As spring break ended, seniors attempting to alleviate severe cases of senioritis began the yearly tradition: Senior Tag. The week-to-week matchups between two teams of five players requires teams to shoot opponents with squirt guns in order to eliminate as many players as possible. The senior class organizes and runs the event. Teams paid $50 and submitted a team name to enter the game. The team that wins Senior Tag splits the money with 7.5% taken out for the referees.

The rules of Senior Tag are simple. If a player is hit with water, the player is out. Play on school grounds, inside a player’s workplace or at a sporting event is prohibited. Players cannot enter any homes unless invited in by a family member who lives there. If a player is completely naked, the player cannot get out even when hit. As car accidents have been a problem in the past, this year’s organizers decided to ban shots into and out of cars.

Sundays are the only days when no play occurs as they are used for the two student referees to update the bracket and hold the egg toss, if needed.If at the end of the week, the competing teams have the same number of players left on their respective teams, there is an egg toss at the turf.  The egg toss – two players from each team tossing an egg back and forth until someone drops the egg – decides the winner of the week. Captains of the teams can also change the activity.

There are different variations of Senior Tag.  In Worthington it is a tradition to use squirt guns, but some central Ohio schools use nerf guns. Nerf guns provide an opportunity to play without getting wet but make it difficult to prove a hit was made.

Students continue to play Senior Tag year-after-year for many reasons.  It is a tradition only played by seniors. Underclassmen hear about the game but can’t play, which makes the game that much more exciting. Also, entry fees add up fast, so the pot is enticing. This year, 30 teams signed up to play – that’s $1,500 split between the refs and the five players on the winning team. This means each player walks away with $270. For most, Senior Tag will be the last opportunity to play a game with the friends and peers who they have attended school with for the past twelve years.  Playing also helps to release the tension that comes with the pressures of graduation, and it’s a fun way for seniors to end their high school careers.