Dodgettes Navigating a New League
As the 2022 semester kicks off, one thing can be said for certain about the college dodgeball atmosphere: we are amidst an entirely new league. After practices came to an abrupt end almost two years ago, college dodgeball returned last fall, and with it came an exciting season of close matches, upsets, rookies, and of course, dodgettes (Shout-out to Akron University’s female players for coining the new term).
This article continues to highlight dodgettes across the league: December 2021 graduates, pre-COVID veterans, and new recruits. Stay tuned to hear how they made their name in the league and what they are looking forward to this year; in other words, dodgettes navigating a new league.
Biography:
Nicole Cutich
University of Akron
Major in Political Science
Pre-NCDA:
I played lacrosse all through middle school and high school and was also a goalie. It sort of prepared me for having balls thrown at me – except before my job was to get in front and let them hit me to block them if I couldn’t grab them with my stick, but now I have to move out of the way and not get hit, so that’s been a challenge. I wanted to join a club or rec sport when I came to college because I wouldn’t be playing lacrosse anymore, but I definitely didn’t expect to end up on the dodgeball team. I ended up joining after playing a game at the rec center during my first week on campus. It wasn’t even associated with the dodgeball team, but I ended up going on the Akron club website and seeing it on there, so I decided to sign up and I’m so glad I did because I’ve met some of my best friends. The three other girls on the team and I call ourselves the dodgettes, and it definitely started out as a joke but now we’ve really ran with that title.
Initial Involvement:
The first practice me and two of the other dodgettes walked over together, and when we saw all the guys waiting outside we started wondering what we got ourselves into. We walked into the gym and saw some of them warming up and absolutely beaming the ball against the wall and started thinking maybe we didn’t belong there, but as soon as we started playing we immediately changed our minds and had so much fun. The guys definitely went easy on us at first, but it didn’t take long for them to realize we were in for the long run and they didn’t need to go easy on us.
Fall Semester Tournament:
A recent tournament at the University of Cincinnati was one of my favorite memories from last semester; we had so much fun as a team, and I had a blast getting to play in our game against WMU and UC. I also learned how to be a counter for the games so that was also super cool.
Upcoming Tournaments:
This semester I’m definitely looking forward to more tournaments. We always have so much fun, and we‘ve all really improved since our first tournament. I’m excited to keep improving on the court.
If you had to compare your play style to an animal, what would it be and why?
If I had to compare my playing style to an animal it would probably be a cheetah or a cat or something of the sorts. I like to linger on the right side of the court and then snipe people to the left after they throw when they aren’t expecting it.
