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 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”
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”
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.
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- 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”
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”
To cap off this already exciting 2016- 2017 season, Nationals will be held at the University of Kentucky. The last time UK hosted Nationals, Candy Crush was popular and Liam Hemsworth broke up with Miley Cyrus. Those were much simpler times. The 2012-2013 season also saw the start of the Grand Valley streak. Will that streak end this season? I have no idea. In my opinion, this year is the most even the league has been since I have been on the court. In my bold predication and entirely unresearched opinion, the 2016- 2017 National tournament will have more upsets than any previous year. You heard it here first.
Putting aside the crystal ball, I have been told that the 2013 Nationals can be used as a template for which other Nationals have been run. Hopefully, we can improve on this template. This year, we have access to UK’s main gym, the Johnson Center, as well as its auxiliary gym, the Seaton Center. We will have access to four courts in the Johnson Center and three in the Seaton Center. All courts have brick walls on both ends and nets that run the length of the court. For the fans, one of the courts in Seaton will have bleachers and the Johnson Center has a track that circles all four courts.
Outside of the gym, Lexington has great bars and restaurants that will be happy to feed +20 smelly degenerates like you. For a nationally ranked hangover cure, try Tolly Ho. If you are looking for quantity, try Gumbo Ya Ya (Delicious Cajun food) and Hibachi Express (Chinese food). And if you are looking for regular drive-thru food, there is a Taco Bell on campus and McDonalds and Chipotle just off-campus. As for bars, I suggest Two Keys and The Stagger Inn (try a John Wall shot).
The University of Kentucky is very excited to host Nationals.
Address for Johnson Center: 434 Complex Dr, Lexington, KY 40502
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.
Much has happened since the start of the season. Many teams are not what they were last season, and newer teams have come into the spotlight of the league for the first time. However, since then, a lot has happened behind the scenes. Here is what your Executive Board and I have been up to when it comes to recruiting new teams for the NCDA. Continue reading “Director of League Expansion and Retention: Fall Update”
The first Baller of the Month award for the 2016-2017 season goes to Katie Milliken, Captain and founder of The University of Pittsburgh Dodgeball club. Continue reading “BOTM: 2016 September”
As an organization, we will be starting a new series of articles titled “My Dodgeball Story”. In short, this will be reminiscent to what The Players’ Tribune is all about.
Basically the intention is to give any current or former NCDA player the chance to have his/her voice heard. This will be an opportunity for our content to become more diverse in that we will be featuring first-person stories from a variety of players around the league. Everyone has a unique dodgeball story. Whether it be a specific experience, or just how the sport changed your life as a whole, this is your opportunity to share your story with the world.
So, before we can move on to the first edition of this series of articles, I want to invite any and all of you to submit your own “dodgeball story” to a member of the content team. The goal here is to increase the amount of content on this website and grow the sport as a whole. So get writing, we would love to hear from all of you!
It is only fitting that we start this series with Felix Perrone’s “dodgeball story”. Felix, as most of you know, is the current President of the NCDA. Felix’s impact on the league goes beyond everything he does right now as the main face of the organization. During his playing days Felix was considered one of the top players in the league (and I consider him a top 10 player ever), and a great leader for the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky.
While I could talk about this man all day, it might be better if we heard his story in his words. Enjoy: Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Felix Perrone”
Introduction
A long time ago after the annual Chick-fil-A dodgeball tournament in Richmond, VA, my best friend Micheal Tse and I were walking back to my apartment talking about dodgeball and the possibility of playing after our college days were done. This took place in October 2011, several months after the historical Final Four run by VCU in the NCAA tournament. The conversation started off very casually and jokingly with talks of playing semi-professionally along the East Coast with the potential of winning cash prizes or free food. Because who doesn’t like free food after a tournament? Yet, small talk created curiosity in me, and I stumbled across a hidden secret which has been around since 2004, the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association (NCDA).
In December 2011 as a Christmas present to myself, I completed all of the paperwork that was necessary to have the Dodgeball Club at VCU as an official organization. Little did I know my life would never be the same again. At the time, dodgeball at VCU was shrinking in size every single year. It started out strong with at least 100 people playing medic dodgeball every Friday from 2-4:30 p.m. in my freshman year to only 20 people playing medic dodgeball three times a week in my junior year. Back then, the purpose of the club was to create some stability with the perception of the sport around VCU, so that we would have some gym time every week. For anyone who has ever attended VCU, you know that dodgeball time was cut short on a weekly basis due to soccer.
The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s 2016 Executive of the Year is awarded to Caleb Arnold from Ohio University. The captain for first-year NCDA member team Ohio, Caleb demonstrated excellent leadership, scheduling his team 25 games. This honor is bestowed upon Caleb after the NCDA Executive Board vote (also nominated for this award was Erik Zander, the captain for Wisconsin Platteville).
I was able to ask a few questions of the league’s Executive of the Year, and I learned a lot about Caleb and his team. After reading through Caleb’s responses, I anticipate everyone else will have as much respect as I do for the President, Captain, and Founder of Ohio University Dodgeball:
Kevin Bailey – What were the reasons for you starting up a team at Ohio, and what were the main struggles that you encountered during this process?
Caleb Arnold – First of all, thank you and the rest of the league for giving me this opportunity to discuss a little about my team. Anyways, I have always had a passion for dodgeball. Continue reading “Executive of the Year: Caleb Arnold (Ohio)”
On January 31st, Central Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University and Michigan State University square off at the Student Activity Center in Mount Pleasant, MI. This is the first tournament of the new year for either squad and whichever team comes out on top will carry that momentum with them until February 27th, which is the date of the infamous Michigan Dodgeball Cup. With that here’s a look at each of the respective teams attending…
