The Michigan Dodgeball Cup is traditionally the biggest tournament of the season outside of Nationals. Historically featuring schools like Michigan State, Delta College, Oakland, Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley, Lansing Community College, Eastern Michigan, and Central Michigan, this season’s MDC will likely feature just four teams- GVSU, MSU, SVSU, and CMU. However, these four schools are four of the top schools in the history of the NCDA, with a total of six National Championships in the eight year history of the NCDA.
So what is this “24/7: Road to the Michigan Dodgeball Cup” then?
It’s based on the HBO documentary “24/7: Road to the Winter Classic” done for the NHL. This will also be a documentary (albeit shorter than the hour long specials for HBO) featuring the Michigan schools as they prepare for, and compete in, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup.The video will be showcasing the teams, giving insight into what it’s like to be a collegiate dodgeball player, and show the passion and dedication they have to the game.
Starting in January, the teams will be filming their trips to the Chicago Dodgeball Open, a game between the Spartans and Cardinals, practices, meetings, as much dodgeball related things as possible, leading up to the climatic games in East Lansing for the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. The project will be headed by SVSU’s Spencer Jardine (#77).
Q: What do you think this project will bring to the league?
Spencer: With out a doubt it will be able to bring excitement to one of the toughest tournaments in dodgeball the NCDA, the Michigan Dodgeball Cup. I hope it will bring more fan attention to the NCDA when they see the passion and effort that we put into something that is usually regarded as a “children’s” game. In the long run I hope it will be a great recruiting tool for new teams as they see the ins and outs of dodgeball’s version of the SEC.
Q: What do you think the fans will get out of this documentary?
Spencer: I think they will finally get to see that while we play what is classified as a Club Sport, it means so much more to those involved in it. There are players who spend their entire college careers attempting to reach the summit of the NCDA. I also think that by watching these videos they are going to get attached to the certain personalities/their schools, and they are gonna be rooting for them as the series progresses.
Q: What can we look forward to seeing in the documentary?
Spencer: With out a doubt dodgeball players have some of the best personalities that a person can find. It should be very entertaining to see these guys and gals in their day to day lives as they prepare for a signature event like the MDC. On top of that the banter and action of the games should provide incite to how heated these games can get when teams like MSU, SVSU, GVSU, and CMU clash on the court. I’m also very excited to see how each team prepares for upcoming epic match ups with the NCDA so wide open this semester.
Keep checking back here for updates and for the episodes when they’re released.
Good luck guys. Hope this turns out good!