Power Rankings: Preseason 2018

The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s 2018-19 season kicks off this weekend with events happening in several different regions.  As we prepare for the new season, it’s only right to take a look at the college dodgeball landscape right now.

Below is the official 2018 Preseason Power Rankings list produced by NCDA Executive Board members Jacob Leski (Director of Recruitment and Retention), and Kevin Bailey (Chief of Content).  Please keep in mind: these power rankings have no impact on the actual NCDA Standings. Continue reading “Power Rankings: Preseason 2018”

2018-19 Season Predictions

It’s almost that time of year again.  As schools get back in session all across the country, the anticipation continues to build for another season of collegiate dodgeball!  As we approach the new season, a few members of the content team have provided their predictions for how this year will play out in the NCDA.  Take a look at their predictions below:

Continue reading “2018-19 Season Predictions”

League Expansion and Retention: Fall Edition (18-19)

INDIANAPOLIS – Office of the Director of League Expansion & Retention: With Colleges and Universities already heading back to school this weekend (some went back this past weekend), most if not all of our upcoming teams are hinging on having success at their school’s respective fall recruitment fairs. Many of our current member teams depend on this success as well. Before clubs start competing in late September, we will go into detail who our prospective clubs are, and how soon we see them competing this season. As an update in itself, Brett Hadwin (CMU alum) and Kyle Dattelbaum (UNG alum) have taken on the role as my assistants for this season, and have already started much of the leg work required to get us off on the right track for the 2018-19 season. Continue reading “League Expansion and Retention: Fall Edition (18-19)”

My Dodgeball Story: Cody Putnam (SVSU)

For our final My Dodgeball Story of the summer, we selected Mr. Putnam to send us off. Cody was known for his loud demeanor on/off the court, and for his immense leadership at SVSU over the course of his career. He tied up his laces this past Spring, and we will surely miss his antics, and overall true character for years to come…

First thing’s first, I’m no Kevin Bailey when it comes to my writing ability. I probably won’t have a chronological order to any of this, a lot of my dodgeball career is a fast paced blur, and to be completely honest, I don’t remember when exactly everything happened, but I’ll do my best. Zigmas, you can fact check anything you want, if necessary. Read at your own risk!

So here goes nothing,  My Dodgeball Story… Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Cody Putnam (SVSU)”

My Dodgeball Story: Kyle Shaw (Miami(OH))

To be honest, when Leski asked me if I was interested in writing a post for this, I was pretty surprised he had thought me relevant enough to write about my experience in the NCDA. I love this league, I love dodgeball, and I’m humbled to share with everyone my time playing for the Redhawks. It’s definitely a different route than most have taken throughout their playing careers, so hopefully it’s a semi-entertaining read… Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Kyle Shaw (Miami(OH))”

My Dodgeball Story: Nathan Council (SVSU)

I approached Kevin a while ago (he probably stopped believing I’d actually write this) about telling my Dodgeball Story. I read some of the others that have been submitted this summer and it made me want to tell mine. I know there is a story inside of me but I have been struggling with how to tell it. How do I tell my story which is personal but also make it meaningful, insightful, and at least somewhat entertaining to the people reading it that do not know me? I decided to simply go for it and not worry about it. Selfishly, I’m telling this story in hopes that I can move on. I’m hoping that once I am finished I will feel a sense of closure. Closure that I have been missing since I left SVSU in 2014. Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Nathan Council (SVSU)”

My Dodgeball Story: Sean Smith (Towson)

It seems all too common for dodgeball stories to begin with an obscure story about how an individual discovered the sport on their college campus. This story will be no different.

Before moving in to campus as a freshman in Fall 2011, I knew I wanted to play a club sport, but I wasn’t sure which one or how to even get involved. The smart kids went on Towson’s website and researched this type of thing, meanwhile my lazy behind decided to just show up and hope I could figure it out. Little did I know my laziness would actually turn out to be the best thing of my first year at Towson.

Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Sean Smith (Towson)”

My Dodgeball Story: Jason Hallman (Kent State)

Continuing the My Dodgeball Story for our 3rd story of the summer, and 1st of July comes from Kent State University’s very own Jason Hallman, who played at Kent State from 2009-12, is in his 1st season with the Cleveland Has-Beens, and is a prominent referee in the NCDA. Take it away Jason… Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Jason Hallman (Kent State)”

2019 Executive Board

WAUCONDA – Office of the Director of Officiating: It is my pleasure to announce the 2019 Executive Board of the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association. Jacob Leski (CMU) and Kevin Bailey (GVSU) will remain on the Board, and Hunter Ford (VCU Alum) moves into a voting position as the Board’s newest and youngest Director. All three will hold a term of two years (July 1 2018 to July 31 2020), serving as leaders of dodgeball at the collegiate level.

