Post by UMD Dodgeball on Apr 14, 2014 12:46:54 GMT -6
UMD put in a bid to have Nationals 2015 at the University of Maryland, so I figured I would provide you guys with some information.
Why I think we should host:
The East Coast has never hosted Nationals, unlike WKU who has recently hosted. I believe that having Nationals in different, newer regions will help the league grow. It will allow smaller, newer teams who could not attend this year's nationals (VCU, PSU) to attend. After experiencing our first Nationals, I was able to see how the experience affected my team. In the past, they did not usually get a chance to actually get to know the people on the other teams. Having spent an entire weekend doing just that, the way they looked at the NCDA changed. I am 100% sure that every player I brought to Nationals (other than seniors) will return next year because of the experience they had at Ohio State. I want to make sure the newer schools can attend Nationals this year, because it will help them maintain their club, and remain a member of the NCDA. Also, I think it will be nice for the other schools to get to experience something new (the East Coast).
Courts:
We are not able to play in ERC (The UMD equivalent of RPAC from this year's Nationals), but could use the Reckord Armory and Ritchie Coliseum. In the Armory, we could either have 4 courts without anything separating them, or we could have 3 courts with dividers. Ritchie Coliseum is about 100 yards away from the Armory, so it is not an issue to use both buildings. Ritchie only has 1 court, but would be the perfect place to have important games, such as the semifinals/finals, and the All-Star match, etc. It is a single court surrounded by bleachers, with additional seating on the next floor.
Parking:
There is a parking lot for Ritchie Coliseum that is free on the weekends.
Recording:
If nobody is able to record the games like this year, UMD students can rent out video cameras from our libraries, so our team could get enough cameras to film most, if not all of the games. If we split up the courts in the Armory with dividers, there would be enough space in between the courts to have tables for filming/commentating.
Hotels:
There are at LEAST half a dozen hotels within 3 miles of the Armory/Ritchie along Route 1, the closest being a Quality Inn that is less than a mile from the gyms.
Food:
While the gyms do not serve food like RPAC, there are plenty of places to eat within a mile, including Chipotle, Noodles & Co., Five Guys, Bobby's Burger Palace (My personal favorite), countless pizza places, Subway, and a few delis.
Surrounding Area:
For your time off, there are plenty of bars in College Park. If you are interested in going to DC, there is a metro stop about a mile away from the gyms. The metro would take about 20-40 minutes to get you to DC (depending on where you're going).
That is everything I can come up with for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!
-Dylan Allred #11
Why I think we should host:
The East Coast has never hosted Nationals, unlike WKU who has recently hosted. I believe that having Nationals in different, newer regions will help the league grow. It will allow smaller, newer teams who could not attend this year's nationals (VCU, PSU) to attend. After experiencing our first Nationals, I was able to see how the experience affected my team. In the past, they did not usually get a chance to actually get to know the people on the other teams. Having spent an entire weekend doing just that, the way they looked at the NCDA changed. I am 100% sure that every player I brought to Nationals (other than seniors) will return next year because of the experience they had at Ohio State. I want to make sure the newer schools can attend Nationals this year, because it will help them maintain their club, and remain a member of the NCDA. Also, I think it will be nice for the other schools to get to experience something new (the East Coast).
Courts:
We are not able to play in ERC (The UMD equivalent of RPAC from this year's Nationals), but could use the Reckord Armory and Ritchie Coliseum. In the Armory, we could either have 4 courts without anything separating them, or we could have 3 courts with dividers. Ritchie Coliseum is about 100 yards away from the Armory, so it is not an issue to use both buildings. Ritchie only has 1 court, but would be the perfect place to have important games, such as the semifinals/finals, and the All-Star match, etc. It is a single court surrounded by bleachers, with additional seating on the next floor.
Parking:
There is a parking lot for Ritchie Coliseum that is free on the weekends.
Recording:
If nobody is able to record the games like this year, UMD students can rent out video cameras from our libraries, so our team could get enough cameras to film most, if not all of the games. If we split up the courts in the Armory with dividers, there would be enough space in between the courts to have tables for filming/commentating.
Hotels:
There are at LEAST half a dozen hotels within 3 miles of the Armory/Ritchie along Route 1, the closest being a Quality Inn that is less than a mile from the gyms.
Food:
While the gyms do not serve food like RPAC, there are plenty of places to eat within a mile, including Chipotle, Noodles & Co., Five Guys, Bobby's Burger Palace (My personal favorite), countless pizza places, Subway, and a few delis.
Surrounding Area:
For your time off, there are plenty of bars in College Park. If you are interested in going to DC, there is a metro stop about a mile away from the gyms. The metro would take about 20-40 minutes to get you to DC (depending on where you're going).
That is everything I can come up with for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!
-Dylan Allred #11