January 4, 2022
𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!
It’s been a long two years and while this is not what any of us expected, we appreciate everyone patiently waiting and understanding that holding indoor events with a large group of people traveling from across the country adds its own challenges besides just the event planning. We’ve been in a holding pattern for almost two years and we are so glad that many of you were able to start back up your local events and get back into dodgeball shape.
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞
So what’s happening in 2022? Unfortunately with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 rearing its head, a good number of the venues we booked or were interested in for 2022 are either unwilling now to confirm dates and hold reservations. Those facilities that were confirmed have notified us they can’t commit to anything now until they see how things turn out with the growing number of COVID cases in their local areas. We wish we could tell you all more and we will continue to push our venues or explore new ones in order to lock things in and as each round is confirmed we will announce.
That being said, here’s an outline of what the schedule this year will look like (all timeframes are estimates) :
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿:
𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗨𝗦𝗔:
𝐔𝐒𝐀 𝐃𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬:
Effective Jan. 1, 2022, the USA Dodgeball Executive Board will require all board members, employees, athletes, contractors, spectators and other attendees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19; or to obtain a medical or religious exemption prior to attending USA Dodgeball-hosted events. This includes the Premier Tour and any social or non-dodgeball events produced or sponsored by USA Dodgeball. This mandate will also extend to all those intending to try out for Team USA, and will be required for attendance at the Team USA Combine and the WDBF World Championships. USA Dodgeball strongly encourages our member organizations to evaluate their respective policies for ensuring safe play, but at this time is NOT requiring member organizations to adopt a similar mandate.
“Fully vaccinated” is defined as two weeks after your final dose of the initial COVID-19 vaccination. This means two weeks after your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna or two weeks after your Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Boosters will not be required at this time. The health and well-being of our USA Dodgeball community continues to be a top priority. This step will increase our ability to create a safe and productive environment for all our members, athletes and staff. This mandate also allows USA Dodgeball to restore consistency in planning, preparation and optimal service to members.
Read the full vaccine requirement here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DZENb81LzFWbH3y9Q2i-MMIrt1wN_h-o-OLIIFtl058/edit?usp=sharing
We understand that some people may not be happy about this requirement, but in order to continue operations and provide our members with the best possible dodgeball experience we believe this is necessary and provides everyone with enough time to get vaccinated in order to play.
𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬:
As a reminder, all event registrations that were not refunded in 2020 will still count as credit towards future events. We will be working with our registration software Playpass to create unique coupon codes for each registration for events that were cancelled due to COVID and sending them to the emails you used to register in Playpass at a later date. These codes will be one time use and you can give/sell these to other people if you so desire. Also, the 2020 USA Dodgeball Memberships will be extended through the end of the 2022 season. That means if you registered as a member and were not refunded in 2020, you are all set. If you were not registered in 2020, then you will have to sign up for a 2022 USA Dodgeball Membership ($25) in order to participate in any USA Dodgeball events or try out for Team USA. Memberships are not transferable. As mentioned in 2020, we are not offering refunds for 2020 registrations as we are well beyond the refund window with our registration software.
Thank you everyone for your support and understanding over the past two years and going forward as things will continue to change rapidly and we will do our best to provide you with the best dodgeball experience yet. Stay safe, get vaccinated and respect each other out in the world.
January 3, 2022
• All 2020 memberships are now good through the end of 2022
• All paid registrations for cancelled events will be credited to player’s accounts for future events.
• Vaccines will be required for play in the 2022 season. See our Vaccine Requirements
• We are coming back but unfortunately with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 rearing its head, a good number of the venues we booked or were interested in for 2022 are either unwilling now to confirm dates and hold reservations. Those facilities that were confirmed have notified us they can’t commit to anything now until they see how things turn out with the growing number of COVID cases in their local areas.
• We will be announcing dates and locations as things are confirmed! We have outlined a rough timeline in our January 4 update but will continue to publish information as we have it
May 28, 2020
Greetings USA Dodgeball community,
It’s been a rough couple of months for us all with the world being turned upside down due to COVID-19 but we are able to start the first steps of planning out how to re-open dodgeball. The health and safety of our players is our top priority and we are in contact with local health agencies, as well as other national sport councils and sports commissions to plan the best and safest way to move forward on when we are able to play again.
We will keep you all updated as we learn more. We have automatically extended all registered 2020 USA Dodgeball memberships through the end of 2021 and everyone who registered for a R1 event has a credit automatically on their account. When we are finally able, we want the process to be as smooth as possible for our players. WE WILL be back and we cannot wait until the day we can throw things at each other again. Until then please stay safe and healthy. We miss you all.
Thank you all for being a part of this community and we will get thru this together.
April 2, 2020
A note from the Executive Board of USA Dodgeball:
We hope that everyone is staying sane and staying safe during these crazy times we are living in. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds daily and social distancing measures have been implemented across the nation we have made some decisions about the future of the 2020 season.
