Firefighters, cops challenge kids on field

RATHDRUM – About 250 sixth-graders from three Rathdrum elementary schools on June 6 will compete for the chance to take on a team of police officers and firefighters in a game of kickball.

All students at Betty Kiefer, John Brown and Garwood elementary schools who graduated from the 12-week DARE program, and were neither reprimanded for fighting nor suspended during the school year, have been invited to attend the annual kickball tournament and party at Stub Myers Park.

DARE Officer William “Bill” Ray came up with the idea five years ago as a way to reward the kids who use the methods they learned in the DARE program to help stay out of trouble.

“It is an excellent way for students that have proven they can make good choices and use the tools I taught them during the first semester of school to come and enjoy each other’s company,” Ray said. “Ultimately, it gives them an opportunity to meet other DARE graduates from other schools and perhaps start forming lasting relationships with each other.”

There will be lots of action with four fields of play during the single-elimination tournament. Teams from each school will play one another until one is been declared the winner. The winning team will play The Enforcers – a team made up of local policemen and firefighters.

Ray starts the hype for the kickball tournament early in the year. He challenges the kids and tells them there is no way The Enforcers are going to lose this year. He teases them with reports of importing fresh talent and lets them know The Enforcers will wipe the field with them.

“Amazingly, however,” Ray said, “The Enforcers have never won a single game. They always come out strong and take the lead, but eventually begin to lag behind and always seem to lose during the final minutes of the game.”

The day includes lunch for the kids, pretty much all they can eat; and a deejay will provide music. A fire truck will be on hand, and if weather permits, a fire hose will “accidently” wet down the kids.

“It’s pandemonium,” Ray said.

“Those hoses shoot 33-feet into the air – the kids go crazy.”

At the end of the day, a traveling trophy goes to the victorious school for the year, and Ray hopes the kids go home with some new friends.

“It gives them an opportunity to form relationships with kids from the other schools – other kids who make good decisions that will be at the big school next fall,” he said.