Nationals 2015 – Presidential Reflection

Now, before I start this off, you must know that in all my “Presidential” monikers (and in our many “Intern” allusions), I’m having fun. This is how I was raised by DePaul Dodgeball, but I’ve always considered titles arbitrary to the reason I need to do my duty. But in the end, I like calling my lowly Nationals hotel room the Presidential Suite. It sounds magnificent.

Let’s begin. Nationals 2015! WKU! Nick Johnson! My favorite Nationals shirt ever has been the Nationals 2011 shirt, from the first time WKU hosted Nationals. In fact, that was the first time the event was hosted outside Ohio or Michigan, and really, it was one of the very, very few times Nationals was hosted outside the state of Michigan. Coming up to the event, I was concerned if we would ever live up to that event held so long ago. But the League is in so much better straights nowadays. Everyone. Do NOT underestimate the family that consists of the League in the present day.  Continue reading “Nationals 2015 – Presidential Reflection”

Opinion: State of the NCDA

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Before I say anything, let me say what I’ve said in the title: this is a personal opinion piece, not to be taken any other way.
The NCDA just completed yet another edition of the annual national tournament. Of the three I’ve been to this one was my personal favorite (no offense intended to Kentucky and Ohio State intended, this is just the happiest I’ve been with my team afterwards). I’ll mention things about Towson later on, but overall I wanted to share my opinion on the how I think the league is doing as a whole in hopes of generating some conversation in debate. Here we go: Continue reading “Opinion: State of the NCDA”

NCDA 2015 All-American Team

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What a year of Dodgeball we had. The regular season was full of massive tournaments with turnouts from all over the nation, upsets left and right and a very even field of competition that has not happened in a long time. As usual, the most anticipated event of the year was Nationals, hosted by the fine members of Western Kentucky University. As expected, they did a fantastic job of filming and keeping to the schedule. Along with that, Nationals was full of close games and upsets that shocked many members throughout the league, thus making it a very exciting weekend. After we all had some time to gather our thoughts and get caught up with school, each member team and 3 primary officials were given a weeks time to send in a roster of 15 players that they believe should be on this year’s first ever “All-American” team. A total of 10 teams and 2 of the 3 officials selected sent in their list to comprise our All-American team.

Congratulations to the following individuals:

Continue reading “NCDA 2015 All-American Team”

Nationals 2016 Hosting Bids

For Nationals 2016, there are three schools placing a bid to host: U of Maryland, DePaul U, and Bowling Green State U. I asked each to write out a little bit concerning their bid:

Following the NCDA’s voting policy, the vote will be preferential. Teams will submit their ballot by ranking each school in order of their preference. The most preferred school will host Nationals 2016.

Voting will run from today, April 20th to April 26th, or until each Member Team casts a ballot.

Example Ballot:

1. Delta
2. Miami
3. Oakland

Continue reading “Nationals 2016 Hosting Bids”

Jonathan Shaw’s “Nationals Winners and Losers”

Winners:

Nick Johnson ran a very successful NCDA National s.
Nick Johnson ran a very successful Nationals.

Nick Johnson WKU – Simply put, he ran the smoothest Nationals I’ve seen since Towson joined the NCDA in 2011. Nick, all of the NCDA owes you a big thanks, well done buddy.

Central Michigan University – Central players might still be getting over the Finals loss to GVSU, but when you look back at the fact that exactly 2 years before Central had only brought 10 players to Nationals, and 1 year before got eliminated by University of Kentucky in the first round, you must come to the realization that a Finals appearance is a monumental step in the right direction for this program. Continue reading “Jonathan Shaw’s “Nationals Winners and Losers””

Which Region is the Best in the NCDA?

