Five Questions About Leadership and Legacies

1. What aspect of college dodgeball made you want to captain an NCDA team?
Well I have been playing dodgeball for as long as I can remember. My friend and co-founder of Bowling Green Dodgeball, Mike Fulton, and I used to play in his basement as kids. From there we graduated to the rec center league and after that it only seemed natural to start it up at BGSU. When we were approached by the NCDA it was the single most exciting moment of our young club's existence. After joining the NCDA, captaining the club took on a whole new meaning. Now we were working toward competitive play and furthering the sport of dodgeball beyond our childhood aspirations, and that was a very exciting concept.

2. What are the main principles that you emphasize to your team?
The principle of most importance to us has always been honesty. Honesty and respect are the two concepts that we at BG Dodgeball have tried to preach over the years. The game of dodgeball is extremely fast paced with multiple plays going on at once. It is unlike any other sport and especially difficult to officiate. Football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, ping pong all have one ball to watch, NCDA style dodgeball has 10! This is why we practice honesty as a club because we want to be known for going out when we get clipped in the shoe or a when ball glides across out shirt. The refs have enough to worry about without having to make close calls like that every 10 seconds. Along with respect for the rules, we try to promote respect for the players. Good sportsmanship is good practice in any sport and we strive to be the classiest team out there while still competing at a high level of intensity.

3. How do you want your team to remember you after your captaincy is over?
I hope to be remembered as someone that did all they could to keep the team running. Dodgeball has truly been a passion of mine throughout my tenure here at BGSU and it has been a great privilege of mine to be able to captain this team. I have made a lot of good friends through dodgeball and I hope that I have made as big an impact on their college experience as they have on mine. Our team has progressed exponentially in regards to level of play, competitiveness and members, and I hope to be remembered as one of the players that made that happen.

4. What characteristics will you look for in your successor?
What I hope to find in a successor for our organization is someone who shares the same passion for the sport of dodgeball. The team needs a veteran who knows the ins and outs of the game and who is able to convey strategy and is truly committed to playing dodgeball whenever possible. Also important is that this person harbors the same philosophies and beliefs that our team has held onto for many years. Maintaining the integrity of the game is of utmost concern. Finally, a team captain must be an effective leader; there are many different ways to lead but the important part is that the captain is able to gain the respect of the team so as to promote unity and a clear path of where the team wants to go.

5. As a captain, what's your biggest priority for the league going forward?
College dodgeball and the sport of dodgeball in general is nowhere near the popularity level of other sports like football and basketball and as a result, it is difficult to recruit and more importantly, retain athletes in college dodgeball. This being the case, I feel that my biggest priority as captain is to continue to market our club and recruit new members as best we can to ensure that BG Dodgeball has an ample supply of hard-working individuals that will not let the club fade away. The ultimate outcome for the NCDA would be to push the sport of dodgeball into the public eye in order to gain more respect as a legitimate sport. To do this we must have teams that are around and active every year. Putting a face to the sport of college dodgeball in the form of well maintained teams that compete every single year.