IU's Army and Airforce ROTCs compete in speedball game

Roughly 100 members of IU’s Army ROTC chanted as they did drills and stretched in uniform lines near one of the goalposts at Memorial Stadium.

Across the field, IU’s Air Force ROTC cadets, a group half the size of the Army ROTC, huddled in a circle with a few members stretching on the outskirts.

Nearing the starting point of the first of many Hoosier Patriot Games, Lt. Col. Michael Ogden, commander of the IU Army ROTC program, called both teams to the 50-yard line.

“Oh my gosh, there’s so many of them,” a member of the Air Force ROTC said.

On Friday, cadets from both ROTC’s met to go head-to-head against each other in a friendly, competitive game.

“You may not know the face of everyone across from you, may not know the name, but you know the heart,” Ogden said to the crowd. “Your ability to work with anyone around the world without hesitation makes this the greatest volunteer force ever to be created.”

At the end of his speech, however, Ogden had a surprise for the cadets.

“It’s going to be freshmen and seniors against sophomores and juniors,” he said. “You might go head-to-head, but that’s not going to be today.”

Ogden told the teams they would bring their competitive spirits to a game of speedball, played with the same rules as Ultimate Frisbee except with a football instead of a disc.

“More people can handle a football than a Frisbee,” Ogden said. “The game takes speed, strength and endurance. It’s good training. It gives them a fun chance in peacetime to work as one.”

The groups separated by age on different sidelines and were handed orange or blue jerseys, orange going to the sophomore and junior team.

“Let’s go, y’all are moving like pond water,” Cpt. Bruce Baltis of the IU Army ROTC yelled from the center of the field.

Baltis said the Patriot Games are a chance for the two ROTCs to work together in training.

“It’s a way to build up camaraderie and have some fun doing it,” he said.

The two teams used different strategies during the hour-long game. The freshmen and seniors team separated into set A, B, C or D lines and played with the same group each point. However, the sophomores and juniors lined up on a point-by-point basis.

At halftime, the freshmen and seniors team led the score by one point.

Army ROTC cadet and sophomore Patrick Sweeney took matters into his own hands to pump up his team.

“Try to pick someone with your speed and stick with them,” he said. “If you see someone doing a lot of running and you don’t want to, don’t stand next to them.”

Sweeney played the first point after halftime but coached from the sideline for the rest of the half.

“We need to work it up slowly,” he said.

After a great play by his team, Sweeney ran onto the field.

“There it is,” he yelled. “Jesus would be proud.”

With 10 minutes to go, Ogden said the next point would win. Though the teams went point-for-point most of the game, the freshmen and seniors took away the victory.

This game, however, will not be the last for the Army and Air Force cadets.

“The Army and Air Force may challenge the track team or the basketball team. We might accept a challenge from greek row,” Ogden said. “If I challenge a Big Ten athletic team, they won’t turn it down. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in talent.”