The University of Connecticut’s annual mud volleyball tournament, OOzeball, will take place on April 26 in the 42nd iteration of the event.
OOzeball is run by UConn’s Student Alumni Association and will take place on the North Campus field, with official rules and regulations on the organization’s website. According to the official rules, UConn students, faculty, staff and alumni are eligible to participate, provided that they are at least 18 years of age.
The theme for this year’s iteration of OOzeball is “Mario Kart,” following last year’s “Barbie.” Team captains must register on the Fusion Play app by April 18, and at least six players must be registered for the team by the morning of April 26, with full details on the OOzeball website.
“I’ve done OOzeball the past three years and plan to do it again this year,” said eighth-semester marketing student Amara Cote said in an interview. “It’s super fun even if you’re not good at volleyball (I’m awful at it) so it’s really for anyone and everyone.”
OOzeball is an elimination-style tournament, with each team placed into a bracket. The winning teams advance to the next round until one team is crowned the winner, after spending a day in mud-filled volleyball courts.
The event is featured on the SAA’s list of “81 Things to Do Before You Graduate,” alongside participating in Family Weekend and attending a UConn basketball game.
“Even if you hate getting dirty just try and embrace it for a day,” said Cote. “OOzeball is truly an experience that is one of a kind that you probably won’t have after college. It’s fun and carefree.”
If players want to wash off some of the mud, the OOzeball tournament typically provides hoses with cold water to be sprayed at participants.
“I did OOzeball the spring semester of my freshman year,” said UConn student M’Lynn Gonzalez. “Everyone got muddy pretty fast given the ball would spread it around a lot and people would lose balance from getting stuck. I remember laughing a lot and not too much else, but we did lose the game and the mud was really, really cold.”
The mud is OOzeball’s biggest feature, but also one of its biggest challenges. Both Cote and Gonzalez expressed that the mud was a trouble for them to deal with, but both had tips for any future OOzeball players.
“Wear old shoes you can throw away or wash and wear the next year, because the shoes will never be the same after,” advised Cote. “Try and rinse off as much as you can and just put your stuff in a separate bag to wash. For people with long hair, definitely tie it up if you can.”
Gonzalez also had some trouble when it came to the mud at OOzeball, adding that mud will seep through the outer layer of clothes and will even get on undergarments.
“Also, shoes will get ruined,” she said. “Something that you can do is bring crocs, so that you can wash them easily afterward but also take them off right when the game starts.” Gonzalez noted that OOzeball requires all participants to wear shoes, but from her experience they didn’t enforce this rule once the game started.
“The games happen in the area behind North [Campus] so having a friend from there or Northwest [Campus] makes it easy to get quick access to showers,” said Gonzalez. “Overall though, what you wear is the biggest thing to be careful of since the mud does not come out of the clothes. Also it destroys the washing machines in the dorms so just toss them out afterwards.”
In terms of the event itself, Cote had a few tips to ensure a good OOzeball experience.
“As for preparation, bring a towel you can dry yourself off with and definitely try and design a team shirt,” said Cote. “We paint ours the day of while everyone is wearing them. And lay in the mud because it’s fun.”