Ellington Middle School students set for EYS dodgeball tournament in December

Ellington Middle School students will take over Ellington High School Gymnasium for the EYS Dodgeball Tournament on Friday, Dec. 4, 2026. Check-in starts at 5:30 p.m., and pickup is listed for 9:00 p.m., setting up an evening of organized play in a familiar school setting.

The event is built around a specific age group, which gives it a different feel from a larger bracketed competition. By centering middle school students, the tournament gives younger players a first look at structured team play, quick decision-making and the pace that makes dodgeball such a fixture in school gyms. The venue matters too: Ellington High School Gymnasium offers the kind of controlled indoor space that supports rotating teams, sideline supervision and a clear place for families to gather.

The tournament’s advance listing on the New Britain Herald’s local events page, along with a matching entry on Active.com for Ellington, Connecticut, puts the date in front of parents and students well ahead of time. That kind of notice is important for a school-based event, where transportation, dinner plans and after-school schedules can decide how many players show up. The calendar placement also points to something bigger than a one-night pickup game. It gives Ellington a repeatable format that can help build a youth dodgeball rhythm in the town.

That fit makes sense in a community such as Ellington, whose town profile highlights a rustic farming history, open space, a strong school system, parks and trails, and a range of local programs and services. A middle school dodgeball tournament at the high school gym matches that profile closely, using school facilities to create a youth sports event that is easy to access and simple to repeat. For Ellington, the December tournament is another sign that dodgeball is being used not just as a game, but as a way to bring students into a familiar, supervised competitive setting.