The Penns Valley Kiwanis Club hosted its fifth annual Mud Volleyball Tournament on June 8, at the Old Fort American Legion on state Route 45, east of Old Fort.
The event was a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club, which supports several charities. Each participating team paid a $100 entry fee to compete, and all proceeds went to local charities including the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, Penns Valley food banks and other organizations in the area.
The volleyball court was constructed in a corn field adjacent to the American Legion’s parking lot. The Centre Hall Fire Company brought in a tanker truck and pumped the area full of water, resulting in a nearly six inch deep pit of thick, gooey mud. Players were required to wear shoes duct taped to their ankles to prevent losing them in the mud.
Six teams named Mud Busters, Mud Dawgs, Brush Mountain Mud Skippers, Team ODB, Old Millers and Salamanders competed on a chilly morning in a double elimination tournament for medals and bragging rights. The action was fast and furious, with plenty of slips, falls and dives into the mud. Brightly colored team T-shirts quickly became a muddy brown color. At the tournament’s end, last year’s champions, the Brush Mountain Mud Skippers, repeated as champions, taking home the first place award.
The referee for the tournament was Carol Fultz, a Penns Valley High School Physical Education teacher. Perched on scaffolding at mid-court, she guided the competing teams through many games, which began mid-morning.
Firefighter Chris Hockenberry manned the Centre Hall Fire Company’s tanker truck equipped with a hose and shower head to hose down the mud-caked players between games.
Kiwanis Club President Jim Shunk was grateful to the local businesses that gave donations to the event, and was especially grateful to the American Legion post for providing the site and support for this event. In spite of all the mud, this event was a day of good, clean fun for all.
