Thirteen teams battled it out in the first annual Glenview Junior Optimist (GJO) dodgeball tournament.

The GJO club is made up of students from Loyola Academy and Glenbrook South who volunteer their time and talents to raise money for underprivileged students. The money is evenly divided between the two schools and distributed to students in need. The club has been fundraising for the past four months and hosted its final event, the dodgeball tournament, on Saturday.

Teams of six players lined up to battle it out for first place. With a huge number of participants from all over the Chicagoland area, the tournament proved to be a success.

“The tournament was a blast,” said Tess Pillion, a junior at Loyola Academy and GJO member. She added that it was one of her favorite charity events.

Although the club has come to a close for the 2018-2019 school year, GJO has already began planning for next year.

Vice President Owen Zidar is extremely proud of the tournament’s turnout. GJO “received almost $6000 in both donations and sponsors for the dodgeball event to provide for local teens who cannot participate in school activities due to lack of resources,” says Zidar. He also explained that GJO will have an even bigger event next year and they hope to continue to positively affect the Glenview community.