We have decided to postpone the remaining Round 2 events until further notice. This means that South 2 – New Orleans on April 25th, East 2 – Brooklyn on April 25th and North 2 – Toledo on May 2nd are all being postponed.
The way things are looking right now, we don’t anticipate being able to host any tournaments earlier than mid-to-late June. Below we have outlined our intended Round 3 and 4 schedule for reference, but as you can imagine, everything is up in the air dependent on how things change. As a reminder, any previous registrations will be applied to future rounds and do not expire.
Currently, we are actively monitoring all news and updates from WHO, the CDC, and the government. We remain in constant communication with our host venues and local tourism bureaus. We are staying in contact with the intended venues but as I’m sure you can imagine the tourism industry, in general, is at a standstill right now with so much still being unknown about the future.
As previously announced, the WDBF World Championships have been postponed until 2021. This allows for the Team USA Combine to be rescheduled and is giving us more flexibility for the remainder of 2020 for rescheduling tournaments and Nationals.
Intended 2020 Schedule:
West:
• R3 (Oakland, CA / Jun 27-28): TBD. The venue is putting a hold on all permits and events until further notice
• R4 (Seattle, WA / Aug 8-9): Venue is privately owned. As of now, we still plan to move forward
East:
• R3 (Baltimore, MD / Jun 13)
• R4 (Valley Forge, PA / Aug 1-2)
South:
• R3 (Memphis, TN / Jun 13): TBD. The venue is putting a hold on all permits and events until further notice
• R4 (Round Rock, TX / Aug 15-16)
North:
• R3 (Memphis, TN / Jun 13): TBD. The venue is putting a hold on all permits and events until further notice
• R4 (Round Rock, TX / Aug 15-16)
We wish we had more to share with you all this point but we are all in this together learning new things every day. Please stay safe and take care of yourselves physically and mentally during these unprecedented times. Tag USA Dodgeball in your quarantine dodgeball training routines, share team and jersey photos, host virtual happy hours with your dodgeball friends and remember that this community and USA Dodgeball will be excited to see you all back on the court on the other side of this. Wash your hands. Stay home. Thank your local healthcare workers, grocery store staff, and anyone else making sure we stay healthy and fed. Doing your part in social distancing will help get you back on the court sooner.
March 23, 2020
It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the postponement of the World Dodgeball Federation world championships. While we know our athletes have been working hard to get ready for Glasgow this September we must do what’s right for everyone’s health and to ensure every country and athlete has the time and resources needed to participate at the highest level. As such, the Team USA Combine will be postponed until further notice.
We know that players and organizations will be struggling to recover physically and financially while we face this unprecedented global pandemic.
We will be working with WDBF and our fellow national governing bodies to provide other opportunities while we prepare for Worlds 2021.
These decisions aren’t easy but we must do what’s best for the sport and our athletes. We will get through this together and come out stronger than before.
Stay tuned for more info but, more importantly, stay healthy and stay safe.
March 17, 2020
A note from Jake Mason, President of USA Dodgeball:
As we continue to navigate through these unprecedented times, all of us from USA Dodgeball want to do our best to keep every member updated on what we are doing for the dodgeball community within the U.S.
Currently, we are actively monitoring all news and updates from WHO, the CDC, and our government. We remain in constant communication with our host venues and local governments. It is important we stay vigilant as every hour brings new information and guidelines. This is a weird time, I have to admit, so we are riding this wave and doing what we can to move forward.
As of today, we will be postponing ALL USA Dodgeball tournaments through mid-April. What does this mean? In addition to postponement of West R1 and East R1, we will be postponing North R1 (Indianapolis) and West R2 (Tempe). We are holding off this week on any decisions regarding East R1 (Brooklyn), South R2 (New Orleans), and North R2 (Toledo).
We have meetings this week with the World Dodgeball Federation (WDBF) as well as British Dodgeball to discuss the World Championships that is scheduled this September in Glasgow. We will post an update on the Team USA Combine and other information as it develops.
We’ve had to make some tough decisions in a very short time period these last few weeks. I am saddened to say that the USA Dodgeball tournament schedule is all up in the air as of now. None of our venues or facilities can guarantee they can host us and they won’t know until we all are able to see the full scope of what is happening in the world right now.
We don’t recommend planning anything right now but wanted to share what we tentatively have on our schedule for the rest of the tournaments (see below).
Obviously, with the postponements, we will have to reshuffle the next few months but the following locations/dates are what we had planned and, ironically, locked in as of last week.
West:
• R3 (Oakland, CA / Jun 27-28): TBD. The venue is putting a hold on all permits and events until further notice
• R4 (Seattle, WA / Aug 8-9): Venue is privately owned. As of now, we still plan to move forward
East:
• R2 (Brooklyn, NY / Apr 25): TBD. CDC guidelines may still be in effect and may force us to postpone this event.
