Spy Versus Spy: A New Hamber Grad Tradition?

A student wears two different shoes as part of a weekly “safety” | Photo Credit: Stephen Kosar

Most students are probably familiar with Eric Hamber’s classic grad events, like grad pancake breakfast after Prom and GQ Day. Recently however, a new senior tradition has emerged, filled with alliances, betrayal, and very strategic planning and execution.

Spy versus Spy, also known as “Gotcha” or “Senior Assassin”, is a complex multiplayer game which involves grads attempting to get their “target” (another grad in the game) eliminated by spraying them with water. All players are vulnerable to attack, unless they are within certain safe zones like school, or at an organized event they are participating in. 

“I think the game has brought people together, and it feels very elementary school, which is nice since we’ve all been so focussed on grades and university,” shared Milo Lee-Philp (12).

The only other way to ensure your protection is to participate in weekly “safeties”, which grant you immunity from being splashed. “My favourite safety was the watermelon week, which was the perfect balance of inconvenient and accessible, as we had to carry around a melon to stay safe,” said Lee-Philp.

Over one hundred students in Hamber’s class of 2023 signed up to play this year, and their achievements were logged and posted on the spy versus spy Instagram account, @spyvspy.ehss2023. Numbers dwindled as the weeks went on, and those who were caught without the required “safeties”, or on days where there weren’t any at all, were sprayed, soaked, and eliminated. 

Spy versus Spy isn’t only inspiring espionage in Hamber’s graduating class. The game has taken hold across the city, popping up at Churchill, Tupper, Templeton, Byng and Vancouver Technical. But why are so many students playing? To enter in the game, participants must pay a $5 fee. This goes towards a pool of prize money waiting for a winner who can evade their friends, classmates and newfound enemies and be the last grad standing.

Keeping track of all of the school’s participants, their targets, and eliminations was a large task, happily taken on by a few members of Hamber’s class of 2023. “Our goal is to keep the game as fair, safe and respectful as possible,” explained Janelle Sobredo (12), one of the students responsible for running the event this year. 

“I’ve always wanted to run Spy versus Spy, because I think I’m a good middleman for everyone, and I know enough people to make sure that information is passed around to everybody,” Sobredo revealed. “I think I would get out really quick if I was playing, because I’m kind of slow, and I wouldn’t have the patience to carry around a safety!”