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It brings me great joy and great pain to announce the last Baller/Rookie of the 2022-23 season. This is my last content post for the UWP Dodgeball Club as I’ll be graduating along with Adam in the coming weeks. However, what a great pair of ballers to end the season with. Both Adam and Bailey have worked hard to earn these awards, so scroll down to learn a bit about them!

Adam is a third-year dodgeball veteran and is probably the best catcher on the team. He is always the one who will drop his ball to catch the next guy in, no matter how hard it is coming at him. Adam also has a knack for throwing open palm at people’s feet, which gets me every time. Surprisingly, this is Adam’s first ever BOTM, so he is well overdue for this award. He will be graduating with a Mechanical Engineering B.S. in a few weeks and already has a position lined up at AEBI Schmidt. Congrats to Adam!

• How does it feel to end your dodgeball career as a Baller?

Ironically, getting BOTM ruined my streak of avoiding all dodgeball awards throughout college since I was just here to play and have fun. However, I did play great at nationals so it’s a perfect way to end my career.

• What are you going to miss most about the club?

Definitely gonna miss the boys and getting people out with the simplest two hand throws that nobody sees coming.

• How do you think nationals went this year?

Overall nationals went alright but the whole team dropped the ball a few times on the first day. The second day we all wanted revenge, so we gave the games all we got even when we knew we were about to lose. The last game we just rushed the enemy team and I wish we would have played like that for more games throughout the season.

• Got Balls? I’m of course talking about dodgeballs.

Oh yeah I got balls, no doubt about it. 

Bailey Schaefer is enthusiastic about competing, always goes hard at practices, and is definitely one of the top 3 catchers in the club. This year was his first nationals tournament, but he didn’t disappoint. Even against some of the best teams in the league, he was often one of the last few standing. These are just some of the reasons why think Bailey is awesome and why we picked him as April ROTM. We are excited to see him take off next year as a leader on the court.

These Baller and Rookie of the Month awards are not only about recognizing certain players, but also celebrating how far they have come since the start of the season. Both Nick and Zach have been leaders on the court, calling out plays and providing coverage when needed. It is a pleasure to watch these two play and I am sure they are going to do phenomenal in nationals… Which is this weekend!

Nick is a 2nd-year dodgeball player and also Vice President of the Dodgeball Club. Besides dodgeball, Nick likes to play his trombone in the Marching Pioneers and Pep Band. He was previously an Engineering Physics major, but plans on switching to Mechanical Engineering next year due to a change in interests.

• I know you’re in the Marching Pioneers. What instrument do you play and what instrument would you play if you had the time?

I play the trombone and since I am biased to bass clef, I think learning the tuba would be fun.

• What has been your favorite tournament this far and what made it special?

My favorite tournament has to be either last year’s nationals because it was my first nationals or the War in Akron this year because of how well we played as a team against Akron, and I also had some good catches in that game.

• How has being on the board as VP changed your feelings towards the club?

Being on the board has shown me the extra work and dedication that our president, coach, and captains put in to make our club run smoothly. Seeing them want the best for the club motivates me to be the best player I can be.

• What is the number one thing we need to change before going to nationals?

The biggest thing we need to improve upon are the fundamentals. As a team, if we can block, catch, counter, etc. properly we will be an unstoppable force. We are a good team, but perfect those basics and we’ll be competing with top teams.

Zach is a freshman software engineering major from Wisconsin Dells. He has grown as both a dodgeball player, but also as a team leader this season. Zach was also awarded Rookie of the Month in December.

• You were awarded ROTM last semester as well, what’s changed since then?

I’ve put more time into getting better and focused more on the mechanics of the game rather than the game itself.

• What are you looking forward to doing now that weather is nicer?

I’m looking forward to outdoor runs to help endurance. 

• Any summer plans?

I plan on taking a summer course to get ahead, along with RA training for my new position next year.

• What’s the biggest thing we need to change before going to nationals?

Our teamwork needs to be more cohesive along with much better court awareness.

February has been a busy month for the Dodgeball Club. We’ve been on the road twice and hosted UWP Alumni at our home tournament. Also, we have been busy in practice trying to implement new drills and play more aggressively. That being said, it is a great time to recognize two players who stood out among the rest. It is my pleasure to congratulate Caleb Laux and Dalton Foreyt on being awarded the Baller and Rookie awards for the month of February.

