ve been remiss. However, with the school year just coming to a close and Palau on the horizon (yep we’re going back!! … photos soon), I had a few hours to sneak away and hang out with a great group of kids from Jordan High School.

The below photos were a nice change of pace. I haven’t shot baseball in years and it felt good to spend a couple hours in the sun enjoying the game I grew up on.

Congratulations to the Jordan High School Bulldogs on completing a tough season.

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Tron Ball the birthday edition

Tron ball take 2… bigger, badder, brighter….

No Boyz Allowed League Invades The Staples Center

Dodgeball at the Staples Center?? Yep, after the Clippers and Blake Griffin were done slam dunking the Wizards, the Ladies of the World Dodgeball Society took the floor to battle it out with an equivalent intensity. Such an epic night, I got to both play and shoot at the Staples Center, special thanks to Alicia to snapping some shots while I was playing! (more photos here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.349644771734699.84982.108534545845724&type=1)

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And just in case you’re looking for more information on dodgeball…. Long Beach dodgeaball made the cover of City Beat Magazine, check it out! http://citybeatlb.com/2012/02/features/hit-squad/

Tron Dodgeball… ohhh yaaaaah

What’s cooler and more daring then regular dodgeball? Black-light dodgeball in a dusty warehouse of course!!

I guess I knew what I was getting myself into, but then again I didn’t. For some reason, when I thought black-light dodgeball I thought laser tag, which it kind of was in a way, but way more intense!! Last Friday, the fog was pea-soup thick which gave the street outside the warehouse an ominous feel, adding to my normal fog of where am I going wonderment. Thankfully, just as I was passing the address, Alicia called and confirmed I was in the right place. I parked and she greeted me at the gate wearing dodgeball tights, glow necklaces and a dust mask, it was quite the outfit. Alicia then guided me with the light from her cell phone through the empty warehouse to the sounds of thunks and laughter and there it was Black-Light Dodgeball aka Tron Dodgeball! It’s kinda like walking into the fight club for the first time, that extra element of danger in the air, I mean, you thought it was difficult to catch a regular dodgeball zooming at you in a well lit gym… well try one in a darkened warehouse while breathing into a dust mask and oh ya, Vince is the one throwing it! Ya, I happily attempted to take pictures of Tron Dodgeball instead of playing and it was pretty awesome even from the sidelines!!

Elite 8 Dodgeball tournament 121011

If you had asked me a little more than a year ago how far I would drive for dodgeball, I would probably say about 15 minutes… Fast-forward to now and I’m routinely driving more than an hour to different leagues and tournaments. This weekend’s Elite 8 was the first of many Elite Invitational Dodgeball tournaments, where people drove as many as 16 hours in a span of 30 to participate… and did so happily! The Elite 8 had teams of 6 ducking, dodging and diving for 5 exciting hours and $2,100 in cash prizes!!

Congratulations to San Diego’s Rise who took home the top prize as well as all of the other participants and organizers who came together to create a highly competitive and very fun day of dodgeball’n!

Check out The Elite Dodgeball Invitational fan page for up coming competitive cash tournaments!!

Jive Turkey Dodgeball Tourney 2011

What are you thankful for?

If you’re lucky: family, health, good friends, a decent job ect.

These of course are staples; so how lucky am I that I am thankful for so much more?

I am deeply thankful that I am surrounded by so many groups of awesome people, that know how to enjoy life. I have my group of friends that I met playing volleyball, that lead me to my book club friends and kickballers (and THE BOOZEHOUNDS!), which in turn lead me to girls’ dinner club and dodgeball. I moved back to Redondo Beach 4 years ago and I’m pretty busy these days, my couch misses me.

On Saturday, November 17th, in the spirit of thankfulness, the World Dodgeball Society hosted their 2nd annual Jive Turkey Potluck style (random draw) Dodgeball Tournament. After 4 hours of calorie reducing dodging and diving, Team Giblets won the golden turkeys and a pie in the face (Tory was such a good sport!).

This tournament was particularly special for me, not just because I had an awesome team (which they were!), but also because it was my first event as the official WDS Staff Photographer! Yep, I’m now officially official!! So be on the look out for more dodgeball’n. You’ll also be able to find more photos in some new places, both on the WDS flickr site and on the WDS Facebook site

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Hope you enjoy some fantastic food with some equally fantastic people and then work it off doing something fun… say like a lil dodgball’n? ;o)

Gobble, Gobble – Allison

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Fall WLA Dodgeball

You might be a dodgeballer…
if you ice your sprains with a pint of beer.

You might be a dodgeballer…
if you have serious discussions on the merits of different brands of knee pads

You might be a dodgeballer…
if you call in sick to work, but still show up at the gym, ready to play.

You might be a dodgeballer…
if your knee high socks and bandanas have their own drawer in your dresser.

and… you might be a West LA Dodgeballer
if you look forward to Monday nights!

Yep, dodgeball is the number one cure for the “Case of the Mondays.” True story… Throwing things at people sure seems to ease a person’s tension and there are so many awesome people involved in dodgeball that it is hard not to leave the bar without a smile on you face. I mean look at the photo above, don’t they just make ya smile? Ok, I’m not biased at all ;o)

Below are the Fall West LA dodgeball photos enjoy!     – Allison

Dodgetoberfest 2011

So what do you get when you combine, grilled sausages, (root)beer and dodgeball?? DODGETOBERFEST!

This year was NLA’s 2nd Annual Dodgebtoberfest, hailing a women’s and a men’s division as well as a co-ed open division.

Winners of the Men’s Division: RISE


Winners of the Women’s Division: The Naughty Beavers


And 8 or 9 sweaty hours later, the winners of the co-ed division: Syndicate


Congrats to all the teams, who came from near and far to share some sausage and throw balls at each other!!

More photos will be posted on the NLA site and I’ll put the link up as soon as they’re live!