As some of you may or may not be aware, the 2020 fiscal year officially begins today. With this comes a change in leadership for the NCDA. Keeping consistent with the expectations set forth for nonprofit organizations in the US, our Member Teams have voted in new board members as others will be making their way out. For me, my second two-year term as President of the NCDA came to a close last night at midnight. Though I would have loved to stay in the position for many more years, the bylaws of the NCDA state a president cannot hold the position for more than two consecutive terms. When I authored the bylaws, policies, and constitution in 2015, I specifically put this clause in place to make sure the NCDA doesn’t get stale. With new leadership comes new ideas, methodologies, and opportunities. Selfishly, I would love to keep the title, but in the best interest of the organization I’ve been so intimately involved with since 2008 I know this is the correct thing to do. I have full confidence in Hunter Ford who will be a great president and continue to lead the NCDA into new and exciting ventures. Over the next two years Hunter will become frustrated, overworked, and underappreciated, but if his experience as president was anything like mine, getting to see the joy, friendships, and game highlights that college dodgeball brings will all be worth it.
For the 2020 NCDA season, I was elected to a one-year term on the NCDA Executive Board as an Open Director in which my time will be spent making sure both Hunter (President) and Erik Zander (Treasurer) are comfortable in their new positions since I held both roles for multiple terms. I will also focus on dodgeball community relations, making sure that the partnerships the NCDA has with other dodgeball organizations stays strong and relevant. My other position as Treasurer for USA Dodgeball allows me to keep college dodgeball on the forefront of everyone’s mind since the NCDA is the largest competitive dodgeball organization in the country (by membership). The NCDA provides the biggest opportunity for consistently developing dodgeball players in the US, so college dodgeball must stay strong, not just for the sake of the NCDA but for the future of dodgeball in the US in general.
I am proud of the work we have accomplished over the last several years and I am excited to see what happens in the future. The development of technology allows us to more easily broadcast our games, the level of alumni involvement has helped increase the skill level of our players, and the reach we have now with the general public is more than I could have imagined. Because of dodgeball organizations like the NCDA, Elite Dodgeball, UDC (rip), and USA Dodgeball we have been able to bring dodgeball into pop culture and mainstream media (see the most recent example with Michelle Obama playing dodgeball with celebrities on The Late Late Show with James Corden). Though not every type of dodgeball shared is our brand of the game, more dodgeball is better dodgeball and people will soon realize why college dodgeball is the most exciting and competitive form of the sport.
I would like to thank the departing members of the 2019 NCDA eBoard for their hard work and dedication to our organization over the years. Mike McNicholas, as treasurer, brought a lot of expertise and insight into nonprofit financial management that allowed us to get over the initial humps that young nonprofit organizations face in their developing years. Colin O’Brien, as an open director, provided a lot of logic-based explanations and rationale for changes the NCDA made over the last couple of years, as well as being a great liaison between the NCDA and Elite Dodgeball which provides opportunity for dodgeball after college. Brandon Meisel, as Director of Nationals, was pivotal in making sure that Nationals 2019 was the best Nationals to-date. His tireless effort to make sure everything at GVSU was prepared and ready for the big show really paid off as anyone who attended could see.
My final request as President of the NCDA is that past and present college dodgeball players take a moment to reflect on what dodgeball has meant to them. For some it will be just a sport they play for a couple of years then never think about it again. For others, it may have been a way to meet new people and try something new between classes. For a few, it will mean everything. I will forever fall into that last category.
Cheers,
Felix Perrone
2015-2019 President, NCDA Inc
p.s. put numbers on the front of your damn jerseys.
