By Jason Klaiber

Staff Writer

Girl Scout Troop 10848 out of the Fayetteville-Manlius district recently finished building a gaga ball pit in Canal Landing Park for their Bronze Award project.

The pit will allow park visitors to play gaga ball, a variation of dodgeball played by striking opponents below the knee and thus eliminating them until one person is left standing.

“Gaga ball is a really fun way to play dodgeball,” Troop Leader Nicole Miller said. “It’s safer, it can include more kids and it can help include kids of all different levels.”

The troop was recognized for the achievement at the Sept. 9 Village of Fayetteville meeting.

“It takes a team to get something done that special,” Mayor Mark Olson said.

The troop’s members belong to the junior level, which comprises fourth and fifth graders.

According to Miller, the Bronze Award is the highest-level award achievable within a two-year period in Girl Scouts.

The Bronze Award project requires 20 hours of service to one’s community.

Two years ago, Troop 10848 had been considering ideas for the project.

Around that time, Fayetteville’s recreation commission expressed interest in exploring community ideas related to bettering local parks, Miller said.

The troop then recommended the idea of a gaga pit, a confined space designed for the sport of gaga ball.

Members of the troop had previously developed interest in gaga ball after playing at Camp Hoover in Tully.

After the troop sought permission for a village gaga pit, the commission agreed.

However, the troop learned the following year that the construction of a “medium-sized” pit carried a price tag ranging between $1,500 and $3,000, so the commission challenged the troop to either abandon the project or take responsibility by fundraising and assembling the pit themselves.  

The troop members unanimously chose to continue, going on to send letters to area businesses requesting donations.

“We are so very proud of the girls for continuing with this project,” Miller said. “It would have been easy for them to give up, but they didn’t.”

Home Depot in East Syracuse ended up providing the materials for constructing the wooden gaga pit.

One troop member’s father offered to use his engineering background to prepare an exact design for the construct, while a local landscaper cleared and leveled a portion of land in Canal Landing Park.

The location was selected for its accessibility to families and its ample amount of shade.

Throughout the last year, the Girl Scout troop planned the project and learned how to use tools like drill presses.

Over three hours one night in August, Troop 10848 built the pit board by board with the help of younger Girl Scouts and other community members.

Miller said three to 20 kids can play in the newly constructed pit at a time.