Submitted by Noblesville Lions Club
After missing the Dodgeball Tourney last year, the Noblesville Lions is bringing dodgeball back in September. Now is the time to start planning and gathering your teams.
Tournament Information
This year’s tournament is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. on Sept. 11 at the Ivy Tech Gym, 300 N. 17th St., Noblesville. Play will actually start around noon, with waiver signing, bracket assignments, and rules meeting scheduled during the first hour.
Dodgeball is still popular because of the movie, everybody played dodgeball in school, dodgeball is also popular because it is rowdy, has freedom of play and is a great physical release.
A cornhole competition will be added this year. A popular game, cornhole is played during tailgating events, family gatherings and backyards across America. Cornhole is also popular because older and younger participate can play and enjoy.
The tournament will have two leagues in cornhole and two leagues in dodgeball. Each of the leagues will have a maximum of 10 teams, which means there could be 40 teams total. Dodgeball requires six players for active play and two for subs or retrievers. Cornhole team will have two players per team. If all four leagues are filled, there will be a total of 200 participants.
A possible first this year could be exhibition games with elementary school children in fifth and sixth grades, or maybe the four Boy Scouts Troops in Noblesville, which could add an additional 32 participants to the tournament.
The entry fees (donation) this year are $25 per team in the cornhole competition and $35 per team in the dodgeball competition. The fees will cover the cost of embroidered baseball caps for champions and medals for runners-up. All entry fees are fully refundable 10 days before the tournament.
Themes for this year’s tournament are scholarships and support for the visually impaired, which includes leader dogs, kids’ sight (screening for children ages 2 to 6, with 1,575 children screened in 2019), purchasing eye glasses for children in need, recycling eye glasses, and donations to the blind school.
The last tournament in 2019 netted $7,000. In 2019, the Club provided a total of $5,250 in scholarships, which were given to students at Noblesville High School, Hamilton Heights High School and Ivy Tech. The Club’s support for vision impaired from the 2019 tournament totaled $1,750. This year’s goal is $11,000 for the tournament fund raiser.
The tournaments will be a double elimination format with the best two out of three games to advance a bracket in dodgeball. The two leagues in dodgeball will be different; one league will be recreational for the not-so-serious players and one league will be competitive for the more serious players. The two dodgeball leagues will not play each other and there will be tournament champions for both leagues. Both league champions will receive embroidered baseball caps and runners-up will receive medals.
The cornhole double elimination tournament will use one game per bracket to advance. The two cornhole runners-up to the league champion teams will receive medals. The two league champions will play each other for the tournament championship. The tournament champions will receive embroidered baseball caps and the runners-up will receive medals.
Sponsorship support levels are $200, $400 and $600. One super sponsor level will available at $1,500. At each level, the sponsor will have the opportunity to enter a team in the competition. Sponsors at the $200 level may enter one team. Sponsors at the $400 level may enter two teams. Sponsors at the $600 level may enter three teams. The super sponsor can enter five teams.
Teams can have fun with names and shirt design. If you are a business, you can do some advertising with your team’s name. If you are an individual, you may also have fun outfitting your team. Maybe make some challenges between competing teams.
What else do you receive as a sponsor?
- Upscale signage at the tournament and next port chop dinner.
- Additional signage for your business or home.
- Recognition in newspaper articles and final article on the tournament, including net money raised and names of sponsors, unless you would prefer to be anonymous.
- You will have listings on the Noblesville Lions Club Facebook page.
- 100 percent of the net money raised goes to charities.
- Finally, something very unusual – a handwritten thank you note.
Teams wishing to participate should text or call:
- Steve Shaw at (317) 727-1771
- Larry Jacobi at (317) 508-0571
- Jerry Graham at (317) 435-4752
- Rollin Cutter at (317) 773-5363
Persons or businesses wishing to sponsor should text or call:
- Joe Arrowood at (317) 776-9327
- Bill Lynch at (757) 903-5653
- Charlie McMillan at (317) 557-1963
- George Long at (317) 213-7631