Welcome back dodgeball fans! Before the second half of the season gets up and running, let’s have a look back at what the Pioneers have achieved so far.
Goals
To start, for those who were unable to attend our home tournament banquet, the team has curated a list of goals we hope to achieve for each tournament, for ourselves, and for the season overall. We were finally able to create a list for our women’s team after recruiting enough members to finally compete. Some important goals we are working toward are:
- Play in at least 8 tournaments
- Earn at least one win at each away tournament.
- Score at least one point on each opponent.
- Start a women’s team.
We have five tournaments under our belt, and three more for our co-ed team and four more for our women’s team.
We haven’t had a win at every tournament, but each point earned was fought hard for.
We were able to earn at least one point on each of our opponents except one.
We have started UWP’s first women’s dodgeball team!
Growing As A Team
Something you might not know about the team is what time we practice or what we do at practice. We practice twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10pm to 12am, but don’t panic! The time is late, but it allows us to practice without distractions or scheduling conflicts. Additionally, we have two skills lessons a week where Coach can work more one-on-one with each player to focus on specific aspects of their gameplay. Generally, the first half of practice is structured where we run important drills. This is also a great time for teammates to get chatting about anything and everything which adds to the strength of our team dynamic! The second half is used for mock games. This year, after recruiting enough women to form a team, we have been incorporating the no-sting play style to help the women learn the game and build trust in themselves. As a member of the women’s team, I am extremely grateful to the guys and their enthusiasm for us as we learn and their excitement when they get to play us in practice.
But we don’t only play dodgeball together. We regularly have “team dinners” at Bridgeway with Coach (and sometimes alumni who are in town), hang out at Coach’s house, go bowling, and much more! The women recently went to a bingo event on campus and got quite a few wins between the six of us. A few of the players are involved in band or choir, and Coach is always eager to show his support for them during their performances. We are incredibly lucky to have a coach that is as invested in our other hobbies and is as proud of us outside of dodgeball as ours is.
Upcoming Opportunities
The Central Region of the NCDA has grown in several ways over the last few years and has an opportunity to grow even more with the help of a former player. Tomas Zander, a former team captain, is finishing up his masters degree and for his capstone class, he is taking everything that he has learned from his classes and applying it to dodgeball. Tomas is using his love of dodgeball to put together an ambassador team to hopefully grow and expand the Central Region at even a faster rate. The hope is that it will give our club and the other clubs in the region more opportunities to play more games and be more competitive.
To wrap things up, I want to mention the Women’s team. We are extremely grateful to our teammates and families for supporting and pushing us to be the best players we can be. We hope to play in at least one more official no-sting match before Nationals this spring. Coach has incorporated no-sting drills and mock games into regular practices which helps the entire team, pinch and no-sting, learn the game and help referee. Each of us have our spots on the court, but we are all responsible for what success we will have as a team especially when we are so new to the game. It is truly amazing that just three semesters ago we only had one woman on the team, and now we have the opportunity to fulfill a long-time dream of our coach. We are eager to see what the rest of the season has in store for us.
