By Olivia Richie

Every year Ponte Vedra High School (PVHS) students host a real-life game of battle royale with water guns, called Assassins. This event is not set up by or associated with PVHS administration. But rather set up and played by students at PVHS. Each year Assassins is highly anticipated among students at PVHS. This game is made up of 64 teams, each team having five players. Each team must pitch in $50 to the pot of prize money to get entry into the game. This year is the biggest bracket by far making the prize pot a whopping $3,200, which is $640 divided up amongst each player on the winning team. Other than prize money, what else does Assassins entail?

Assassins itself is set up by a group of seniors each year called the commission. They set out to plan and design logistics of the game, so everything is organized and safe. Unfortunately, the past few years this game has been played it has cause issues amongst parents and even sometimes the law. This year senior Brett Reed manager of the PV Tank of Terror was in charge of establishing the commission. Reed wanted to make the commission as fair as possible by having certain people on the commission come from different friend groups so there would be less bias. This year the commission is made up three different seniors: Brett Reed, Hollis Lane, and Nathan Bunkosky. After teams are set and brackets are out, the commission will set teams against each other, and the two teams have from Monday to Thursday (Friday through Sunday are off days) to get as many people as possible out on the opposing team via shooting them with a water gun to move on to the next round. The team that has more players left by the end of the week moves on. If teams are tied the two teams go into a purge on Friday to declare the winner. There are many rules this year going into Assassins 2023 but for good reason. Some important rules included are safe zones like PVHS campus (at any point), no going into neighbors’ yards, and no car chases. Any teenager with the opportunity to play a water gun game with the prize being three grand will take every measure in order to win which can cause many issues. The reason this game can be so intense and taken too far sometimes is because players’ houses, work, practices, or even family events are all places players can be caught and “killed”. Players must be mindful of this at every point of the day which can cause stress and issues as mentioned before. Some issues included kids jumping over fences into neighbors’ yards, kids painting their guns black, and getting into car chases on the road. That’s just a few examples.

  Luckily, this year more rules and restrictions have been set to ensure not only kids have fun playing the game but do so safely. This game alone is very stressful but to be on the commission takes a different level patience. “Being on the commission was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be especially the first week. When 320 people are playing it’s hard to catch every detail, this created loads of backlash, and at one point I had 300 unanswered snapchats,” said Hollis Lane. The commission planned out the game prior to it being played, and they reviewed every single “kill” sent into them by all 64 teams at once. It is very important to the commission this year to keep things as fair as possible by responding and keeping up with as many people as possible who may have questions or issues. “Every year this game is highly anticipated and requires a lot of time not only from players but organizers,” said Brett Reed. A lot of students that sign up to play this game may not realize the true lengths it takes to do well in this game until they play, but rest assured it takes a lot of dedication.

  Although Assassins is stressful it’s a unique experience in its own right. It allows students to be creative and strategic while spending time with friends. “I just loved the idea of all of us getting together and setting a plan to get the other team out. we always had something to do and it was never boring,” said Carly Fagan, a senior who played assassins this year. Many of the teams, played to win the money, of course. However, there was a good amount of people who played to just have fun with their friends and this game is a perfect way to do that. Assassins allows friends to get together in person to talk and laugh which is something everyone especially teenagers need more of. Not only did teams, get to connect with friends of their own, but they met new people through other teams. This game requires people to be social in order to do well in the game. “I think people who win the game spend absurd amounts of time and money but there is more that goes into it than that. So, I think in the end its very worth it not only for the winning team but for everyone who plays,” said Brett Reed.

  This game for as long as it’s been around has been complicated, stressful, time consuming but always seems to be a load of fun for those who participate. This is why it has become so popular at PVHS. Yes, it’s not great to get out in the first round and have the cash go to waste but being able to be a part of a game that the entire school loves and the entire town talks about is unique. Not many can say they won Assassins, not many can say they even played. This game is unique to PVHS. Just be cautious that the game is as intense as it sounds, and players may end up spending more money on gas in a week than they would in an entire month.