MARINE CORPS RECRUITING SUBSTATION HARTFORD, CT -- When it comes to playing sports and getting dirty, no one does it better than the Marines. That's why Recruiting Substation Hartford Marines jumped at the opportunity to participate in the 17th Annual Mud Volleyball Tournament, at Zoar's Pond in Middletown, August 16.
The event was hosted by local rock station WCCC and drew more than 100 teams who participated in the fun.
Hartford Marines prepared for the event by duck taping their shoes to their legs and taking off any and all apparel they did not want to get destroyed.
"The strategy is to win. That's it. That's all we can do," said Sgt. Jason Auger, Hartford recruiter. "The competition looks pretty good. You have teams that recruit people to come out and play, and then you got scrubs. The Marines will do what we can, do our best and come out on top like usual."
The Marines had one advantage over their competitors. Hartford's Noncommissioned Officer-In-Charge, Staff Sgt. David L. Miller, once played for the All-Marine Volleyball team. Although the mud would limit the full ability of his skills, he still had more experience in the sport than most people in the competition.
"Some people out here take this seriously, but the Marines are just going to go out there and have fun," said Miller. "We will probably end up in the top 10. Mud volley is different than regular volleyball. The strategy is just to hit it on the other side and hope they mess it up. And that's basically what we are going to do."
The Marines first match-up was against the WCCC All-Stars. The Hartford Marines showed no mercy to their opponents and held them scoreless throughout most of the game. When the buzzer sounded, ending the time limit for the game, the Marines had defeated the All-Stars 34-2.
"We are the best at everything we do, so I feel we will fair pretty well today," said Sgt. Patrick McIntyre. "I think the team work that we have definitely helps out, knowing each other and knowing how we play and obviously having 100 percent effort all the time."
"They are Marines ...for one thing they have discipline and determination, unlike the WCCC interns," said Steve Gagne, WCCC intern. "I think they will do very well. They are very competitive and they will go far in this tournament."
For the next three games the Marines dominated each team they played and made it into the playoffs where they faced the Mud Hippies. Ironically, the Mud Hippies wiped the floor with the Marines, defeating them 34-7 and ultimately eliminating them from the competition.
Despite losing in the playoffs, the Marines of RSS Hartford had a great time and look forward to participating in this event for years to come.