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.
After leading Grand Valley State University to yet another Michigan Dodgeball Cup title, along with a strong showing at GVSU’s Blast from the Past tournament, Ben Tubergen earned himself “Baller of the Month”. Ben has emerged this year as one of the most dangerous players in the league with a strong and accurate throw, to go along with good catching skills. He has been a catalyst for GVSU’s offense so far this season, and will be a key to their success in a few weeks when they compete at Nationals 2017 in Lexington, KY.
I had the chance to chat with Ben after he won Baller of the Month. Our conversation touches on a number of topics, from his mindset heading into Nationals, to his dodgeball career outside of the NCDA, to the controversy over what grade he is actually in. I even ask him the ever-important question: “Chipotle or Qdoba?”. Here is my interview with GVSU’s Ben Tubergen. Continue reading “BOTM: 2017 March”
UWP/DePaul have played 7 games with each other in this Season, with the record being UWP 5-2 DePaul. The players of these two teams were curious if this made a League record. Turns out, it ties for second. The League record for games played against a single opponent in a single season is 9 games played.
In their overall 14 matches over their history, the record stands UWP 12-2 DePaul. Prehistory records include a couple more, here and there, but to take this into consideration: before 2017, DePaul/UWP have only played once a season, on average.
Existing Record:
2015, 9 games: GVSU 9-0 MSU (inc 2 “doubleheaders”)
2015, 7 games: GVSU 6-1 CMU (inc 0 doubles)
2016, 7 games: GVSU 5-2 MSU (inc 1 doubleheader)
2017, 7 games: GVSU 5-2 MSU (inc 2 doubleheaders)
2017, 7 games: UWP 5-2 DePaul (inc 1 doubleheader)
For those of you who don’t know, Matthew “Kelso” Kelsey (who was one of the original Kent State dodgeball players) was recently diagnosed with leukemia. This tournament is to raise money to help him with his medical bills. Kent is looking for participants in the area interested in playing or helping raise money for Kelso’s medical expenses. If you can’t make it but would like to make a donation please donate to his gofundme. There is also a Facebook group for the event if you are interested in signing up.
You can sign up to participate in the event on eventbrite. More information is provided there but here are the basics:
The event is scheduled for March 18th from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Kent State’s Recreational Center: 1550 Ted Boyd Drive, Kent, OH 44240
We are a competitive dodgeball league, however we also view all of our members both current and former as part of our family. Whether you are able to donate or can just simply share this with your friends, we want to help come together to support everyone in our dodgeball family.
It’s almost that time of year again. The transition from winter to spring means more than just warm weather. It means College Dodgeball Nationals is just around the corner. Dodgeball teams across the nation transition from the regular season grind to a post-season mindset. In a matter of weeks, the entire National Collegiate Dodgeball Association will convene for the annual national tournament that decides which club team is crowned NCDA National Champions.
The atmosphere inside of the Seaton Center on the campus of University of Kentucky will be electric, as it always is when UK hosts the season’s final tourney. 24 teams will make their way to Lexington, KY for what promises to be a tournament to remember.
Below, I will kick off the Nationals Preview articles (you will see a lot of these in the coming weeks) with a brief early look at the big tourney. The second weekend of April is quickly approaching, and while there are still a few dodgeball events yet to be played, I will take this opportunity to give my thoughts on what I expect from Nationals 2017:
CHICAGO – Ray Meyer: In the Chicago Dodgeball Combine,
UWP def DePaul 4-2
DePaul def UWP 5-2
Well, it is the only tournament this weekend and once again it is between two heavy weights DePaul and Platteville. They are playing each other for the 7th time this year, which I believe is the most between any two teams in the league. Both teams will be playing in the Chicago Dodgeball Combine. It will be a double header with the first game starting at around 12:30p.m. Let’s take a look at the teams. Continue reading “Chicago Dodgeball Combine”
Of the 12 games played this past weekend in Towson and the Kentuckian Bowling Green, we saw only one technical upset. Akron def UNG 5-2. While the video of this game was exciting, this game could be considered one of the rating adjustments games because new Member Team UNG didn’t have a lot games under their belt. There’s always many angles you can look at the result. The end exchange was 1.490 and ranks 43rd out of 222 technical upsets. We have 1170 ranked matches under our collective belts.
