James Madison Dodgeball: A Season Four Years in the Making

The East Coast’s dynasty has high aspirations for 2015, the last year for many of their star players

 

jmu-logoJames Madison University Club Dodgeball was founded in the fall of 2010 by Computer Science and Sports Management student, Christopher Hess.  Since their first tournament ever, JMU has stormed their way to an above 75% winning percentage over the course of four seasons, with victories over all of the top teams in college dodgeball including Grand Valley State, Saginaw Valley State, Central Michigan, Michigan State, Kentucky, and Kent State.

The Dukes have long been considered the cream of the crop in the East Coast region since they generally dominate their competition in the east.  They hold a 27-1 overall record against those teams, including an impressive 20-1 mark against teams from the state of Maryland.  This group may be relatively new to the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association (NCDA), but JMU has garnered some pretty high praise from opponents in the past.  Compliments like: “They are the most athletic team in the NCDA” or “the hardest throwing team in the league” have constantly been directed toward this team, and rightfully so.

While the Dukes are only in their fourth year as a member team of the National Collegiate Dodgeball Association, they still have compiled quite a few accolades thus far in the team’s brief existence, including two appearances in the quarterfinals, and one Final Four at the annual “NCDA Nationals” tournament.

All of this is old news to anyone who follows the NCDA, and it’s not the reason for me writing this feature story in the first place.  Would it surprise you if I said that this year is, in a way, a make-or-break season for JMU?  Would you believe me if I told you that everything that the Dukes have accomplished in seasons past was just a prelude to what they may have in store for this spring?  Well, now that I’ve grabbed your attention… Continue reading “James Madison Dodgeball: A Season Four Years in the Making”

Nationals 2015 Preview #1

10891568_10153061471740972_7448666028323906080_nThe National Collegiate Dodgeball Association’s biggest event every season is the National Tournament.  This year’s Nationals will be held at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Nationals may still be three months away, but I have had the opportunity to talk with Nick Johnson, the Director of Nationals, and he has given some insight to what he expects to be the best Nationals in the NCDA history.

I’ll be working with Nick to present some preview post periodically the next few months, giving some interesting information about this year’s Nationals in each post.  So here is the “Nationals 2015 Preview #1”: Continue reading “Nationals 2015 Preview #1”

Ranking the Regions

As many of you know, the college football season came to a close last night with Ohio State defeating Oregon for the national championship.  This was the first championship game that hadn’t involved at least one team from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since January 2006 when Texas beat USC for the title.

With the SEC failing to produce a championship caliber team, and teams from other conferences emerging, some experts are claiming that the SEC’s reign as the dominant conference in college football is coming to a close.

I won’t go so far to say the same is happening in college dodgeball, but for anyone curious, here is how the “regions” stack up when scored like a cross country race: Continue reading “Ranking the Regions”

BOTM: November

10511392_10204366422100279_4913137558989160677_oNovember’s Baller of the Month is Maryland’s Steve Via. Via has been an integral of Maryland’s recent success, helping them to a stellar 6-3 record in the fall. With clutch catches, solid blocking skills, and emotional leadership, Steve has elevated his level of play to help his team in whatever capacity they need. While he is not the highest profile player on UMDs team, he is certainly making a name for himself as the year progresses. I got a chance to talk to Steve recently and pick his brain about a few topics. Continue reading “BOTM: November”

UMD Tournament Preview

Maryland will be hosting their annual fall tournament tomorrow on November 15th. There will be a record SIX East Coast teams attending this tournament. Both VCU and Penn State will begin their seasons this weekend and newcomer Stevenson University (based slightly northwest of Baltimore City) will enter their first ever NCDA event. Since this is very last minute I will keep this brief.

Predictions:
Sean Smith                               Kevin Bailey
JMU: 4-0                                   JMU: 4-0
TU: 3-1                                     TU: 3-1
UMD: 2-2                                  UMD: 2-2
VCU: 2-2                                  PSU: 2-2
PSU: 1-3                                  VCU: 1-3
SU: 0-4                                    SU: 0-4 Continue reading “UMD Tournament Preview”