Police and kids face off in friendly dodgeball match

STEUBENVILLE -- Dozens of kids faced off against local police officers in a friendly and fiery community-building dodgeball match at the YMCA Wellness Center at St. John Arena on Wednesday.

Participating in the match were officers from the Steubenville Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Fred Abdalla Jr. said the collaborative event with the YMCA was meant to positively impact kids' relations with police.

"Outreach to kids in an environment like this (will) foster good relationships," Abdalla said, "and, hopefully, they'll feel comfortable seeing us outside our uniforms, just relaxed and having fun."

Marci Snyder-Crawford, director of the YMCA, said the YMCA originally reached out to the sheriff's department with the hope of hosting a regular community-building event "so the youth can be more interactive with the police department."

Abdalla said he hopes the dodgeball match -- purposefully scheduled when kids were on Thanksgiving break -- can be the start of a long-term tradition, perhaps occurring annually on Thanksgiving Eve.

The event continued Abdalla and the sheriff department's community outreach efforts, which Abdalla said will prioritize activities for youth in Jefferson County. Separate initiatives include a proposed collaboration among multiple county police chiefs to form a veterans response team to "help veterans in crisis."

Coming soon will be members of the sheriff's department and Jefferson County Special Response Team officers reading Christmas stories at local elementary schools, Abdalla added.

"We've got a whole lot of ideas of what we want to do, so we're just starting to scratch the surface."

The inaugural dodgeball match had participants moving and interacting in the YMCA's gymnasium. Following a team huddle, the kids started strong and won the first round, though the score became tied when "the cops came back with a vengeance," Snyder-Crawford said.

Angelo Geary, on the kids' team, appreciated the relaxed time competing against the police, who he said were "tough" opponents.

The police took a 2-1 lead, which Vinny Kalinowski said was "bad for us, good for them," though he added it was good to bridge the gap between kids and police.

Sgt. Ryan Lulla of the Steubenville Police Department, who admitted to being "a little bit older than I thought I was" and needing to refresh his dodgeball skills, said of the match: "This is great. (There was) a better turnout than I thought there was going to be, and I hope we can do this more often."

Deputy Erik Lulla of the sheriff's department said having the dodgeball match for kids is "better than nothing. Steubenville is a small area, and we don't really have a lot, and this is definitely something that they can come out and do -- productive, safe (and) fun. I'm sure all of them are having a good time."

The kids developed a particularly fierce rivalry with Steubenville police's Officer Jacob Still, who they began to target their throws at and refer to as "Panther" because of his T-shirt design. Kids cited Still's accurate throws as his decisive weapon, and Abdalla said Still "has an arm." Asked why he was targeted by the kids, Still remarked, "I don't get it."

Rounds ended once the police had earned a 6-1 lead. Participants left their grudges on the court and fraternized afterward over pizza and doughnuts.

Abdalla said, "It's important that we build trust with these kids, especially in moments like this, where they see us outside of the uniform. The more we do this stuff (will have an effect) later in life. Hopefully not, but if we have contact with one of these kids in the line of duty, hopefully it will be a better contact and end on a positive note."