| Team | Pre | Post | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akron | 35.518 | 36.737 | 1.219 |
| UK | 47.366 | 48.235 | 0.869 |
| Towson | 47.972 | 48.819 | 0.847 |
| Kent | 43.388 | 43.786 | 0.399 |
| WKU | 41.906 | 42.223 | 0.317 |
| VCU | 42.975 | 42.489 | -0.486 |
| UMD | 36.909 | 36.149 | -0.760 |
| UNG | 40.466 | 38.061 | -2.405 |
Akron leads the day with the biggest exchange having won a technical upset. UK also secured the big victory by gaining the most points without needing to upset anybody to do it. Plus, they brought home the Kentucky Dodgeball Cup in their 3-1 win over a WKU home team. Continue reading “Standings as of 2017-03-07”
In our second edition of the top tweets of the month, Kevin and I once again sat down to look through the savagery our league has to offer. We were pleasantly surprised with this month’s candidates, and look forward to what the league has to offer in the future. Now, let’s take a look at what we believe to be the top 10 tweets of February 2017:
Alright folks, big news.
For the month of March, there will be a different process in place for determining the Baller of the Month. The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s Content team has narrowed the list down to 8 candidates. Those 8 finalists are as follows (in no particular order):
Continue reading “Baller of the Month – March Madness Bracket”
With so many games played this past weekend (18 ranked across 3 regions), plus two new teams, we see a lot more movement in the Standings than usual. When listing all the changes, we see top to bottom gains and losses.
Just as I said in my last article, this semester is looking to be one of the best in recent NCDA history. We are only a month away from the biggest tournament of the year and this season has already seen more matches, and more upsets than ever before. This weekend, Western Kentucky University hosts the very first King of the Hill tournament. WKU will play host to Akron University, North Georgia University, and the University of Kentucky. Along with the standard three matches for each, UK and WKU will be playing for the Kentucky state cup for the first time since 2011. Let’s take a look at each team and what to expect. Continue reading “King of the Hill Preview!”
Zanderthon Throw-Down 2 Recap
On February 25, 2017 DePaul, Platteville, and Alumni competed in the Zanderthon Throw-Down 2. It was a fun filled day that brought about some competitive games. We got to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones on the court. The results of the games are as followed:
Get ready y’all. This is going to be a HUGE event. Nationals 2017 will have roughly 460 players representing 24 schools from 10 different states. With so many dodgeball players from all over flocking to Lexington on April 8 & 9, its bound to be a good time!
Nationals 2017 will feature 59 ranked games, in addition to the NCDA Alumni Match, NCDA Ladies’ Match, and the NCDA All Star Game presented by SAVAGE apparel.
This is INSANE and I couldn’t be happier! This will be the largest Nationals the NCDA has ever hosted. This year’s attendance will break last year’s (which set the current record) 18 team tournament by 33%.
Entry fees are due March 15 and can be paid via check or through PayPal.
These 24 teams have registered for Nationals:
Akron, BGSU, BW, CMU, CSU, DePaul, GVSU, JMU, Kent, Miami, MSU, NSULA, Ohio, OSU, PSU, SVSU, Towson, UK, UMD, UNG, UVA, UWP, VCU, WKU
All Stars have been submitted for these 26 teams:
Akron, BGSU, BW, CMU, CSU, DePaul, GSU, GVSU, JMU, Kent, Miami, MSU, NSULA, Ohio, OSU, PSU, SU, SVSU, Towson, UK, UMD, UNG, UVA, UWP, VCU, WKU
[artwork coming soon!]
57 ladies have registered for the ladies match. At least one lady has registered from these 18 teams (including alumni ladies):
Akron, BGSU, CMU, CSU, DePaul, GVSU, JMU, Kent, Miami, MSU, NSULA, Ohio, OSU, PSU, SVSU, Towson, UK, UNG.
The winning team will receive shirts with the logo below printed on the chest.
This year’s Ohio Dodgeball Cup was nothing short of exciting this past weekend. I don’t believe that anyone could have predicted that outcome. Congratulations are in order for the Ohio Bobcats, your 2017 Ohio Dodgeball Cup Champions! I have to be honest, I thought it would be a long time before I would ever say that! But they did it, and they deserved it.