2019 NCDA Executive Board:
Felix Perrone, President
Mike McNicholas, Treasurer
Colin O’Brien, Director
Dylan Fettig, Director
Kevin Bailey, Chief of Content
Jacob Leski, Director of League Expansion & Retention
Hunter Ford, Director
Director of Nationals, TBD (PSU)

I would like to take a moment to thank the rest of the Candidates for running in this election. It’s still quite amazing we have this amount of quality leadership willing to step into a national role. Colby Briceland, Erik Zander, and Brandon Meisel, thank you again for being candidates for this League’s Exec Board.

And as always, thank you to our 31 Member Teams that voted in this preferential election (of our the 37 eligible Member schools). An extra special thanks to the 19 Alumni that voted, your continued support and involvement is crucial to this organization.

Preferential Election Results: 32 valid ballots, including one Alumni ballot determined by a Borda count. Electing 3 candidates. Threshold to win is 9 votes. There were no ties. Jacob Leski (17) and Hunter Ford (9) were elected in the first round of counting. Leski’s surplus votes were transferred to down ballot preferences as fractions in the second round. In the third, Kevin Bailey (4) reached the threshold and was elected in the third round. Full details can be found in our records archive.

Thank you, and good luck to the new board.

2019 Executive Board Election

There are three positions on the eight Director Executive Board that need filling. Following the NCDA’s voting policy, the vote will be preferential.

Teams will submit their ballot by ranking each candidate in order of their preference. The three most preferred candidates will be offered the respective position on the Executive Board.

Captains, submit your team’s ballot via Google Forms:

Vote

Voting will run from 2018-06-26 until 2018-06-30. The new board will be announced no later than 2018-07-01, with the start of the NCDA fiscal year.

Continue reading “2019 Executive Board Election”

2018-19 Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25

We still have several months before the 2018-19 College Dodgeball season kicks off, but it’s always nice to start speculating for the coming year.  Listed below is my way-too-early top 25 for next season:

1) Grand Valley State

Six straight national titles and counting.  GVSU returns all but two starters in 2018-19, making them a very easy choice as the preseason #1 team in College Dodgeball.  The Lakers’ roster is absolutely loaded with talented veterans heading into this season.  I have a hard time envisioning this team losing too many games this year, as the gap between them and the second best school seems wider than in recent years.  In fact, the last time a team was this big of a favorite heading into the season was probably GVSU back in 2009?

2) James Madison

I’m buying into the hype for JMU this year.  They have a deep roster filled with athletic players.  The missing piece last year was just that they lacked coordination and strategy in some big games.  Now that this team has more experience under their belt, I expect them to be a much improved group in 2018-19.  Don’t be surprised when James Madison goes undefeated against East Coast opponents all of next year, and challenges for a national title in the spring.

Continue reading “2018-19 Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25”

My Dodgeball Story: Paul Hillebrand (GVSU)

So continues our series chronicling the stories of former NCDA players. Today we have Paul Hillebrand of Grand Valley State University telling his story. Paul played at Grand Valley State University from 2006-09, and 2013-15, a total of six seasons in the NCDA, all of which resulted in National Championships. Please take some time to read this highly detailed account of Paul’s dodgeball career prior to going to college, his time in the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association, and how he has stayed involved in dodgeball after college.

PRE-NCDA

I started playing organized dodgeball in 2004 as a junior in High School.  My friend formed a team to play in a foam dodgeball league at an indoor soccer facility called High Velocity Sports in Canton, Michigan near where I grew up. We gave ourselves the hilariously original name of “Ball Busters”, had pink uniform shirts made, and beat down a bunch of much older teams to win the league championship. I still remember the incredible joy I felt playing competitive dodgeball for the first time. I was hooked and continued playing in the league basically year round until finishing high school in 2006. While my teammates (like most normal people) were mostly done with dodgeball after graduating, I wanted more. I found out that Grand Valley State had a dodgeball club and I am not embarrassed one bit to admit that it was a significant factor in my decision to attend college there. Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Paul Hillebrand (GVSU)”

My Dodgeball Story: Leslie Ellison (Kent State)

Almost two years ago, President Felix Perrone wrote an article called My Dodgeball Story: Felix Perrone and inspired many to tell their story. I encourage all of you reading this to give it a read, barring that you are taking the time to read this alone. On a more contradictory note, many failed to write their stories, which is why I am writing this now. There are far to many NCDA alumni with amazing stories to tell of their time not only in the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association, but in their experiences off the court, and their time in other leagues outside of the college level. With the off-season bringing little to write about, Kevin Bailey and myself thought it’d be a great idea to share some amazing stories with the Dodgeball community. The goal is to release 3-4 stories a month until the season starts back up in August/September. If any of you are interested in telling your story please either contact us through Facebook, or email us at Ncdadodgeball@gmail.com.

To re-continue this saga, I could not think of a better person than Kent State’s very own Leslie Ellison. Starting her playing career at Kent State in 2008, Leslie played all 4 years until 2012. She is well known as an individual who does not cater to nonsense, but loves a good laugh, and enjoys a good challenge on/off the court. Leslie still plays to this day, and is a reckoning force for the encouragement of women to play dodgeball in the NCDA and beyond.

“The Floor” is yours Leslie: Continue reading “My Dodgeball Story: Leslie Ellison (Kent State)”