It could almost be the Olympics. Well, maybe if the Olympics had disc golf. Or wacky swimming relays. Or nothing but Emporia-area competitors.
Actually, it’s not much like the Olympics at all, come to think of it. But that’s OK. The folks in the Corporate Challenge are enjoying themselves too much to care.
“It’s fun to do something besides work with your co-workers — let loose and have some fun,” said Molly Atchison, part of the Newman hospital team.
Newman is one of the companies that has been doing this since the beginning of the corporate challenge five years ago. There are others. Detroit Diesel. Hopkins. Tyson. Even the city staff. All of them and a few others, were among the 19 teams that started it all.
It has grown since. Thirty-seven teams were part of this year’s challenge, all eagerly waiting to hear the final results Friday night. It has grown every year but one, with the only setback coming in 2005 when Modine Manufacturing closed up shop and Birch announced layoffs.
What keeps the competition booming? Partly it’s word of mouth. Partly it’s the fact that the games are ones everyone knows, such as darts or bowling. It didn’t hurt, either, that the Challenge split into “competitive” and “fun” divisions two years ago, giving more casual teams an opening.
“The competitive teams were definitely getting competitive,” said Barb Rourk, a staff member of the Emporia Recreation Commission who oversees the events each year. “We didn’t want to scare any teams off.”
Of course, even in casual play, you never quite lose that edge.
“Even though it’s fun, it’s still competitive,” said Ann White, another Newman team member. “You still want to win.”
Some teams also become their own fan base. One team member for IMA Kryptonite even taped a huge sign with the team’s name on it to a yardstick, wielding it as proudly as any football fan — during the billards competition.
“If nothing else, it can be used as a fan,” she said, holding it sideways and flapping it to stir up air currents. “See?”
Because of the rules, everyone usually ends up entering three or four sports. For Amanda Logsdon, that included wallyball, darts and a backup spot on the bowling team. As it happened, the backup had to choose a backup — Logsdon ran head-on into a church commitment.
“We did this last year,” Logsdon said. “It’s so much fun to do. ... It’s company pride.”
Some go over well every year, such as miniature golf, or the predicted walk where competitors have to guess how quickly they can finish a two-mile course. Others get a little more ... interesting, such as last year’s dodgeball competition.
“It was a mess,” Logsdon laughed. “The rec center will even agree to that. I don’t think there was a consistent system of scoring, people were cheating — but it was fun.”
“But wallyball’s a lot more fun,” she added. “Some of the people at work and I are going to continue to play wallyball by ourselves. It’s that fun.”
For the competitive types, there may even be a practice or two before the games themselves. That was the case with Mark Cross and Steve Hensley, the “competitive” billards duo for Hopkins. Practice almost made perfect, too; the pair came within one ball of beating a team from Birch.
“When there’s a competition around, I’m willing to put up a fight,” Cross said with a grin. “I’d like another shot at those guys — that was close.”
Well, maybe next year.