Steering the Course

When I got back from my three month Air Force stint, back in the last quarter of 2008, Manny Smith, a coworker of mine (may have actually been my supervisor) and I began to talk a lot more, we got an idea for each other's goals and passions outside of "The Y" and thus I got to relate how Tucson Dodgeball was all tied to it. Yes I love Dodgeball, but I also love organizing things. I like creating something out of nothing that people subscribe to and take ownership of. Manny in a sense felt the same way and offered to help grow Tucson Dodgeball and further develop it.

And that he did. Seemingly with ease. We laid down the tracks, he provided the materials, the know how and before I knew it, it seemed that Tucson Dodgeball was going to go somewhere. But we had no real "base of operations." We managed to host a Bladeworld tournament in 2008 and it went well. We got some articles in the paper, both the Arizona Daily Star and the Tucson Weekly.

Open was hit or miss though. We managed another Arizona Daily Star Article on couples meeting through obscure events or basically, not meeting that significant other the traditional way. In Fall of 2009, Open had all but died with the exception of a few die hards, Chris Bell and Justin Acton. I had pretty much given up on it but was then asked to start the league up again and reluctantly so, did.

We managed five teams. Four brand new and with buy in from Y staff members and some friends, a fifth. An individual I had been in and out of contact with for years regarding leagues as timing never proved to be on our side, either he inquired too late, or the league wasn't available when he was, finally got in and helped generate a following that would propel us to eight teams.

We have been fortunate enough to maintain the support and development of the Program Coordinator at the Y. It has truly become our base of operations, the foundation of our "Competitive League" and it is something I do not take for granted. It affords cheap league fees, a solid venue and name brand backing.

With each passed season, we've been able to really iron out a solid set of rules, each season seeming to produce a loophole that is taken care of and this last season Fall 2010 definitely had a few. Regardless, the lessons learned here, combined with the lessons learned with the Recreational League should make for a solid 2011 year for Tucson Dodgeball. The big question is: where will it be?

Manny, with his solid contacts at the Boys and Girls Club brought us a gym with reduced rates in exchange for Dodgeball Clinics aimed at their kids. An hour per branch, per age group and although that was my living version of Hell on Earth, if we can continue to hold our second base at the Steve Daru Gym, I'll continue to develop and operate it.

The Y has committed to four seasons this year, beginning with Winter and ending with Fall. But if there is one lesson I repeatedly learn about Dodgeball organizations, its you can never take the venues for granted. Ever. League owners, operators, organizers, whatever you want to call me, cannot take anything regarding Dodgeball for granted. Our organization's lives and goals are at the whim of the venue.

This coming year I need to take the lessons learned, apply them and maintain a proactive stance in regards to securing other venues as alternates or revenue streams and a business plan of some form probably would not hurt either. I'm finally getting the help I need. I can leave and come back and the place won't be a mess. I can rely on others to take care of things. I am going to have to look beyond next season if we're going to steer this momentum anywhere.

Lessons Learned

I find it funny that I have begun the last two posts with "needing to update this more" and attempting to summarize all that has occurred by informing the reader I am sparing them from "reading a novel" but a lot of time has passed since my last update...so I should not only probably update more frequently but also...present everything in a concise format so's not to have the reader...read...a...novella. HA!

October saw the launch of our new Recreational League and aside from the good folks at World Dodgeball Society in LA (formerly known as the L.A. Dodgeball Society) elevated Tucson to a monumental achievement in Dodgeball: managing two leagues. Yes, there are two leagues in Phoenix: AzDodgeball and Phoenix Dodgeball but they are separate entities. Tucson Dodgeball is a single entity and always at the whim of our venues, so the ability to run operations out of two separate venues and run two separate and distinct leagues was quite the accomplishment. A tribute to our volunteers, one Manny Smith and the dedication and passion of those that not only play, but do their best to recruit new members. Yes, for once the glory is not all mine and for that I am entirely grateful.

Speaking of, I was away on Air Force Reserve duty for three weeks, missing half the Recreational Season along with a good chunk of the Competitive Season and guess what? I returned to a fully functioning dual league organization with no issues. People stepped up, helped out and all went well. We even rolled out a new element of the Competitive Division: "Challenge Week" as proudly borrowed by our good friends at Phoenix Dodgeball and it was well received and well ran.

I came in just in time to run the Recreational Division playoffs, congrats to The Warriors by the way on their undefeated season and see my team knocked out in the first round by Lucha Patrol in the Competitive Division. The winners, Jeff Goldblum and the Chaoticians had been taking up second place for a few seasons now and their win was well earned and hard fought.

The wristbands, although I did nothing to sell them, succeeded in being presented as an award, a "thank you" for helping out Tucson Dodgeball and they are and were worn with pride by those who stepped up these passed seasons. They turned out to be a great way to say "thanks" and reinforce the fact that we're growing...

The Recreational League proved successful in that it taught me a lot of lessons I was fortunate enough to learn now as opposed to promoting a larger league with a larger attempt at marketing it. I will list those lessons later. (I really will).

All in all, it was a great year for Tucson Dodgeball (knocks on wood) and depending on how the leadership can steer its course, may be an even greater year...keeping the Boys and Girls Club Gym or not.

Also, Team Evil won season 13 in AzDodgeball and their place on the Turkey Cup. Team Evil also won the Open Division in Phoenix Dodgeball...Team Evil is once again a force to be reckoned with.