Dodgeball team heads to nationals
Who would have thought a kid’s game played on the school playground could become such a big deal.
Today millions of adults play dodgeball with an opportunity to win regional and national championships.
A team in Lee County, which includes players from Cape Coral, is about to do that, though it isn’t exactly your mother’s dodgeball.
The Southwest Florida Venom won a tournament in Sarasota last week to qualify for a national championship next month in Las Vegas.
The Sky Zone Ultimate Dodgeball Championship will be played Oct. 15-18 at their Las Vegas location. It features more than 90 teams from throughout the United States, Australia, Canada and Mexico competing for more than $50,000 in prize money.
Unlike traditional dodgeball, ultimate dodgeball is played on trampolines, nine per side, adding yet another dimension to the game. It is played five-on-five with a three-minute time limit.
Cade Bray, the captain of the team from Fort Myers, got the idea of forming a team when they all met at Sky Zone, a chain of indoor parks that features these unusual trampoline courts.
“We were all playing for fun, got into it and kept playing almost every weekend,” Bray said. “We found out Sky Zone put on these tournaments and we thought we’d give it a shot. It’s become the thing they like to do.”
The team named itself the Venom and quickly started winning tournaments all over South Florida, from Fort Myers to Fort Lauderdale. While there is a Fort Myers Sky Zone, the team competed in Sarasota because they thought it would give them the best shot of qualifying.
Since winning, the Venom have added a Facebook page (SWFL Venom) and started a gofundme account to raise money for uniforms and other equipment for the team.
Besides Bray, other teammates include Chris Carrillo and Michael Sheppard from Cape Coral, Allen Garlow of Lehigh and Mitchell Kida and Kyle Stouffer of Fort Myers.