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Post by heroofvcu on Nov 7, 2011 8:26:44 GMT -6
Hey. My name is Shadeed Drakeford and I'm about to get started a club dodge ball at Virginia Commonwealth University. Any advice or tips about the NCDA such as getting started, gathering people, setting up matches, getting facilities, raising money. Anything will be greatly appreciated.
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Post by kentuckybrown on Nov 7, 2011 10:33:11 GMT -6
Welcome! It's fantastic to hear of another team joining. Two pieces of advice. 1.) Make friends with your club sports administration at your school. Becoming a registered team typically takes a while. (6 months to a year, so start early). 2.) Recruit. It's extremely hard to get and maintain a core group of guys that enjoy being together.
Additionally, you might want to go to JMU in the spring when they are having their tournament since its only 2 hours from you. (February I believe). That will let you see how games are played and pick up tips. (if you have 15 guys already in mind they might let you participate or have a scrimmage)
Our big recruiting event at UK is to have a Midnight Dodgeball event. We probably had ~800 people there. It helps to have a fun event to get your name out there/find some good players.
If you have any direct questions ask on here or email me at kentuckydodgeball@gmail.com
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Post by hiller 87 on Nov 7, 2011 10:51:51 GMT -6
Yeah, your best bet to get matches in (other than Nationals which you'll hopefully attend) would be to play some of the east coast schools like James Madison, Maryland, RIT, and Towson. Towson, Maryland, and JMU are all within basically a three hour drive it looks like.
For setting up matches your best bet is either posting on the forums, using the email list, or facebooking fellow captains (at least this is what I do). Also getting to know your fellow captains is key. We're all pretty cool people I think, there's not really any captains in the league that I don't really like. That way when it comes down to scheduling you're already friends with your fellow captains and you've got a rapport with them.
As far as gathering people if your school has a club day or something on campus (we call ours Sparticipation, it's the day that all the clubs get together and try to recruit new members) that's key. Other than that you can print off flyers (if you have an office max you can print off a bunch for really cheap), make social media things, and just do your best to get the word out that there's a dodgeball club at VCU.
Basically what I recommend to you is to try and keep in touch with all of us, we're all trying to help make the league grow and we'll all help you with whatever you need.
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Post by JMUDodge on Nov 7, 2011 12:22:06 GMT -6
Yeah you guys should definitely stop by at our tourney in Feb. You can throw around with us and check out how we run our events at JMU. It's the weekend of Feb 25th.
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Post by heroofvcu on Nov 7, 2011 14:54:08 GMT -6
Wow.... that is some great advice and help. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. Chris, I know I'm still getting started but I would love to travel to JMU on the weekend of Feb 25th. That would be awesome.
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Post by heroofvcu on Nov 7, 2011 15:11:14 GMT -6
There is a question that I do have Kentuckybrown, how did you set up your constitution in a way that wasn't too complicated for yourself and your officers? Because right now, I have some people in mind that I want to have as officers but without a good foundation, it isn't going to stand.
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Post by Zigmister on Nov 7, 2011 15:44:29 GMT -6
Most club sports at DePaul have simple, two page constitutions that dictate a light foundation and illusion to how procedure could be handled for the club in question. Here is DePaul Dodgeball's, we're currently rewriting an updated one, tho. That one is about 5-6 years old, but the basics still apply. Many clubs do end up operating as adhocracies, designating individuals to fill out required paperwork as needed. This works perfectly fine if you have one person (like the President) keeping an eye on the scheduled deadlines, and DELEGATING specific tasks as needed. Can't shout that word loud enough.
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cg
Full Member
Posts: 194
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Post by cg on Nov 7, 2011 17:54:40 GMT -6
Many clubs do end up operating as adhocracies, designating individuals to fill out required paperwork as needed. This works perfectly fine if you have one person (like the President) keeping an eye on the scheduled deadlines, and DELEGATING specific tasks as needed. Can't shout that word loud enough. As someone who did quite a bit single-handedly (more often than not by design), you want to listen to what this guy has to say. Building a club sport is about building a program and a culture. You're not fighting for wins; you're fighting for peoples' time. The success of what you want to do will hinge largely on the interest people have in playing dodgeball over a night at the bar, or Call of Duty, or studying, etc. Certainly there's work to be done and stuff that must happen, but if you're starting a team your main role is going to be the Director of Fun. 95% of what you do needs to flow through that, and it needs to be fun for the group, not their Fearless Leader. I wish I'd recognized that back when I was running MSU's team. It went well enough, but I think it would have gone even better if I'd had that mindset at that time. With that in mind, a few pointers: 1) Most teams are built around a core group of members and a much larger casual base. The makeup's somewhere around 1/3 - 2/3. Once you have a core group of about 20 people, you're at the point where you can attend games and tournaments and be sure to live up to your commitment to attend. 2) Instill investment whenever possible. A sense of a minor obligation helps drive membership. It's like getting a gym membership; you've paid your money, so you might as well get some use out of it. Good-looking uniforms and some modest team dues are the typical methods. I've done a fair amount of jersey design and could help you get started on that front. 3) Recruit in groups. Friends can have fun doing just about whatever. It's more difficult when it's a random group of guys since that bond between people isn't established yet. If you can convince people to bring friends, you're going to be a lot better off, since they're connected with people you may not even know. 4) GET THE MONEY UP FRONT. Do not get left holding the bag for anything. 5) It's already been said, but have a working relationship with your intramural or club sport staff. They can fill you in on the process to get stuff done, and probably know how to work around the college bureaucracy to get even more stuff done. NCDA teams generally have most-favored-club status with their schools for their willingness to ask questions and get the job done right. Lastly, don't hesitate to reach out to the other NCDA teams for ideas and input. They've gone through this stuff before and have plenty of insight on how to create a successful program. How many years do you have left in school?
