So Much To Do So Little Time

Wow It’s been awhile since I’ve said anything to the world of college dodgeball. Since last I posted a lot of things have happened. Nationals has taken up a lot of my brain space so I’ve barely realized the recent reclusion back to me being the sole girl member of our team.

Recently I’ve gotten confirmations from the court space and the hotel. I’ve gotten in contact with the BCSN which will hopefully get us some television exposure and I’ll be contacting local news stations to get a buzz going in the Northwest Ohio/Southeast Michigan region. Some possible sponsors (once contacted back) will be Huntington Bank, Buffalo Wild Wings, The National Dodgeball League, The Copy Shop, Aardvark Embroidery, and the Black Swamp Bootleggers.

Along with 4 courts of dodgeball craziness, the infamous BGSU radar gun will be present to officially clock the NCDA’s fastest throw and teams with the most high speed throws. All I can say is that Nationals this year will be a ton of fun and I can’t wait to see all of the wonderful teams of the NCDA in April.

BGSU: It’s A Start

I have been pleasantly surprised in the past couple of weeks with the amount of girls i’ve seen at the games. Granted they’re all on the JV or B team but hey it’s a start. I was especially happy to play against these girls on the SVSU and MSU teams and I hope to see even more in the future and tons at Nationals. On that note I would like to thank, on behalf of the team, to everyone who voted for the Nationals location. It just shows that we can eventually become an NCAA or at least a multiple conference league (starting with adding the west). I hope we can continue this great momentum and hopefully beat out the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association as better obscure sport college league…by the way they already have like 200 teams in like 3 years but they’re not quite as organized as we are (surprisingly). So anyways back to the point, great job girls and I can’t wait to see more from all of you!

Girls, Stats, and more

Hi everyone long time no talk…many things have happened here in Bowling Green, OH and I thought it was time to share. First of all we have another girl…yay! But I still expect more out of the girls here at BGSU hopefully we will make the number 3 or 4 by the end of this year…hopefully. Also just wanted to inform everyone that I’ve been talking with STATS a company who provides statistics for professional leagues like the NFL, MLS, and NASCAR just to name a few. Hopefully if things go alright we can get official stats like we’ve been talking about all summer and we won’t have to do them. Last but not least I’m excited to get game play going in a couple of weeks on the 14th. We’ve been looking pretty good at practice and if I do say so myself I and the rest of my team have improved. I can’t wait to see everyone and hopefully get some wins for this season!

DWC and beyond

Well the DWC ended a long time ago and nothing surprising happened. The girls team almost won a round but we didn’t and the other team I was on got to the second round. I am really writing to you wonderful people today because I’m a little frustrated. My team has had a few practices so far and I am the only girl on the team…not even new girls came in when we did our big recruitment.

Most of the reactions I’ve been getting is the whole, “I don’t want to get hurt and I won’t be good so why bother.” That’s a whole bunch of bullshit. There are guys that come out that can barely throw a ball but they still come and have a good time. It’s upsetting to see strong women who are too scared to play a game for whatever stupid reason that project in their minds. What most women don’t realize is that we hold a power by being underestimated. The guys on opposing teams will consider us an easy out but we may have some fight in us. The women in colleges need to step up and become the secret weapon for their team and become a part of the great sport of Dodgeball.

DWC: Day One

Well here it is…the blog you’ve all been waiting for…DAY ONE of theDWC!!! After one day of about 30 games I am pretty beat up. Because BG didn’t go to Nationals (for a stupid reason might I add) I haven’t played a real game of dodgeball since the tournament we hosted in Febuary causing my soreness to be extremely intense.

I played in two divisions both only using the traditional 8.5″ ball and (drum roll please) one of the teams was all female…that’s right all of us were girls and we did really well against all male teams. I loved playing with my women-folk it was refreshing knowing that there are actually really great dodgeball players that just happen to be women.

On an interesting note two universities were there University of Miami and Oregon State both of which were not at the NCDA level but definitely have potential we should probably get them into the NCDA making the league reach coast to coast…also I think that next year, as kind of a starter to the new year, the NCDA should submit a team or two kind of like an NCDA All-Stars…even if the rules are different most everyone there would be murdered or have some major competition at the very least. I know most of us think the pros can’t handle our league mainly because of the rules they play by but the pros are actually really good and would hold their own in one of our games…anyways just some thoughts as I try to rest for tomorrow’s day of dodgeball…I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend!

Dodgeball World Cup

Hey everyone I know its been awhile since I last posted but its the off season so not much is going on. But the biggest event in the dodgeballworld is happening in less than a month, the Dodgeball World Cup, and I felt like this deserved a nice post. I will be going to this event as a freelancer and trying out for the pros although, as most of the NCDA knows, the “pros” are nothing compared to how we play.

I felt like I had a chance to compete and do well in the competition happening August 14th-16th in Las Vegas so I decided to try it out. The DWC has 5 divisions; Open 8.5″, Co-ed 8.5″, Open Stinger, Co-ed Stinger, and Women’s. Personally I can’t wait to see the Women’s division just to experience what females can do when the guys aren’t around. On the other hand I am not excited for stingers. Honestly I don’t even think stingers should exist in the world of dodgeball it takes away the brutal bruises from a traditional 8.5″ which is so much more fun to show around (as far as battle wounds go).

Regardless of my personal preferences I think the DWC will be a blast, even if the pros are chicken shit compared to our league, and I will be posting pics and comments about my experience as a woman in this huge competition.

Hall of Fame talk

I’ve been on the NCDA forums and I was excited to see a Hall of Fame topic for discussion. I looked through the posts and I saw that the top votes went to guys. This is completely understandable. But the more I looked at the nomination process the more I wanted to be a part of it. I want to be in the NCDA Hall of Fame but sadly I haven’t done anything to warrant a nomination. So I have decided to do everything I can to make BGSU dodgeball a top competitor in the years to come and possibly get a nomination. But I don’t want to be the only one. I want every girl in the NCDA to make difference for their team. Whether it be popularizing a “Grip” (like OSU’s Funk) or revitalizing a team, a girl can be an indispensable part of their team. Let’s get those nominations ladies!

Is Dodgeball Sexist?

I love dodgeball with all of my heart but it seems to me that the NCDA is geared for the guys because most of the decision making is done by guys. Even the throws are geared toward a male grip. I wonder whether dodgeball could be a more diverse sport with a healthy mixture of males and females. Maybe it isn’t. The few girls in the NCDA may have to become guys to even be competitive. Also the fact that girls are vastly underestimated as players is bothersome mainly because I have been conditioned to pick out the girls as easy outs because thats what the rest of my team does. I have seen girls that have canons (due to softball I’m guessing). I’ve seen girls with great hands. I’ve seen girls that are great blockers (usually their main function). So why are we not seen as a player to look out for? We play just as hard as the guys and we deserve to be recognized for our efforts. Hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this sport is truly for the guys but I hope that in the future we can appreciate everyone no matter what kind of reproductive organs they have.