UW-Eau Claire will be hosting their second tournament of the season on Saturday, March 28th, which will be the last central region event of the season. Those expected to attend are close rivals, UW-Platteville, with less than a week of rest from the last tournament they played in, and a large mixed team consisting of players from several schools–UW-Stout, UW-La Crosse, UW-Steven’s Point, UW-River Falls, and Winona State University. These teams are potential candidates for future growth in the central region, and these nearby tournaments allow them to get a feel for the league and hopefully feel encouraged to form their own teams. This tournament will bring the central region season to a close, so let’s see what these teams and players have left in them before nationals.
UWEC
The last event UW-Eau Claire participated in was the Zanderthon Throw-Down X back in February where they joined the mixed team along with players from UW-Steven’s Point, UW-River Falls, and UW-La Crosse. This will be their last event of the season as they are unable to attend nationals this year. But that just means they have nothing else to lose, and they can end their season with a bang. As it stands, all of the Eau Claire players have at least one more season until they graduate, so they should all have one more opportunity to attend a national tournament, and maybe another if the women’s team can recruit enough players to compete. All this to say is Eau Claire still has so much growth left in them, and this event will help push them further toward their goal.
UWP
Platteville will be bringing twelve players to this event, noting a few heavy hitting vets will not be in attendance. They are coming off of some big losses at the Tyler Webb Memorial III tournament in Bowling Green, OH where they went 0-3 and only scored one point, so this time they hope to score more points on their opponents and win a few games. While there will be only one official match (UWP vs UWEC), it doesn’t mean the team can’t get some good reps in on the other team to help lock in their strategy before April. With so many of their vets not being able to make it (I counted five), that means the rookies and less outgoing members will get a chance to take the lead on the court. UWP still has a lot of game left in them, and they plan on making their last official game count as we head into nationals.
NCDA Mixed
As stated above, the mixed team will consist of players across five schools. UW-Stout, being the team with the most experienced players, will help guide the other players on how to strategize and work together to achieve the best outcome. The players from the other UW schools and Winona have already dipped their toes into the world of dodgeball at previous tournaments hosted by Platteville, and their willingness to attend this event suggests great things to come for the central region. UW-La Crosse, UW-Steven’s Point, and UW-River Falls have exhibited great athleticism and understanding of the game at past events, and those who joined us from Winona executed both styles of dodgeball very well. It will be exciting to see how these players do at this event, and hopefully future ones as well.
Catch the games live at the UW-Platteville Dodgeball Club’s YouTube Channel, and check out the teams’ social medias for any other updates on the event. Let’s wrap up the season on a high note, so tune in for some awesome games, and watch the region grow even bigger.