Written by BGSU’s Adam Hynes

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Even with the NCDA not having conferences or anything we still have each team placed into a category according to where the teams are located; this obviously being the regions.  In no particular order we have the Ohio, East Coast, Illinois, Michigan, and Kentucky regions.  These regions have their top teams, middle teams and low tier teams as any other league with conferences would have.  With there being so much talent spread throughout the league and schools being spread apart it can be very difficult to say who the top region truly is.  With Nationals coming this week, and the exciting pool play games on Saturday, it will be a good indication of who the true top region is.  In this article I wanted to say what each region must do in order to stack up against every one and say that their region is the true top dog. Continue reading “Which Region is the Best in the NCDA?”

Nationals 2015 Schedule

Original Google Sheet

SATURDAY

8:00 AM Doors Open Preston Center
8:00 AM Teams Check-In Front Lobby
8:45 AM Officials Meeting Meeting Room
8:45 AM Teams Cued for Pics Court 4
9:00 AM League Picture Court 4
9:15 AM ASG Pictures/Intro Court 4
9:30 AM All Star Game Begins Court 4
10:00 AM 1st Round of Games
Court 2 PSU vs DePaul
Court 3 UK vs VCU
Court 4 UMD vs OSU
Court 6 GVSU vs UWP
11:15 AM 2nd Round of Games
Court 2 CMU vs Kent
Court 3 JMU vs BGSU
Court 4 SVSU vs WKU
Court 6 MSU vs TU
1:00 PM 3rd Round of Games
Court 2 OSU vs DePaul
Court 3 UWP vs PSU
Court 4 Lunch Break
Court 6 Lunch Break
1:40 PM 4th Round of Games
Court 2 Lunch Break
Court 3 Lunch Break
Court 4 WKU vs VCU
Court 6 GVSU vs UK
3:00 PM 5th Round of Games
Court 2 TU vs BGSU
Court 3 JMU vs SVSU
Court 4 CMU vs UMD
Court 6 MSU vs Kent
4:45 PM 6th Round of Games
Court 2 GVSU vs PSU
Court 3 UWP vs BGSU
Court 4 JMU vs OSU
Court 6 WKU vs DePaul
6:00 PM 7th Round of Games
Court 2 CMU vs VCU
Court 3 SVSU vs TU
Court 4 MSU vs UK
Court 6 UMD vs Kent
7:30 PM Captains’ Meeting Meeting Room
8:30 PM End Meeting Meeting Room
8:45 PM Exec Board Meets Meeting Room
9:15 PM Leave Gym Preston Center

Continue reading “Nationals 2015 Schedule”

BOTM: 2015 March

11130689_10205595605624561_577289346_nThe Baller of the Month for March goes to one of Central Michigan’s captains: Brett Hadwin.  Brett is competing in his final season with CMU, and he has had a stellar final year.  Brett most recently led Central to a tournament title at the CMU Showdown with wins over MSU, SVSU, JMU, and GVSU.

Brett is without a doubt one of the best all-around players in the NCDA, and he has proven it time and time again throughout his career.  It is a shock to me that he had never received the honor of BOTM until now.

I had the opportunity to interview Brett after he was chosen as the Baller of the Month, and as always, he had some interesting things to say.  Here is my conversation with Brett where we talk about his goals for his team, his individual skill set, best dodgeball memories, and even his trademark headbands: Continue reading “BOTM: 2015 March”

Nationals 2015 In-Depth Preview

10891568_10153061471740972_7448666028323906080_nNCDA Nationals is always an eventful weekend, but this year in particular, the league’s season-ending tournament seems destined to be an exciting one.  There is so much to talk about when previewing what will be another great NCDA tournament.  Below is my “In-Depth” preview of Nationals which takes place April 11-12 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  This preview will include a brief summary of the storylines to follow, round-by-round game previews (with a prediction for each individual match!), and lastly, I will have my predictions on the results of the final day’s bracket.

Continue reading “Nationals 2015 In-Depth Preview”

Letter to the Officials and Staff

Good people,

Thank you for registering! Nationals 2015 is hosted by Western Kentucky University and WKU Dodgeball. It will be fun. The Staff and Alumni are an integral part of the success of this organization. We thank you in advance for this service.

Continue reading “Letter to the Officials and Staff”