Caleb Laux, from Waukesha, is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and a third-year dodgeball veteran. Through his internships, Caleb has become familiar with water pumps and may even see himself doing it in the future as a career. Caleb’s low, accurate throws and his great catching skills will help put us ahead of the competition at Nationals this year.

• What’s your favorite and least favorite parts about practice?

Favorite parts of practice are full court skirmishes. Least favorite part is whenever my arm hurts.

• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years I’ll probably end up doing engineering work in Mukwonago.

• What’s your pre-tournament ritual?

I like to listen to some music and say a quick prayer while I’m warming up before a tournament.

• If you could drink one beer for the rest of your life, what would it be?

• Great choice Caleb, High Life truly is the Champagne of beers!

Dalton is freshman marketing major from Fennimore, WI. Since joining the team this Fall, Dalton has taken an interest in getting his grip throw down and has spent some extra time working with our Coach. Also, Dalton has gone to the past two away tournaments at GVSU and Akron, where he has gotten some great exposure to high-ranked teams. Everyone on the team is looking forward to Dalton showing off his new throw at this upcoming Nationals tournament.

• How does it feel to be recognized as slightly above average?

I feel good for being recognized.

• If life were a DND game, what would your character be?

I would be a dwarf bard.

• This is a big one, what’s your favorite color dodgeball?

Purple is my favorite dodgeball color.

• A man of few words, yet what an exquisite choice of dodgeball.

As we start a new semester, I’d like to give a shout out to a couple key members on the team. BOTM for January is none other than Eli Huntley and ROTM is Dylan Fabry. Both Eli and Dylan have had a great start to the semester. They have not only shown up at practice, but they are determined to hit the ground running so that we can win games in upcoming tournaments. In fact, we just finished our first tournament of the semester at Grand Valley State University. Both of these guys have some thoughts on how we did, so read further to learn more.

Eli Huntley is a senior Mechanical Engineering student and a 5-year veteran of the club. He will be graduating next Fall, so he plans on making this year’s nationals tournament count. Besides dodgeball, Eli spends his time snowmobiling, playing Clash of Clans, and supporting local businesses such as Red N Deb’s and Players.

• How do you think you did personally in the GVSU tournament?

I feel like I did ok at the GVSU tournament. I definitely could of thrown less catches but MSU and GVSU are good teams.

• Do you have any funny stories about the car ride to and from GVSU?

Jalen needs to get better eyes because it was scary being in the car with him driving at night.

• Do you have any exciting Spring Break plans?

I can’t wait to go to Pups Irish Pub in Northport, WI and drink some green beer for St. Patty’s Day. Then maybe take a trip somewhere for 2 or 3 days.

• If you could bring back any extinct animal, what would it be?

I would probably bring back the woolly mammoth. I think it would be cool to see these giant creatures roaming around the arctic again.

Dylan is a freshman Mechanical Engineering student from Oconto Falls, WI. This is actually Dylan’s second time this year as ROTM. All the rookies this year are pretty committed to the team, but Dylan has gone above and beyond in practice and tournaments alike so I’m glad that we can recognize him again.

• What’s one thing about the team this semester that you think will be different from last semester?

I think now that us rookies got the basics down that we can start working better as a team.

• Last tournament was a tough one, what’s one thing you thought about how we played as a team?

We started off slow and rusty from the winter break but did much better near the end despite playing most of the tournament with 11 people.

• What class is the hardest for you to stay awake in this semester?

The hardest class to stay awake in has to be physics as it’s mostly virtual.

• If you could have any pet in your dorm room, what would you have?

I have to pick a dog as a pet if I could have one in the dorm.

Co-Author: Jamie Matthews

Even though the year is halfway through, it feels as if UWP Dodgeball is just starting to pick up. Everyone is still practicing just as hard and we all seem to be focused on the end goal, which is to compete at nationals. This is something that left a sour taste in our mouths last year as we lost in the first round. As such, we’ve worked hard the past few months to rebuild the team and get to a higher level. This process can be broken down into three phases: recruit, train, and compete.

As is with every Fall semester, we focus heavily on replacing those who have graduated last Spring. Luckily, we found many rookies that were eager to play dodgeball, 7 of which have stuck around since Day 1. According to Co-Captain Tomas Zander, “The rookies were key to helping our club get better and will be going forward. Each one has worked hard putting in extra hours getting better with Coach Erik during the off-practice days. If the rookies can get rid of their hesitation, they will help UWP become an impossible team to beat because we will be one of the fastest teams in the league.”

