Month: October 2015

Wheeler in the Morning!

About a week ago, we were very lucky to have Wheeler in the Morning‘s Mark Neufeld come out and play some dodgeball with us. The segment aired this morning on City TV’s Wheeler in the Morning show and it was a ton of fun.

Check it out here.

Dodgeball across the provinces

The dodgeball community never ceases to amaze me. My experience with people who play this sport, across the country, is consistently positive. In the past year, I have come to discover that Winnipeg is not unique in how welcoming and supportive our dodgeball players are.

Recently, we hosted a Halloween tournament. It was a ton of fun, and we also got the pleasure of meeting Paul Laking and the folks from Dodgeball Edmonton. They told us about the Edmonton scene, after doing very well in our tournament. One of them had the hardest throw I’d ever seen, while at the same time screaming at the top of his lungs each time he released the ball. During the after party, we learned that – Much like Winnipeg – Edmonton has an entrenched Rec League with larger balls and extraneous rules. That being said, Edmonton appears to be all about the rubber balls.

It was interesting to see that even though the way they play is somewhat different, everyone was just as open to meeting new people and had no problem adjusting their play to the different balls. Much like our own scene, there was little in the way of complaining about differences, and instead we all exchanged thoughts and feedback afterwards in a friendly way. I have never experienced another sport where people are so open to trying new things.

Dodgeball Edmonton’s league uses smaller rubber balls that are easier to throw and cause less injuries, and they brought one for us to try. It made me think that, down the road, perhaps we will try a rubber ball division. After playing with it, it wasn’t as scary as I had thought. It also made me think that our sport has so much room to grow. There are different rules and ball types to try, different styles of organizing players (draft and team) and in the end, I find myself excited to try them all.

Gains to Games

I have always been curious about what dodgeball players do for fitness outside of the game. What I really want to know is how it improved their game play.

I went on a short mission talking to various people about their fitness programs and if they are helping them on the court.

What I’ve found among a majority of the players is weight training. Clarence and Denham, national competitive dodgeball players from Manitoba Triumphs, have said weight training has been beneficial to their game and overall shoulder health. Denham mentions “Weight training: shoulder exercises – shoulder press, lateral raise, front raise, bench press, and cable cross with free weights to increase stability muscles and range of motion”

We sometimes forget how much strain we put on our shoulders playing dodgeball. When you first start playing dodgeball no one mentions the importance of shoulder health and how to prevent common injuries . “Know your body is the big thing. There’s a big difference between hurt and sore. You have to be able to distinguish that and you have to leave your ego at the door. When your body needs rest, it does” says Clarence.

If you’re interested in maintaining shoulder health I suggest checking out Amelie’s blog – she has great tips on maintaining and getting your shoulders in top shape. Amelie played on the 2014 & 2015 Women’s dodgeball team and has had her share of dodgeball injuries.

Shoulders are not the only thing we don’t consider while playing dodgeball. Michael from Divide by 2+7 (WRL) has mentioned since starting Crossfit, his core strength is stronger. “I noticed a significant change in my throwing. I’m able to engage my body into the throw, instead of just using my arm”. When you think about it a strong core enhances balance and stability,it can help prevent falls and injuries during games. Weak, tight, or unbalanced core muscles can undermine you in game play and while it’s important to build a strong core it’s also important to take things slow when getting into new workout routines.

Competitive dodgeball is exhausting due to its quick movements. Ashley from TC Boosh (MN) plays competitive dodgeball and told me cardio has really helped her game. “Sprinting drills has really helped my stamina and speed. When I first started out, I didn’t do much cardio and I thought everybody was crazy for being able to play for long durations of time. I’m now able to play two 20 minute halves and only sub out about once”

Training is key but you don’t need a very intense workout regime. It depends on what your goals are. Ashley mentioned her main focus is consistency, “Playing as often as possible really helps your body adjust to playing the sport”.

If  you’re wanting to take dodgeball serious and be competitive  you’ll want to train, play and train some more.

FOR SCIENCE:  I’ll be training for the next six months to see what works for myself. I’ll be working with some local dodgeballers, fitness enthusiasts and local sport therapists to figure out  what workout routines may benefit my game. If you have suggestions or want to share your dodgeball journey, message me on Facebook, I love dodgeball, fitness and want to hear your journey.

See you on the court 🙂

 

Women’s league – what it is and how it will work

If you are new to the dodgeball scene, you may have noticed that Winnipeg has a lot of committed women in our community. There are four all-female teams I know of in Winnipeg, and they are all pretty good but it seems to me that it’s unfair that we have a demand from women for an all-female league and they can’t get one.

That all changes now. In consultation with some of the most prominent female players, we at Dodgeball Winnipeg have come up with a format for women to play together and work together to build up their skills. The general consensus is the format will be just like our co-ed draft league:

Women sign up as individuals, teams are made based on stats to keep things even, and at the end of every season teams are dissolved and remade based on a snake-style for stats.

How would that look? Here’s an example, let’s say we have 24 women, and they are ranked from “1” (highest stats) to “24” (lowest stats) the teams would be as follows:

Team A: 1/8/9/16/17/24

Team B: 2/7/10/15/18/23

Team C: 3/6/11/14/19/22

Team D: 4/5/12/13/20/21

 

This keeps the playing field even, and allows for better competition as the women playing will be constantly playing with and against new people each season, learning from one another and growing their skills together.

The women’s league will be starting in January and I hope to see everyone there!

The Dodgeball Lowdown 10/10/2015

I’m a dodgeball enthusiast and am starting to see that I’m actually quite obsessed about it. I want to

share information with YOU “the Winnipeg dodgeball community” on what’s the haps around the worldwide dodgeball community.dbarticlepic

Recently Canada’s own Savannah Burton has been making waves, in print and online media, because of her

recent transition. Burton has been playing dodgeball since 2007 and has played on the Men’s &

Womens Canadian Dodgeball teams. Burton is a huge inspiration to our community and continues to

inspire the LGBT community at large.

Burton was recently in Shape magazine talking about how transitioning affects an athlete’s performance.

http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/how-does-transitioning-affect-transgender-athletes-

With that, I want to mention that all the dodgeball leagues in the city are for everybody, all games are

your games. I encourage everyone to play a game in any sport. You’ll be surprised by how many people

are willing to stand by you and encourage you.

 

See you on the court!