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Post by heroofvcu on Nov 13, 2011 21:42:13 GMT -6
Okay, I would like some help on the jersey design, which one looks better, jerseys or t-shirts? And what are the price ranges for what you have done in the past? I have 1 1/2 years left in school.
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Post by JMUDodge on Nov 13, 2011 21:53:40 GMT -6
we got lacrosse pinnies, we put names and numbers front and back. they were $23. we will probably go with a performance shirt(like a wicking) next year and i think those at the place we get them done i believe its ~$25
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Post by Josh Raymer on Nov 13, 2011 23:03:31 GMT -6
Jerseys are a great way to make your team look (and feel) more legitimate. I highly recommend jerseys over T-shirts because A) jerseys aren't much more expensive than shirts B) jerseys are higher quality and last longer C) jerseys look a lot better than shirts. When I was captain of WKU's team, I would order the jerseys off a site like this one: www.gamegearsports.com/SoccerJerseys-H5-ALLIANCE.html and get our logo and numbers screen printed onto them at a local sporting goods store. Our most recent jerseys (http://tinyurl.com/75sc5zl) costs 21 bucks. Our jerseys before that (http://tinyurl.com/89tsl3u) cost 23 bucks. I guess what I'm trying to say is: go with jerseys. They'll do wonders for your team morale and recruitment. If you need help designing the look of your jerseys or designing a logo for your program, let me know and I'll refer you to my guy who does fantastic work (he designed the logos for UK, WKU, the NCDA and Nationals 2011).
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cg
Full Member
Posts: 194
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Post by cg on Nov 13, 2011 23:20:55 GMT -6
Josh: Wow, they've improved their site design since I last saw them. +rep
Shadeed: Your options are a little constricted in that you're just starting out. The team with the most expensive kit is DePaul, who use full basketball uniforms that come in at about $90 each. Most starter teams come in at the extreme low end by grabbing shirts from a local screen-printer. I'd advise against each of these - the first is cost-prohibitive, and the second just doesn't look that good, which can hurt you when you're trying to build a brand. You want apparel that players like to wear.
What you're looking for is a middle ground. That middle ground usually comes down to a brand t-shirt vs an off-brand jersey. In other words, does that Nike swoosh or UnderArmour logo mean that much to you? If it does, buy a bunch of drifit shirts. If not, Josh's suggestion of going through gamegearsports is a solid option. For example, a yellow Stratus jersey and the matching pair of Talon shorts would cost $20 plus customization costs. That would be about $30 for shirts and shorts, which is very reasonable. I'd also suggest going with Josh's guy for graphic design as long as he's volunteering - the few VCU logos that exist don't lend themselves well to uniform design, which means a custom creation would be pretty slick. Most of my stuff is just blatant ripoffs I mean homages to already existing stuff.
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Post by stokesj on Nov 14, 2011 0:48:58 GMT -6
Also, before you use any school Logos or acronyms make sure you're allowed to. GVSU over the years has run into many issues with trademarked GVSU apparel which resulted in either our club shirts or jerseys unwearable for fear of legal action. Just a heads up.
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Post by stokesj on Nov 14, 2011 0:50:51 GMT -6
Also, I still wear one of the two jerseys I've had to buy from my 5 years spent at GVSU. You want to look good so you can look back fondly on what you wore (which is impossible for our blueberry outfit).
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Post by heroofvcu on Nov 16, 2011 15:15:41 GMT -6
Okay... probably as of right now, I will probably go with the gamegear sports gear... trying to keep things very simple... all of this stupid paperwork is getting on my nerves... I need to check out under armour as well... that sounds pretty cool as well... also, how much money did it take for each of your club to operate? Because I need a money figure for my head. Thinking around 20-60 members range. And where did the costs and expenses go to as well because I'm not for sure besides jerseys, balls, and traveling.
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