Month: March 2020

Announcement re: Spring Season coming on April 2nd

With the pandemic in full swing, we will be making an announcement regarding Spring 2020 on our homepage and Facebook page on April 2nd.

At that time we will make the decision to cancel April, or all of Spring. Unless a vaccine is discovered between now and April 2nd, it is incredibly unlikely gymnasiums will be open and it will be safe to play Dodgeball in the month of April.

At this time, it is safe to assume there will be no Dodgeball in April, unless a vaccine or some other cure is found between now and April 2nd. The announcement will be regarding whether or not we expect to be able to run the Spring season at all.

We will not open up registration for Summer season until such time as it is safe to do so, meaning that gymnasiums are open and the virus has run its course. We will not put anyone in harm’s way.

We will also make sure to finish the Winter 2020 playoffs before we start up another season, and will provide free drop-ins for the equivalent number of games lost to any teams that were not in playoffs but had games cancelled for Winter 2020 due to Covid-19.

Thank you for reading, and please check back regularly for updates.

Register for our Smash Tournament this Sunday!

We are hosting an online-only Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament starting at 4:00pm.

Register by sending an e-transfer of $10 to payments@dodgeballwinnipeg.com or visit https://dodgeballwinnipeg.com/product/smash-tournament-registration/ to pay by credit card in our online shop.

As this is our inaugural e-sports event, we will only be opening this event to players that have played on a roster in our Dodgeball League at any time since 2015. We will open future events to the public.

Prize is a package of toilet paper!

Dodgeball Does E-sports

Looking for a competitive outlet?

Dodgeball Winnipeg will be hosting some competitive online tournaments for the remainder of March. If we end up having to cancel games in April (a very real possibility at this point in time) we will look at offering ranked competitive online gaming.

We will be hosting a Smash Bros. tournament this Sunday at 4:00pm to test out the format and gauge interest.

We are going to also look into a regular night of competitive Magic: The Gathering play online using MTG Arena.

Please use the following form to suggest a game that can be played competitively online. Any game with enough interest we will look into running an inexpensive online tournament and/or run a season.

Spring 2020

Hello everyone, with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still receiving questions about Spring 2020. As it is impossible to know for sure what is happening, we cannot say anything for certain about Spring 2020. Here is a summary of all Spring 2020 information from the March 14th and March 15th posts that we made on Facebook and the front page of our website.

  1. If this is still happening by Mid-april, we will delay the start of the season as much as possible
  2. We will refund any cancelled games (if for example we cancel 2 games and start in May, a 2/9 refund will be issued)
  3. We have budgeted for potential Spring cancellations so your money is safe with us
  4. If Spring is entirely cancelled, 100% refunds will be issued

Update

We have reached out to our gym partners:

  1. Most are cancelling and giving a credit towards next season’s rentals. We believe this to be a fair solution as the community centers operate on thin margins and government funding that is often inadequate. One, where we had 2 rentals left, is giving us a credit towards next season for one and holding the other one as the deposit towards future rentals.
  2. We are securing space to have the season start delayed but still run 9 games if possible, but we will not let Spring season run past the end of June.
  3. The referees will be paid for the cancelled shifts in March.

More details to come as we receive them!

Winter 2020 is cancelled, Spring 2020 is still happening

Looks like we’re shutting down over Covid-19. We did not take this decision lightly. There are numerous factors that came into play here aside from public sentiment.

1) Dodgeball contains an unusually high amount of physical contact with bodily fluid given the nature of our sport
2) In the last 24 hours the scare has ramped up significantly
3) Most major sporting organizations have shut down

How will this affect teams with games left?

1) We are asking to cancel the gym space. So far EECC has already said they will not charge us. We will have to wait for responses from Norberry, Sinclair Park, and Winakwa before we determine what amount we can refund the teams
2) All teams that did not make playoffs will have their games cancelled and will receive free drop-ins for all rostered players equivalent to the number of games they will miss. (2 for Sunday teams, 1 for Monday teams, 1 for Thursday teams)
3) All teams with playoff games left to be played will have them postponed. We will attempt to reschedule these games before next season, if possible. If, in the unlikely scenario, we cannot reschedule these games, they will be cancelled as well and we will look at refunds for the affected teams.

How does this affect Spring season?

We are very hopeful that, given the 5 weeks between now and then, Spring should happen as planned. If for some reason it cannot, and there are cancellations or delays of the season, teams will be reimbursed proportionally to the amount they were affected. (Example, if we have to cancel the first game only, you would receive a refund of 1/9 of your team fees)

This has been budgeted for and your money is safe with us. We will act ethically and responsibly to ensure the season happens in whatever capacity is possible given the nature of the current situation.

Covid-19 and Winter 2020

We are getting questions about Covid-19 (aka Corona virus) and how it will affect Dodgeball Winnipeg.

As of right now, Manitoba remains relatively unaffected. While the government is advising to avoid travel and to wash hands, we are not hit with an outbreak the same way other places have been. For this reason, we plan to finish off the 3 nights left in Winter season with extra hygiene measures in place, and then we hope that this pandemic runs its course during the ~1 month we have between this season and next season.

Should there be an outbreak in Manitoba, we will follow the government’s recommendations immediately.

If Manitoba is affected in April/May/June, we will make sure to follow all government recommendations as soon as they are released. If there is any impact to games, they will be rescheduled or we will refund for any proportion of games lost (example: if one game is cancelled, we would refund teams 1/9 of their fees).

The best thing we can all do right now is to stay home if sick, wash up regularly, and pay attention to what our local health organizations are telling us.

Update 5:45 pm March 13: The Manitoba government has recommended gatherings of 250+ people be cancelled. A typical dodgeball game has 12-20 people in attendance.

Update 6:00 pm March 13: We will not be permitting outside spectators at the remaining games. With the broadcast on twitch happening, people should have ample opportunities to watch their loved ones play. People who are at the gym because they are between games, for example, are still fine.

We have Winners!

We have some champions to share with you!

Tuesday Rec: Quit Grabbin’ my Balls

Wednesday Bronze: Dodge Balls of Fire

Wednesday Silver: Last Resort

Congratulations to our victors – we will announce a windup date in the near future where you can collect your prizes! Thank you to everyone who participated and made these nights a success.

Buy a timeslot!

One of our lesser-known offerings at Dodgeball Winnipeg is the ability to buy a custom schedule for the season. This is also known as a timeslot.

When you sign up for a season and do not buy a timeslot, you still get to choose the night of the week you play, but you do not get to choose the time or place that your team plays. If your team buys a timeslot, however, you get to choose the time and place where your team plays (from the available times and locations for that night of the week).

Timeslots cost $90 per team, and we only sell 2 per night of the week. They can only be purchased through our webstore. If you are interested in paying $90 for a custom schedule for your team, check out the link: https://dodgeballwinnipeg.com/product-category/timeslots/

For example:
1. Average Joes buys a timeslot for Sunday nights. They play in the bronze division, which is being run at 7pm/8pm/9pm out of “Generic Gymnasium” or 6:30/7:30/8:30pm out of “Placeholder Community Center”. They choose to have their games at 7:00 pm every night at Generic Gymnasium.

2. Purple Cobras buys a timeslot for Wednesday nights. Wednesday nights are only run 7pm/8pm/9pm Sinclair Park Community Center. They choose to have all their games at 7pm at Sinclair Park, except for the first game which they ask to have at 9pm because one of their players has a meeting that evening.

If you have any questions about this, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@dodgeballwinnipeg.com