Colorful club shirts filled the bleachers as the gym buzzed with excitement on Friday, Oct. 3, for Westwood’s first-ever Battle of the Clubs, hosted by Student Council (StuCo). 

Five major clubs — Distributive Educational Clubs of America (DECA), HOSA–Future Health Professionals (formerly known as Health Occupations Students of America), National Honor Society (NHS), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Peer Assistance Leadership and Service (PALS) — competed in a series of games that tested teamwork and strategy. Each club sent five representatives to compete, while the rest of the members cheered from the sidelines.

“This was an event we came up with this year, so planning everything was a lot more difficult since it was from scratch,” StuCo Senior Class President Rheya Kurian said. “The most difficult part was probably advertising and communication with clubs. I chose the games based on how much I thought students would like it.” 

The event kicked off with a life-sized version of Hungry Hippos. Pairs of club members raced to scoop balloons and plastic balls into a bag, running across different members while one teammate wore glasses that simulated impaired vision. Laughter and shouts echoed across the gym as pairs strategized to collect the most items amidst the chaos.

“I was excited to play since I’d seen clips of the game online and wanted to try it myself, though the drunk goggles were a surprise,” NHS Historian Annie Zhu ‘26 said. “My main strategy was to grab as many balls as possible while guiding [my teammate] Eileen [Wu ‘26] through the chaos. I’m glad I got to be a part of it. Even though we didn’t win first place overall, getting second and playing with the other officers was a memorable experience.”

The intensity continued with a three-legged race. Pairs of representatives had one foot tied together with a ribbon, making timing crucial. Partners hopped, stretched, and tried to match each other’s pace while racing to the finish line. IB emerged victorious with their powerful coordination.

“I chose to compete in the three-legged race since it was the game I felt the most confident in,” NHS Food Bank Director Karen Chen ‘26 said. “I thought we really had it down when we practiced, but we didn’t know we had to rotate and run back to the starting line again, so matching our pace was hard when we turned back.”

The third event was musical chairs, a tense competition that left representatives circling a limited number of chairs as music played. Each time the music stopped, participants scrambled to claim a seat, until HOSA Event Coordinator Anjali Robinson ‘27 claimed victory as the last one seated.

“I really enjoyed participating in the game,” Robinson said. “It was a great adrenaline rush because I never knew when the music was going to stop. My main strategy was to stay focused on the chair, and not look up and get distracted, but mainly to just really have fun with it.”

To wrap up the battle, representatives selected audience members to compete in a fourth and final bonus round of musical chairs. Quick thinking and fast reactions became crucial as the representatives recruited teammates from the bleachers.

“It made me super happy that all the teams seemed to be having fun,” Kurian said. “It was also great to see very different clubs come together for an event since that doesn’t happen that often.”

By the end of the Flex period, PALS emerged as the overall victor across the four competition events, with NHS as the runner-up.

“Overall, I think it was a really fun experience,” Chen said. “It’s a great team-bonding opportunity for clubs, especially officers, and it’s a fresh event that’s different from a typical pep rally. It was exciting to see everyone come together and just have fun.”