LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – For one day only, fans can witness all kinds of wacky backyard-type games for ESPN8: The Ocho on Friday at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The games include dodgeball, slippery stairs, popdarts, pillow fighting, paintball, pop-a-shot, extreme archery, wiffle ball, omegaball, kickball and bullshooter. There will also be a live hour of SportsCenter at the AdventHealth Arena.
“Everybody thinks they can do something at some small level and then you see, ‘Oh no, there’s professionals for this as well,’” said Chris Solomon, The Ocho programming lead. “It’s hopeful that we can hopefully build these brands.”
The 11 events in Orlando are free for fans to go and watch. Other events part of The Ocho four-day competitions include corgi racing, cornhole, flugtag and T-rex racing.
“This is pretty exciting,” professional dodgeball player Chris said to News 6 at a media preview on Thursday. “Even just making that drive into the compound, [seeing the] ESPN Wide World of Sports sign kind of caught me off guard. This is pretty interesting; it’s something I’ve never done before. Even the guy that’s been playing for 20 years can get excited about the game of dodgeball.
Some of these games are childhood games or have never been heard of, but the pros take the ordinary to the next level.
“[Dodgeball] is like one of the first games that you play in P.E.,” professional dodgeball player Perry said. “There’s a lot to think about. You’ve got to think about what you’re doing and what the other teams are doing. It’s just so cool.”
A full timeline of events and how to get tickets can be found here.