National Dodgeball League Amateur Association

A Great Day of Dodgeball in
Orange, CA

News Image

By: Eric Jones


When we put this team together less than a year ago, we wanted to be the best. A couple months later with a disappointing finish at the world championships, and some deletions, and new additions, we changed our total attitude towards the sport. All we want to do is play dodgeball, and have fun while doing it. That was our attitude getting up on March 3rd heading to Orange for the NDL tour stop. Upon our arrival, we continued our fun loving attitude by playing soccer in the middle of one of the courts. We were one of the first to arrive so we were not sure if we made it to the right place. As the teams started to stroll in, our excitement for what was about to take place grew. As we saw our competition coming in, we knew it would be a great day of dodgeball.

We expected a high paced tournament, but we were not prepared to play as much as we did. Round robin going back and forth between the two divisions, it was tiring, but we loved every minute of it. As we earned our seeds through the round robin, we ended up first seed for the co ed and third seed for the open. As the tournament began, drew a first round bye in open competition, and pulling Get Some from LA in first round Co-Ed. We defeated Get Some, then moving on to Odd Days. Beating Odd Days was a big thing for us because in previous tournaments, including the WCC, Odd Days has gotten the best of us. When we play them we can expect great dodgeball. From there we entered open division play, where we again played Odd Days. After winning this game, we hustled back to co-ed finals where we played Turbo Death Squad. We knew that we had a free trip to the World Championships hanging in the balance, but still nothing to lose, so we let it all hang out. In two games, we became Co-Ed champions of the Orange tour stop.

Our celebration was cut short, when we were immediately called to the open court to play San Diego. This was our biggest test yet. In this game we had Justin Payan make some big plays and and move us into the semi finals of open play. Moving on here allowed us to take a good breather, and boy did we need it. In between, we just watched the other teams play, and took down some water, and tried to prepare for our next game. This was the game we were waiting for all day. We were playing the team that we have been practicing with for the last month and a half or so, and were good friends with. When they beat us in game one, we knew we had to step it up. Again Justin Payan, AJ Cerda, and Justin Pierce made huge plays winning us games two and three, and moving us into the finals. In the finals we played Liquid Courage, and we knew that it would not be a walk in the park. In the first series, we were defeated in games one and three, lucky for us we had another series to go. As we began the second series, the adrenaline of both teams, and the crowd started to pick up. After losing the first game, Laura Alvarez made a huge catch that brought us back to win game two of the series. The third game is where it was a chess match. Both teams were careful with ball placement and utilized team play. When the dust settled, it was Liquid Courage defeating us and becoming Orange tour stop Open Champions.

Just being in the finals of one, let alone two divisions of a NDL tournament was such an amazing feeling for us. Our team played amazingly well, and made plays when we needed to. Congratulations to Liquid Courage, and we wish you the best of luck in your journey to the World Championships. I personally want to thank Josh Osbourne and Kirk Jones for all that you did for us. We could not have made it there with out the two of you. Over all it was a great tournament, and a great day for AGP. We will look forward to seeing you guys in upcoming tour stops, all leading up to the Convention is Las Vegas. Bring you A Game, we will!

Want to do a guest article, let us know. Email us at: info@nationaldodgeball.com




Visit the recap website for photos and event results.


Back

Custom Ink

Fatkid Dodgeball, The Official band of the NDL.

www.Brainco.org