Welcome back Platteville Dodgeball fans! Welcome weekend is upon us, and that means dodgeball is set to start up again. So here’s a sneak peak for this up-coming season.
As students move in over this Labor Day weekend, the Dodgeball Club will be participating in welcome weekend festivities like Bridgefest 2024 on Sunday, September 1st. After Bridgefest, we will be holding our first practice on the basketball courts at Memorial Park. The E-board officers have been working hard all summer to design new graphics and videos to come up with better ways to retain and recruit members.
Our starting roster this year is the largest it’s been in years with 14 players. We are especially proud to have two women sticking around for another season, and they are the starting blocks for the UW-Platteville Women’s Dodgeball Team. Both are E-board members and are directly responsible in the decision making process.
We plan on competing in several away tournaments, hopefully two home tournaments, and a few of the last NDA events. Several of our players, past and current, participated in the NDA season over the summer. These events were very fun, and the differing structure was a good challenge. The Pickaxers will be hosting a tournament on September 7th at UW-Platteville that we hope to see some alumni at.
The club is trying to encourage other UW schools to join the NCDA, so we plan on playing UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout this fall. We look forward to seeing how each team developed and grew from our last encounters.
This year we are focusing on playing fast and hard. But don’t just hear it from me. Below are some responses from two of our most senior players about their hopes for this season.
Q. How do you hope to impact the new players this year?
Jalen Sims-I hope to impact the new players by getting the best out of them. This means teaching them the basics and going hard at them later in the season.
Nicholas Stocks-I hope to pass on my knowledge of the game to the recruits, so they do not make the same mistakes that I have in past seasons. I want to set an example of what a strong leader looks like on and off of the court.
Q. What skills do you personally want to focus on, and what skills do you want to team to focus on?
JS– I want to focus on getting quick low throws and as a team. I want more people showing up to practice.
NS-I plan to improve the speed of my throw and continue to work on my communication on court. For the team, we need to focus on the basics and communication amongst players on the court.
Q. What do you hope to accomplish this year?
JS– Something I would like to accomplish this year is getting my throw lower constantly.
NS-This season I aim to be a more well-rounded player. To be the leader the team needs I must improve upon my weaker areas and build on my strengths.
Q. What is a goal you hope our team will reach by the end of this season?
JS-Something I would like are team to accomplish this year is beating UNL and making it to top 8 at nationals.
NS-I have two goals for the team this season, the first is to win half of the games we play in, and second, to strengthen the camaraderie among the team. Over the past three years, this team has made significant progress, both on the court and within our bonds between teammates. I am excited to see what this team will accomplish this year.
We are extremely grateful for all the support from our fans and families. We want to prove to the NCDA that the Pioneers are a force to be reckoned with!
Go ‘Neers!
See you this season!