I approached Kevin a while ago (he probably stopped believing I’d actually write this) about telling my Dodgeball Story. I read some of the others that have been submitted this summer and it made me want to tell mine. I know there is a story inside of me but I have been struggling with how to tell it. How do I tell my story which is personal but also make it meaningful, insightful, and at least somewhat entertaining to the people reading it that do not know me? I decided to simply go for it and not worry about it. Selfishly, I’m telling this story in hopes that I can move on. I’m hoping that once I am finished I will feel a sense of closure. Closure that I have been missing since I left SVSU in 2014. Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Nathan Council (SVSU)”
Category: Feature
My Dodgeball Story: Sean Smith (Towson)
It seems all too common for dodgeball stories to begin with an obscure story about how an individual discovered the sport on their college campus. This story will be no different.
Before moving in to campus as a freshman in Fall 2011, I knew I wanted to play a club sport, but I wasn’t sure which one or how to even get involved. The smart kids went on Towson’s website and researched this type of thing, meanwhile my lazy behind decided to just show up and hope I could figure it out. Little did I know my laziness would actually turn out to be the best thing of my first year at Towson.
Who Will End ‘The Streak’?
The state of Michigan’s 11-year national title run will come to an end eventually (maybe even this year). Here’s a look at the teams who came closest to ending ‘The Streak’ in the past, and those best positioned to do so this year:
The state of Michigan has had an unprecedented amount of success in collegiate dodgeball over the past decade or so. In fact, a team from Michigan has won each of the last 11 NCDA Nationals Titles. This 11-year-run has been incredible, but there have certainly been a few close calls along the way.
Here we are, less than a week away from crowning yet another College Dodgeball National Champion, and ‘The Streak’ is still alive and well. Before I dive into which teams have the best shot to end this steak in 2018, here is a quick history lesson on the closest misses that have occurred during the 11-year stretch:
NCDA Regional Hierarchy – November 2017
The question often arises: “Which Region is the best in College Dodgeball?”. While Michigan has historically had the best region in the country by a large margin, the argument for 2nd and 3rd place was always a big debate.
While reviewing the most recent Power Rankings, I noticed that the race for strongest region is much closer than some may anticipate. In fact, depending on what one determines to be the most important criteria, there could be a case made for several different regions as the best in the NCDA.
Over the past decade, many have accepted the narrative that the Michigan Region is the best in College Dodgeball and that it will never change. After taking a closer look at our current power rankings, the distinction of ‘strongest region’ is more up in the air than people may think.
I used two different methods to analyze the NCDA’s ‘Regional Hierarchy’, both of which were based off November’s Power Rankings. For reference, here is the top 20 for November: Continue reading “NCDA Regional Hierarchy – November 2017”
Standings as of 2017-10-31
The Gonzalez System now includes 260 technical upsets in 1337 (leet) ranked matches. For the 2018 Season, we’re at 24 technical upsets in 87 ranked matches. We’ve also seen twelve JV contests, and four new schools: Midland, Southern Illinois Edwardsville, Gonzaga, and Oregon St. All the following data is current as of 2017-10-31.
If you’d like to know more about the Gonzalez System, please refer to our Spec Doc detailing the system. And as always, I’d be more than happy to answer any questions. Continue reading “Standings as of 2017-10-31”
Standings as of 2017-10-11
This feature article was co-authored with Felix Perrone
In three events across a similarly expansive swath of the country as last week, we played 15 ranked matches and three JV contests. This has brought the records to a nice and round 1300 ranked matches. We saw a feature article with Dylan and Felix, in this feature article, Felix and I will present some more fun facts regarding that large chunk of data. Complete records span eight seasons, from the Opening Match on 2010-09-25 to this weekends games of 2017-10-08. While we have a number of matches recorded from 2005-2010, those records are not complete and as reliable so we refer to those as the dark times.
We had three events this weekend at PSU, GSU, and GVSU.
So far:
- 50 matches played in the 2018 Season (another round number!)
- 23 teams of our 32 active teams have played (not as round)
- just 1 overtime (way under average)
- 11 technical upsets (about on target)
- a historical leader dips (more on that later)
NCDA Stats 2011 to Present
With the first month of the season in the books we have already seen 50 games played through 9 events with 282 points being scored. It is still very early in the season but it is already looking like we are on pace to break several records this year, including some big ones like total number of games played and average points scored per game.
President Felix Perrone was bored one day so he ran some numbers and came up with some cool stats about the NCDA. While we have some incomplete stone age records going back to our first season in 2005, these stats use our complete records which date back to September 2010, up through this weekend.
