September 20th was the day of tournaments across the league. In the Central Region, UW-Platteville (UWP) and UW-Stout (UWS) (and alumni) traveled to UW-Eau Claire (UWEC) for the second annual Eau Claire Brawl tournament. This was the first NCDA tournament of the season for all those who attended, and it allowed the teams’ newbies to test the waters of NCDA dodgeball. All photos included were taken by Richard Laux.
UWEC
UWEC’s team always comes to events full of energy, and they extended a warm welcome to all those who attended. Their players have a wider range of experience in the types of dodgeball they’ve played, and this plays into their favor. They are able to utilize strategies from playing foam into playing pinch that other teams don’t often use. It’s fascinating to watch some of their players take possession of a ball and swiftly defend themselves or even spring several feet into the air with ease. It’s almost infuriating how agile and lucky their more experienced players are. It’s always a fun chance to play them.
UWS
We saw lots of new faces from UW-Stout at this tournament which is great to see so early in the season. Each one poses as a serious opponent with their ability to pick up their team’s strategy. Their returners took the lead when it came to attacking, but the rookies filled the gaps in support and defense fairly well. Their coach, Jacob Serbranek, is an effective leader when it comes to strategy and reinforcement. He pushes his team to play hard and encourages them to learn more about themselves and their own strategy. It has been extremely fun watching them grow over the past few tournaments, especially their vets Angel and Tyler.
UWP
UWP came into this tournament with six practices under their belt which helped them shake off any dust from over the summer. It was great to see the number of rookies that attended this event, especially the number of rookie women. Their main job this tournament was to start off the season strong as well as introduce their rookie class to what a tournament environment is like. The starting twelve was comprised of their returners to allow the rookies an important opportunity to watch and adapt to the pace of a real game. Little by little the rookies were substituted in, and their teammates were able to incorporate them into the heat of the game seamlessly. I spoke with several of the rookies during and after the event, and they all had positive things to say about their first tournament experience.
Alumni
The alumni were a great presence and help throughout the day. The team had members from each team with a wide range of experience, and it was obvious that they were there to have fun. Their knowledge of the game helped the event run more smoothly, and it gave the rookies a peak at what the future of their career in dodgeball could look like. Thank you to all the alumni who showed up!
Women’s No-sting Match
This match was another big step in the right direction for Platteville’s Women’s no-sting team. To refresh our memory, UWP attended Women’s Nationals with seven women on the team, and this was a huge accomplishment for them. The Eau Claire Brawl saw eight Platteville women–four vets and four rookies, and that’s not even the entire women’s roster. To put it plainly, the recruitment of women for UWP has been a huge success this season so far.
This match had three vets and three rookies on the UWP side and five vets and one rookie on the mixed side. UWP stuck to their play style of maintaining ball control in order to execute their team throws while the mixed team played offense and threw crosses frequently. UWP countered these attacks by keeping their blockers in place, and the rookies did a great job making their throws count. Both teams made several catches throughout the match which extended the points. There was even a fantastic face off between Hollie Wheeler (UWP) on the mixed side and UWP’s Alison Draxler as they went head to head in a 1 v 1. In the end, the mixed team won the game, but it was extremely fun to play in and watch!
Final Thoughts
The Eau Claire Brawl was a fun and eventful way to kick off the season in the Central Region, and it introduced dodgeball to a lot new players. There were a ton of great plays made by returners and rookies alike and we should see a lot more plays in the future.
It was a great day to play dodgeball, and thanks to UW-Eau Claire for hosting the event. Another thanks to those who took pictures throughout the day. If you missed the action and want to watch, make sure to check out the games at the UWP Dodgeball YouTube channel, make sure to subscribe to their channel to watch them go live in the future.
Photos: Eau Claire Brawl II Pictures