Men and women sweated, screamed and sprinted. With triggers activated, individuals flung Styrofoam bullets into the ruddy skin of far too many people sporting orange bandanas. A Nerf War had begun at the Knight Spot on Saturday Feb. 6 for a night to be remembered by all participants. Despite all the triggers, holsters and hiding-behind-cover, the Geneseo Nerf Club offered a fun, safe and competitive environment for students to enjoy.
The entirety of the Knight Spot was divided in half with a flag placed on either side. The battlefield was not only in the Knight Spot’s usual quarters, but also extended to its defunct, paint-splattered kitchen in the back. Teams began on one of two sides and attempted to capture another’s flag without getting bombarded by spongy bullets. If one was so unlucky, they suffered a 10 second “respawn.” Soldiers were equipped with only the most up-to-date weaponry: Rotofury blasters, Modulus ECS-10’s, Lawbringers—you name it.
“My favorite Nerf gun has got to be the Rampage. The Modulus takes second,” Nerf Club president sophomore Nick Maineri said.
Maineri explained that Nerf Club originated through Geneseo Area Gaming Group six years ago and he found out about the club when attending a GAGG meeting. “Freshman year, my friend told me to come to GAGG’s meeting and I enjoyed it enough to play in the Humans vs. Zombies game that year,” he said. “I really loved that and I’ve been to every meeting for the club since.”
With such an overlap between club participants and their interests, Maineri explained that there are often schedule conflicts between clubs. “But we always try to help each other out,” he said. “We recently did an event through GAGG and some of our moderators are moderators for Anime Club or GAGG.”
Another compelling feature of the club is that a good majority of the events they offer are free and open to all. The club also provided the players with Nerf guns and refreshments.
“Just come, hang out, play some games,” Maineri said. “We’re playing capture the flag first, but we’ll also play Humans vs. Zombies and Hunger Games—which is a free-for-all type thing.”
Maineri emphasized that despite their intense nature, Nerf games are done with both fun and safety in mind. “The moderator board just tries to make it so nobody gets hurt and everyone has a good time,” he said.
At the end of many battles, with sweaty faces picking up orange darts from the Knight Spot’s floor, Nerf Club’s moderator board had accomplished their goal. They provided many students with an exhilarating, unique and harmless way to spend a part of their weekend.