Within 20 minutes, the 64 team spots available for the upcoming dodgeball tournament that benefits the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (Thon) were filled.
Registration was held yesterday in the HUB-Robeson center for Thon Dodgeball Tournament 2007, which is sponsored by the Nittany Lion basketball team and will be held Oct. 14 at the Multi-Sport Facility.
All proceeds from the event will benefit Thon.
More than $3,800 has already been raised by collecting $60 per team for registration fees, according to a Thon press release.
"I was shocked. I really didn't know if everyone was going to be excited for it or if no one knew about it," said Lindsay Johnson, a Thon event coordinator.
Johnson said she was impressed at the number of students that showed up to become a part of a good cause.
"We kind of thought it would be popular, but we didn't think it would fill up as fast as it did," said Dan Ward, another Thon event coordinator.
The tournament was the basketball team's idea.
Because of their schedules, the players aren't easily able to participate in regular Thon activities held in February, said Matt Checchio, marketing coordinator for Penn State athletics.
He said the team expressed their desire to hold an event last spring and wanted to put on the best event possible in order to be a part of "the Thon effort."
The tournament will run very much like NCAA basketball tournaments, Ward said.
Other efforts are in the works to try to raise more money before the event, Checchio added.
The tournament will run on an official Thon Dodgeball bracket, which will be released on www.Thondodgeball.com and www.gopsusports.com on Sept. 26.
The first two rounds will run best-out-of-three because the organizers wanted to make sure the teams got enough playing time to warrant the $60 registration fee, Checchio said.
After those two rounds, the tournament will move into single elimination play.
The tournament will last about two-and-a-half hours.
Any student involved in Thon can earn spirit points for either participating in or attending the tournament as a fan. There is currently a waiting list for teams who would like the chance to participate if one of the current teams drops out.