College Dodgeball’s Winning Formula – Part One: Play Elite Dodgeball
As we inch closer and closer to the start of another National Collegiate Dodgeball Association (NCDA) season, I plan to begin a series of articles on “College Dodgeball’s Winning Formula”. From my experience as a player and board member within this league, there seems to be no shortage of enthusiasm or commitment among players. But that has not transitioned to on-court success for some teams, especially those in their first year or two as a program.
My goal with this series is simply to provide some insight into what it takes to be a championship level dodgeball player/team in the NCDA. It is no secret that building a club sport at your school is a difficult task. Competing against programs with far more experience makes that process even more trying. This series should help expedite that improvement process. Future topics in this series will be about recruitment of players, practice formats, etc., but this first portion is a bit unique. The reason I am writing about Elite Dodgeball right now is because the Elite season just ended, and I am more convinced now than ever before that this is something NCDA players NEED to be involved in. Now, time for Part One: Play Elite Dodgeball! Continue reading “College Dodgeball’s Winning Formula – Part One: Play Elite Dodgeball”
2016-2017 Women’s All-American Team
This year we will be doing something that we’ve never done before, the women of the NCDA are finally getting the recognition they deserve. There are many talented ladies in the league, as showcased in the Lady’s match at nationals the past couple of years. Every season the match grows in number and talent. The women on this list are not to be taken lightly and are dedicated members of the squads that they represent. Without further delay, the 2016-2017 Women’s All-American Team!
The Future of College Dodgeball Series – Part 1: League Expansion
The following is the first in a series of articles that will be published on the topic of the future of collegiate dodgeball. NCDA Chief of Content Kevin Bailey and NCDA Director of League Expansion and Retention Jacob Leski will discuss a variety of topics, from league improvement and expansion, to the future of Nationals, the NCDA ruleset and how it will evolve overtime. We even discuss the likelihood of the NCDA eventually becoming a D1 sport with games on national television, etc.
The Future of College Dodgeball Series will even have some guest appearances, joining Kevin and Jacob in conversation. A lot will be discussed during this series, starting with Part 1 on league expansion:
Continue reading “The Future of College Dodgeball Series – Part 1: League Expansion”
Review for Kent State’s Matthew Kelsey Fundraiser Tournament
I hope that you all are recovered from a hopefully fun Saint Patrick’s day! While this past weekend did not hold any sanctioned NCDA bouts, I was privileged enough to be able to participate in the Matthew Kelsey Fundraiser 6v6 Tournament held by Kent State on Saturday March 18th. Matt “Kelso” Kelsey was one of Kent State’s original club members and has been recently diagnosed with Leukemia and the proceeds of the tournament went to help Matt with any costs he might have. The tournament was a great success and raised 776 dollars for Matthew with the 10 teams that showed up and the other donations that were made in his honor. Continue reading “Review for Kent State’s Matthew Kelsey Fundraiser Tournament”
A Day With Leski
I decided to interview Jacob Leski for this article. He is the former President of Central Michigan’s Dodgeball Club and current Director of League Expansion and Retention for the NCDA. He is well known in the league for his loud play and great catching ability, but off the court he is a great guy and genuinely loves the league and the sport of dodgeball, and works very hard to see it flourish.
Power Rankings Poll: Groundhog’s Day Edition
Disclaimer: These rankings have zero impact on seeding for the National Tournament or actual ranking. They provide insight into where teams are currently performing during a given part of the season.
Continue reading “Power Rankings Poll: Groundhog’s Day Edition”
Alumni Appreciation- UWP
Alumni Appreciation- Founder of UWP Dodgeball
As you may know, January is alumni appreciation month and I thought it 
would be fitting to write about how Platteville’s club got started. Our club started over ten years ago and I’m so happy that it did. I have met a lot of amazing people and made a lot of great friends because of it. To help tell how the club got started we talked to the founder of the club: Scott Skelly. Continue reading “Alumni Appreciation- UWP”
Director of League Expansion and Retention: Winter Update
The first half of the 2016-17 season is complete. We started the season with 23 active teams in the NCDA and now have 29 with plenty more waiting to get some action in the second half of the season. A total of 119 games were played last semester. That set a new record for the amount of matches played in the first half of the season. One can only predict that this record will continue to be broken for many years to come. This is thanks to the hard work of not just the Executive Board, but the active members of this league who have done an extraordinary job of getting the word out about this great sport. Below is an update on how the newly established member teams are doing this season and how close other prospective teams are to playing in the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association this season.
Continue reading “Director of League Expansion and Retention: Winter Update”