• R3 (Baltimore, MD / Jun 13)
• R4 (Valley Forge, PA / Aug 1-2)
South:
• R2 (New Orleans, LA / Apr 25): TBD Dependent on CDC and the Jefferson Parish parks and rec department
• R3 (Memphis, TN / Jun 13): TBD. The venue is putting a hold on all permits and events until further notice
• R4 (Round Rock, TX / Aug 15-16)
North:
• R2 (Toledo, OH / May 2): TBD pending CDC
• R3 (Memphis, TN / Jun 13): TBD. The venue is putting a hold on all permits and events until further notice
• R4 (Round Rock, TX / Aug 15-16)
Nationals
• TBD / Oct 2-5: Two potential locations are unable to confirm at this point. We may have to push Nationals depending on what we can work out for the rest of the tournament schedule.
Team USA Combine
• TBD / Oct 2-5: Two potential locations are unable to confirm at this point. We may have to push Nationals depending on what we can work out for the rest of the tournament schedule.
World Championships
• Glasgow, Scotland / Sept 1-6: WDBF is closely monitoring the situation and creating contingency plans, if needed.
For the West, East and North rounds that have been postponed: we will be automatically crediting every registered participant’s account. For anyone who is in need of a refund, you may request it by emailing: membership@usadodgeball.com
This is a lot of work on our volunteers and we ask that you bear with us as we process all of the refund requests and credits.
This is all the information we have and, as we’ve seen in the past week, anything can happen in an instant. We will keep you all posted. For now please just take care of yourselves, practice social distancing, flatten the curve, wash your hands, and if you can’t take it anymore, ask a close family member or friend to throw things at you until we are able to dodge together as a community again.
March 13, 2020
It is fair to say that this week has not gone as planned. We appreciate the outpouring of support for our decision to postpone the West and East Round 1 events for the USA Dodgeball Premier Tour. We are in the process of discussing plans for refunding everyone who paid their entry fees. This will be a big undertaking, so we are weighing options to figure out the best course of action. Unfortunately, our registration software doesn’t have a “refund all” option, so we are creating a strategy to do this on an individual basis. Everyone will get either a refund to the card they paid with or will have their payment applied to future rounds. We will make sure our members get what they paid for.
In the spirit of transparency, the members of the USA Dodgeball Executive Board and our committees are exhausted. We have been working tirelessly for months to get these events underway, only to have COVID-19 poke its ugly head in and ruin everything at the last moment. We know how negatively this has affected each and every one of you who planned on playing in these events and we hated making the decision we were forced to make. The Executive Board and our committee members are taking the weekend off to decompress after a week that just has not seemed to stop.
Everyone on the Executive Board and our committees also have real jobs that have been at least partially neglected over the last couple of days and that is not something we can take lightly. We hope you understand that we have to take care of ourselves in order to better serve our community. We will be back on Monday! Rounds 3 and 4 will be announced early next week as we get final confirmation from facilities.
Cheers,
USA Dodgeball eBoard
March 12, 2020
Due to the recent publication by the California Public Health Department and news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, along with concerns from the dodgeball community, USA Dodgeball has decided to postpone West 1 – USA Dodgeball Premier Tour 2020 this weekend (March 14-15) and East 1 – USA Dodgeball Premier Tour next weekend (March 21st).
We were extremely excited to host the first round of our Premier Tour series in the West region this weekend in San Marcos, CA and the East region next weekend in Boston, MA. However, we also want to make sure the health and safety of our dodgeball community is not jeopardized.
The west tournament currently has 250+ registered players. Any event or gathering of 250+ people is encouraged and advised to be canceled to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
In addition, the east venue did cancel on us and after the measures being taken across the country, we have decided to follow suit and cancel this event.
We know how excited you all were for this weekend. We were looking forward to hosting you and your team(s) as well. It was a tough decision to make but our top priority is YOU and keeping you safe.
We deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused for everyone – especially those who have already traveled or plan on traveling – for the short notice. As you know, the epidemic is moving swiftly and information that is being released is by the minute. There is something new to consider every hour and we’re doing our best to keep up.
Most airlines are currently offering refunds or credits for later flights if you haven’t left yet. For those who have booked a room with the host hotel, we’re still gathering information regarding cancellations and refunds. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to them directly.
We are unsure if we will be able to reschedule West or East Round 1 but will make sure you are all updated when we have more information. We are considering changing the divisions offered at West Round 2 in order to meet demand if we are unable to reschedule this event. Please understand that we need to work this out before we start issuing refunds for Round 1 as we are exploring the least labor intensive way to do this. Rest assured that every player will either have their registration applied to a future round or have a refund issued, but it will take time to figure out the best course of action. Your patience and understanding is much appreciated.
Please stay tuned as more information will be coming out. We will be publishing Round 3 and 4 for most regions shortly.
For anyone reading this from another region, we are still planning to host North 1 in Indianapolis unless something changes as the venue has confirmed they are good, but are in constant contact with representatives in Indiana to decide the best course of action for the regional tournaments. In addition, as of now, all Round 2 events across the country are still on schedule as well.
Thank you all for your support, concerns, and the communication. We appreciate you!