Dodgeball
It all started when…
The former Director of Youth Ministry, Steve Nepil, had a dream. Cabrini Youth was solid, but it was missing something…something that has bonded people in a way that nothing else ever has – dodgeball. That may be a bit dramatic, but the idea was born and in 2010, Steve decided to build a professional dodgeball court in Cabrini’s backyard…in the middle of winter. People called him crazy but the semi-annual dodgeball tournament has revolutionized ministry and remains one of the core attractions of Cabrini. This last year, the current Director of Youth Ministry, Savannah Fisher, and the Assistant Director of Youth Ministry, Landon Baird, rebuilt the dodgeball court and gave it a fresh look. The most recent tournament had over two hundred people in attendance.
The implementation of competition has always had a strong impact on the bonding of communities. According to the Institute of Competition Sciences, “it is not the fact that people participate specifically in athletics that brings about the community benefits noted, but rather that there is a competition itself that is available to provide an attractive gathering place for the community.” In other words, the competition does not have to be just physical head-to-head competition, it can include anything that uses the competition model that brings people together with a “shared appreciation of excellence in the subject of challenge” (ICS).
We continue to develop and revamp our dodgeball legacy, and hope that one day it will hit the international stage. But in the meantime, we are more than happy witnessing the beauty of competition glorify God and bring our high schoolers closer together. Make sure to join us for the next one!
