Gonzalez Preview for the Death Valley Shootout

To kick off this weeks massive amount of games played (23+ matches in 4 geographically distinct locales), here are the exchanges for Death Valley! SVSU gets a plus 3 to their rating here for hosting. GVSU/CMU will be close; we don’t get to see this #1 and #2 matchup on a neutral court very often. The closest match of the day may go to CMU/SVSU with a rating gap of only 2.101 going into the day. And I’m personally looking forward to the JV match at the end of the day. All the matches this Saturday will count big for their team ratings.

Time High Seed Low Seed Rating Rating Predicted Exchange Exchange if Upset
11:00 GVSU CMU 53.984 50.548 0.656 1.344
12:30 CMU SVSU 49.891 48.431 0.854 1.146
2:00 GVSU SVSU 54.641 47.577 0.294 1.706
3:30 JV

The Gonzalez Ratings used in this preview are slightly different from previous years. We’ve adjusted the ratings from the start so that a team retains 75% of their rating from season to season. The remaining 25% is reverted to the mean for a particular season. Overall in this 75% carry over system, there’s been 189 technical upsets in 964 total ranked college dodgeball matches, a successful prediction rate of 80.39%. This is compared to the 81.74% success of a total rollover system we’ve used in the past.

While this system is less accurate in terms of the current data, the 75% figure is based on data reported by the Member Teams themselves. Averaging together, team player retention between seasons about 75% of their roster. This added variable helps give the system more “applied mathematical” accuracy that could be more accurate over time. Currently it’s a very small 1.35% variance, only 13 in 964 games.

Pre-Season Power Rankings (9/15)

First insight to where teams stand going into the 2016-2017 Collegiate Dodgeball Season.

Disclaimer: These rankings have zero impact on seeding for the National Tournament or actual ranking. They provide insight into where teams are currently performing during a given part of the season.

Continue reading “Pre-Season Power Rankings (9/15)”

Top 5 Venues (that I’ve been to)

Now that I’m a part of the “old guy” crowd who has been around the league for a while I can take a moment to look back at my time in the league and find some of the hidden gems that made my NCDA career so enjoyable. One thing that is highly underrated about an NCDA trip is getting to check out a new area and see what that place has to offer. I may not have gotten to see all of the venues, but here is a list of my top 5 favorite venues in the NCDA.

Continue reading “Top 5 Venues (that I’ve been to)”

Dodgeball 101: Finding Sponsors

As the saying goes, “money makes the world go ’round” and when trying to run your dodgeball empire this is no exception.  One of the things that hinders teams year-in and year-out is having the finances to properly run the team.  This can range from having problems with buying uniforms, being able to travel to tournaments, and even being able to buy dodgeballs for the season.  So what are some solutions if your team doesn’t get the proper funding it needs?  Fundraising? Raising dues? Make the rich kid on the team pay for everything?

All of those are legitimate options, but they can require a lot of time and effort, and generally aren’t fun to do.  So what’s another option? Sponsorships.  Almost every kid grows up dreaming of being in commercials and getting endorsements from big name companies, but now you can actually make that a reality (aside from the commercial part, probably).  Here are some of my top tips for how you can get your team sponsors for the year, and ultimately ease the financial burden that comes with dodgeball. Continue reading “Dodgeball 101: Finding Sponsors”

Director of League Expansion & Retention Vision for the 2016-2017 Season

ncda_logo-215x90First off, I would like to thank all of the teams that voted for me in the recent election. I truly appreciate your vote of confidence and will give my all to help this league grow. For those that did not, I hope I can show you why I was the right choice for this position.

Due to my implementation of the Ambassador Program, the Executive Board decided to appropriately rename my position to Chief Ambassador. Which in a nutshell means I am the head recruiter for the NCDA and in charge of our fabulous alumni. Continue reading “Director of League Expansion & Retention Vision for the 2016-2017 Season”

NCDA/SAVAGE Partnership

SAVAGE_Logo_WordmarkCircle-500It is with great pleasure and excitement that on behalf of the NCDA Executive Board, we are pleased to announce the official partnership between the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association and SAVAGE Apparel.

This marks the first corporate partnership between the NCDA and an outside vendor. NCDA Member Teams will receive excellent deals on handsome jerseys and Event gear from SAVAGE. SAVAGE is also the official apparel sponsor for Nationals 2017, hosted by University of Kentucky, and Nationals 2018, host TBD.

Team leaders will receive informational packets for ordering through SAVAGE in the very near future.

Please check out SAVAGE’s landing page for the NCDA at http://savageultimate.com/pages/ncda which includes the rates given to NCDA Member Teams.

Any questions or concerns for this partnership can be directed at the NCDA Executive Board by sending an email to ncdadodgeball@gmail.com.

 

2017 Proposals Ballot Results

CHICAGO – Office of the Director of Officiating.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Below are the results of the preferential election for the 2016/2017 NCDA Rulebook and select Policies. The Rulebook is scheduled to be released prior to the start of the 2017 Season. Extra special thanks to the 22 Member Teams that submitted ballots, with only one Member Team missing.

