As Rip Torn said in 2004’s “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story”, “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”
And if you can dodge a ball, why not dodge a ball for a good cause like breast cancer awareness?
The College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Student Government Association (COM-SGA) will hold its annual TOUCH Community Service Kickoff, which will include a dodgeball tournament on the NSU intramural fields, located at 39th Street and College Avenue, on Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. It will raise money for the winning team’s charity of choice, along with the Woman2Woman Breast Cancer Foundation, a non-profit organization based in South Florida. TOUCH is a national community service award program, which the college’s SGA hopes to get more COM students involved in. The award recognizes students and universities nationwide for their community service hours, with 50 hours qualifying students for silver ranking and 100 hours qualifying them for gold ranking. The student with the most hours at each university receives a platinum ranking. Service hours can be completed from August until the end of March.
Elyse Julian, president of COM SGA, was NSU’s platinum winner last year and is planning this year’s kickoff. He has high ambitions for COM’s participation in TOUCH.
“I want to be the university with the most service hours. Unfortunately last year, NSU didn’t win but I’m hoping to change that this year and generate more excitement and get more participation,” said Julian.
In addition to the Dodgeball tournament, COM SGA also hosted Penny Wars, another fundraising charity event for TOUCH, on Oct. 22 at the Quarterdeck Restaurant near main campus. Students competed in teams to fill their own buckets with pennies, which earned positive points, and fill rival buckets with other coins, which subtracted from team scores.
Though this the first year of the dodgeball tournament, Julian hopes that it won’t be the last. She encourages students to participate.
“It’s the day of homecoming and you’re going to be on campus anyway, so why not come out and play?” said Julian.
The tournament will also mark the start of COM SGA’s Donation Goods Drive. Participants are encouraged to bring canned food, rice and other nonperishable items, as well as blankets, towels and fleece, all of which will be donated to Women in Distress of Broward County.
A disc jockey will play music at the tournament and baked goods and beverages will be provided.
Students can form teams, consisting of at least seven players, two of whom must be female. Players may also choose to register individually and be placed on a team the day of the tournament.
Medals will be handed out to the top three teams of the tournament. In addition, Julian encourages teams to get creative with their team name and uniform designs, as teams who do so will be eligible to win gift cards to local businesses. The team awarded best uniform will also receive a pizza-making lesson at PizzaLoft to create their own pizza.
Registration is due by Nov.2. Email nsutouchdodgeball@gmail.com with your team name and the team captain’s name, email address and phone number. Individuals wishing to be placed on a team the day of the tournament should email just their name and contact information.
There is a minimum donation of $20 per player. COM students will receive three service hours toward TOUCH for donation and participation, plus one additional hour for every $50 raised, limited to 12 hours from fundraising. Donations, via either check or cash, are due by Nov. 6 to COM SGA Treasurer Natalie Booth. For more information, email Booth at nb702@nova.edu.