After recruiting new players, it was necessary to train them. While dodgeball is not an overly complex game, there are technical aspects such as grip throwing, team throws, ball control, and offensive coordination that can only be taught through practice. It was great to see just how much everyone improved over such a little time. This is largely due to our focus of drills in practice and getting additional training outside of practice. In fact, this training is why we were able to come home from the Redhawk Classic with 3 wins against Akron, BGSU, and Miami.

And that leads us to competition, which will be ongoing throughout the Spring semester as well. We were fortunate enough to play in 4 tournaments last semester, but this semester we are focusing on playing a greater variety of teams. Being put against strong teams is a necessity as it highlights what we need to work on, such as team-throwing and countering.

Early on in the semester, we traveled through the corn fields in Nebraska to play none other than UNL. Going in we knew this would be tough because of how experienced of a team they are and how new ours was. UNL ended up blowing us out of the water in the first match (7-1) and won a close second game (4-3).

Austin Kurey, President of the club states, “Since our lose at UNL’s tournament, we have really driven home the fundamentals and stressed many different drills. We hope that these drills will help us come together as a team and improve. When looking to the future, we need to be a cohesive unit. If we can play as a team, and for one another, we will be a much better team overall. This will be the best course for success.”

Another notable event this Fall was our home tournament, which we went undefeated against CSU, WMU, and the newly formed team CUW. While it was great to come out with so many wins, it was even better to see so many teams at our courts. Four other teams came, which is the best turn out that we’ve seen in a long time. We hope to see a similar turnout next semester as well.

Our last tournament of the Fall semester was the Dr. Peter Broe Classic at WMU. This was an exciting tournament for us because of how many other competitive teams were there. Our first game was against SVSU, which ended up being a very intense game that went into overtime. It was close, but we managed to win with a final score of 4-3.

Our second game was against none other than MSU. Most of the guys weren’t sure what to expect going into the match since they were ranked much higher than us. First point, they throttled us. Second point though, we came back hard and scored against them; at that point everyone on the team was pumped up. It was a very fun and competitive game, but MSU ended up winning the match 5-2.

Even though it was a loss, we walked away feeling pretty good about ourselves and how we played. Treasurer Jalen Sims says, “We had a few catches by our younger guys which allowed us to get a point against MSU. With countering we did a great job picking them off as a team. MSU likes to throw at the attack line, so it’s easy to pick them off if our throws are on point.”

Last game of the tournament was against OSU, which ended up being a 2-5 loss. This was a reminder of how much more we need to train this coming semester. While the OSU game didn’t go our way, we know that we’ll be ready the next time we play them.

Overall, the attitude for the start of this Spring is optimistic, yet serious. We have come a long way since last semester, and last year to say the least, but there is definitely still some more work to be done on the courts. In recent news, UWP Dodgeball hopes to take a full squad to GVSU just 2 weeks into the Spring semester. Games will be streamed on YouTube, so stay tuned for some good ol’ fashioned dodgeball.

Roll Neers!

A lot has happened this past semester for Pioneer Dodgeball, so we would like to give a shout out to two members who each made an impact in their own way. Caleb Newell, Captain of the team and starter-stache extraordinaire, wasn’t scared to put himself out there and go for outs. Airing from Girard, IL, Caleb just graduated this December with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. Not wanting to miss out on National’s this Spring, Caleb will pursue his master’s through UW-Platteville and remain in the club.

As for the Rookie of the Month, Zach Brand was an easy choice among the team. Zach has put work in and out of practice to work on his throwing/catching skills. Because of this, he made quite the appearance in the most recent tournament at Western Michigan. Zach is a freshman software engineering major from Wisconsin Dells.

– You’ve been in a lot of tournaments by now, which ones were your favorite?

Man, that is a tough question. If we are going off this year, I would have to say our home tournament (The Pioneer Classic III). We had the biggest turn out with schools from each region (apart from the east coast) as well as the new central region team having their inaugural matches. It was a good day around great people. 

– What are your plans now since graduating?

Well, I recently accepted a Job with Hutchinson Engineering out of Jacksonville, IL. I’ll work there while attending the Online Master’s Program and UW-Platteville. So I’ll still be around tournaments and playing for the Pioneers. 

– Now that you’ll have your Tuesday and Thursday nights free from practice, what will you do?

You know, I’ll probably fill that void with grad school. That and or lifting twelve ouncers at the local tavern.

– What bet did you lose that you have to walk around with that mustache?

Everyone hates on the stache, but it was stache season for quite a while. I personally trim my beard into a mustache every fall. It just kind of stuck around longer than usual.