3rd Annual Sigma Kappa Ultra Violet Tournament

Its been a while.  I am quite consistent in that.  I hit these things in strides.  Little blips.  I will be smitten with a burst of creativity, energy and focus that will propel the momentum of the organization and then, as though you can set your watch to it, I get distracted.  Said once that emotions wouldn't affect my ability to be productive...well that was a lie.  Took a hard hit emotionally this passed Spring and spent all of Summer trying to come out of it. 

Like always, I suffer, the organization suffers.  I've let a lot slip through my fingers and the bandaids placed on these gaping wounds (can be speaking figuratively or metaphorically) could only hold together so much.  Well, a lots come and gone since "then."  But before I say I am good now, before I begin the whole Phoenix rising of the ashes nonsense I will say this: I have renewed focus.  Whether it lasts two weeks, two months or I am able to sustain it and balance the other parts of my life, I am going to give it an honest to goodness shot because after doing this for so long, its time for it to start paying more dividends than just good memories.

Back in 05-06' when we got our first "start" I wanted in on every Dodgeball activity in Tucson.  I wanted to have some hand on it.  I felt it was vital to be THE only show in town and I would scour the internet, "the google" and whatever means available to make sure I did just that.  As the years have passed and Dodgeball has taken more of a life of its own I gave up on trying to monopolize it.  It just can't be done and to do so is just unrealistic.  So the focus became on what we can do and have already been doing: league, open gym and the occasional tournament.  If something popped up elsewhere or I caught wind of an event passed, I stopped taking it as a failure to maintain hold on the market.  I didn't take it as a missed opportunity but encouragement that there are still others out there that want to play Dodgeball.  That think to themselves: "let's host a Dodgeball tournament!" or "let's start up a Dodgeball league!"  Sad to say but I realized that regardless of how or where or by whom it is played, people playing Dodgeball is a win for Tucson Dodgeball.

Case in point: The annual Sigma Kappa Ultra Violet Dodgeball Tournament.  We were asked to participate in this event last year; to officiate for a 70+ team tournament and although I would have preferred to have more of a hand in its structuring, I was able to gather ten refs to basically ref this event all day long. 

It was a long, grueling day jam packed with people who had virtually no concept of boundaries, who lost their heads when a call was made and who strutted around like a bunch of chimps pounding their chest any time a play was made.  Granted, these are alcohol and testosterone induced Frat Boys who are clearly letting their competitive edge get the better of them but it was beyond frustrating when you would see an entire team run out of bounds to catch a ball that was popped up from one of their teammates. 

The entire day was spent yelling, herding cats and trying unsuccessfully to explain rule after rule, call after call.  But it made me realize something:

People don't need to understand Dodgeball to the depths in which we do.  They do not need to read/hear every rule in our 23 page rule book.  They don't have to understand what a disarm is, or what a suicide play is, or "sequence of events."  They just need to come in, play and carry on with their lives.  There has always been a debate on taking ourselves seriously but these types of tournaments are surely, surely, surely, NOT the time to do so. 

When the event was over, however, the leader informed us that she wouldn't know what she would have done without our help; that we helped the tournament run so much more smoothly and that we would for sure be asked to help out again next year.  That seemed so far away then that I really kind of shrugged it off but realized as well that we indeed, have begun to offer a service.

With other Dodgeball events, when their coordinator would reach out to us for rule consulting, or equipment leasing (no, never charged for either) I really wondered if I provided a valuable service; wondered if any Joe could provide or offer what I was offering and how official I sounded responding to their questions with my @tucsondodgeball.com address.  Well, believe it or not, Dodgeball is here to stay and people have begun to acknowledge that maybe there are indeed specialists out there that could assist in running their event. 

And so we fell more into a role of service with two following gigs: Feb 2013 and April 2013.  These were corporate events and were PAID gigs and with them became professionals.  At this time, there does not exist a national organization in which we can say that we are certified, but with the amount of officiating we've done (forgot to squeeze in a Hollister / Abercrombie and Fitch Fundraiser in early Feb) for other organizations and the amount of officiating we do weekly for leagues (Tucson and Phoenix) and any tournament we participate in; we are the best.  We know the sport through and through and can accommodate just about any variation.  And that can now come with a price tag.

However, since we still want to support Dodgeball and get involved any way we can, we of course returned to assist with the 2013 Sigma Kappa Ultra Violet Dodgeball tournament.  This one, with 85 teams competing, was not as badly ran.  The girls in charge had a bit better idea of what was going on in terms of running the actual matches, our refs did phenomenal (three fights broken up) and kept everything within the time constraints.  I eliminated the practice of trying to explain to everyone rules.  A call was made and it was stuck to.  No more clinics.  No more elaborate explanations.  I extended the boundaries to the width of a basketball court (even then some people managed to find themselves going over) which prevented about 80% total players from taking themselves out for not being able to adhere to the boundaries and I made the rules stupid simple:

-  You're hit, you're out.
-  Someone catches your ball, they're out and one of theirs comes in.
-  Nothing happens on a headshot.
-  Someone knocks a ball out of your hands, you're out.
-  Saves counted.

That was it.  No momentum catches, no suicides, no sequence of events, no headhunting, none of that experienced crap and to my surprise it worked well enough to keep things moving along with little official interaction save for the occasional heckling or denying a call but at least play was stopped after every out. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkNt__T-uo4&feature=share&list=UUcHtrmN9aA7rqVf3rU7M9UA


One of our guys got on the Mic/PA system and did a read through of the rules, in simple terms but for the most part, no one listened and it was on them at that point.  We were there to officiate.  Not educate.  We made the attempt and left it on them to figure it out.

All in all this entire day was much better than last year.  Still some lessons learned and they will be reflected in my notes for the next one as well as for the young lady in charge for her chair successor but today further reinforced what we began last year: we offer a service now and as we continue to refine it, it may be something I can market.

 

Some other topics came up; this weekend exposed many opportunities for organizational self reflection but being as that I am in a good state of mind to tighten up some of the bolts on a already proven capable machine, I am eager to capitalize on them as we go into the 2014 year.  Fortunately, my positive state of mind is not reliant on another human being for a crutch.  I am standing up on my own two feet, without the assistance of another so I intend to generate momentum and carry on.