Rule Proposals

R.4) Early Overtime – If a point is scored with less than 4 minutes remaining in the second half, and the resulting Score is tied, should Overtime go into effect?
A. Yes, add a condition to call Early Overtime. [NEW]

R.5) Blocking – If a ball deflects off the blocking ball, can the ricochet cause an out?
[Final Decision] B. A block must be clean for the blocking player. If a ricochet still hits the blocking player, the blocking player is out. [NEW]

R.6) LAZ – Should the Legitimate Attempt Zone (LAZ) be a tighter zone?
A. The LAZ should be the Target’s full body reach in any of the 3 dimensions. For a 6 foot tall player, this is about 7 feet from left to right. [NEW]

R.7) Attack Line – How far should the Attack Line be?
C. 30 feet from the baseline. [Current]

R.8) Rosters – Should rosters have fewer players?
C. Roster size is 10-20. Active players are 10-15. [Current]

R.11) What happens when the Score becomes a 4 point differential?
A. The lower scoring team must consent to call the Match. If no consent, gameplay continues and all future points count. If the match is called, the Score is final but teams may play out the remaining time on a running clock, unbound by the rules. [NEW]

R.13) Burden Throw – Should a team relieve a Burden to reset the Shot Clock?
B. No, just one Legitimate Attempt Throw resets the Shot Clock for the Throwing team.. Each team has a Shot Clock. [Current]

Policy Proposals

P.1) Should there be a required break between multiple matches?
A. For safety precautions, a team must take a minimum 30 minute break after playing 3 consecutive matches. [NEW]

P.2) Limits on Captains’ Meeting proposals
B. The deadline to submit proposals is one week prior to Nationals. There are no limits to the amount of proposals. [Current]
Note: This initial result was a tie. The Executive Board votes to break the tie. Vote Result: 4 of 5 voted to keep the current policy, no limits (P2B). However, the one week prior to Nationals deadline will be enforced this year.

P.3) Lowering the required number of matches on Saturday for scheduling flexibility.
B. Participants will play a minimum of 3 matches on Saturday, but will be scheduled for more if time allows. [Current]

P.5) Should the League purchase two trophies?
B. No, not at this time.

P.7) Should the Executive Board be given a vote whenever Member Teams vote?
B. No, only Member Teams. [Current]

See a more extensive report after the jump.  Continue reading “2017 Proposals Ballot Results”

Board Meets to Amend Bylaws

The NCDA Executive Board met on August 10, 2016, called by the President, to discuss change in the NCDA. This change consideration is allowed by Article 10.1.1 of the NCDA Bylaws. In accordance to Article 10.18.1 of the NCDA Bylaws, all five voting members of the Board agreed to consider change to be made prior to the three year provisions timeline outlined in article 10.18 of the NCDA Bylaws.

During this meeting, a BILL to amend the Organization’s voting process on preseason (e.g. this July vote) rulebook/policy was proposed:

Section 1. To provide the Board the ability to overturn any measure affirmed by the Member Teams in the preseason election, but only through a supermajority of three fourths of the elected Board.

Section 2. To provide the Member Teams the ability to veto the Board’s passed override measure, but only through a supermajority of three fourths of the casted ballots after achieving quorum.

– Reference NCDA Bylaws, §6 and 6.5 Proposal Voting, 7.7 Member Team Obligation to vote. This does not apply to elections for Board positions, which is a separate clause.

Vote Result: 4 of 5 Board members vote to change. Non-voting member Director of Nationals dissents. The measure succeeds in accordance to Article 10.1.1 of the NCDA Bylaws.

tl/dr: The Board can overturn the initial voting results with a 3/4 agreement of the Board, Member Teams can veto the Board’s decision with a 3/4 vote.

2016 NCDA Treasury Report

Greetings All,

As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we would like to invite all of our organizational members to look over the fiscal year 2016 finance to see where the money that you all have donated or paid to us is going.

The NCDA started the year off with a cash balance of $1,420.41 in the bank.

Over the course of the 2015/2016 dodgeball season, our total income was $8,404.67.

  • $2,275 from annual membership dues.
  • $5,400 from Nationals 2016 registration fees.
  • $364 from additional pizza revenue for Nationals 2016.
  • $365.67 form various other sources.

Over the course of the 2015/2016 dodgeball season, our total expenses were $6,271.66.

  • Total Nationals 2016 Expense was $6,141.73
    • $1,697.10 for referees.
    • $3,344.80 for apparel.
    • $792.00 for pizza.
    • $307.83 other costs related to Nationals 2016.
  • $129.93 in General & Administrative Expenses (postage, web hosting costs, bank fees, etc.)

As of year end, June 30, 2016, the NCDA has a total of $3,553.42 in cash assets, with no significant upcoming expenses as of August 10, 2016.

As of the date of this posting, August 10, 2016, the NCDA has a total of $$3,473.92 in cash assets. The next NCDA Treasury Report will be dated September 30, 2016.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns about the financial position of the NCDA, or how our funds will be used going forward, please reach out to Mike McNicholas, NCDA Treasurer, at ncdadodgeball@gmail.com, or contact any other member of the Executive Board.

Thank you,

Mike McNicholas
NCDA Treasurer
ncdadodgeball@gmail.com

Top 5 Most Underrated Players in the NCDA (2016-17)

Here is my top 5 list of the most underrated players in the league.  Please note, player #1 isn’t necessarily better than player #2, and player #2 better than player #3, etc.  This list is ordered by who is I think is underrated to the highest degree.  I hope you all enjoy:

 

Continue reading “Top 5 Most Underrated Players in the NCDA (2016-17)”

Top 5 Current Players in the NCDA (2016-17)

This is another list that is going to initiate some debate.  No explanation necessary, this is my list of the top 5 overall players in the country for the 2016-17 season.

(Next List Up: Top 5 Most Underrated Players… coming July 29th)

Continue reading “Top 5 Current Players in the NCDA (2016-17)”