Melbourne To Host 2015 Asian Dodgeball Championships
Dodgeball Federation Australia (DFA), in conjunction with World Dodgeball Association (WDA) and Asian Dodgeball Federation (ADF) are proud to unveil Melbourne, Australia as the official host for the 2015 Asian Dodgeball Championships.
The tournament will be staged from September 26 – 27 at the modern Darebin Community Sports Stadium, located 13 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD. The main show court has a minimum seating capacity of 600 people, with another 200 temporary seating available. Additional seating will also be accessible on the other courts. Players, coaches, staff and spectators will be treated to a world class event, with Asia’s very best Dodgeball talent.
The regional event will act as a WDA World Cup qualifying campaign for the Asian nations. Three places have been granted to the Asian region – in the Men’s and Women’s categories – with nine nations battling it out to qualify for the 2016 Manchester World Cup, set to take place in March.
The WDA will introduce a World Rankings system, set to be implemented for all Men’s and Women’s international fixtures, effective in all continental tournaments in 2015.
A Mixed category will also be introduced for the Asian Championships. While teams will be competing for international silverware, this classification will not act as World Cup qualifiers nor have its own World Rankings system.
DFA President Robert Di Fabio looks forward to hosting the tournament, and believes it will have a major impact on the sport in Australia and abroad.
‘It is a great honour to host this important tournament, and be involved in the Asian Dodgeball community. Our objective at the DFA is to continually grow the sport not only within Australia, but also throughout the Asian region’.
‘We look forward to hosting our Asian neighbours and putting on a world class show, in what we believe will be the greatest Dodgeball event to play host within the region’.
The DFA will look to raise the bar in professionalism for international Dodgeball. Enhanced media coverage, sponsorship and an overall appetite for world class Dodgeball will be on display.
WDA President Tom Hickson is thrilled to see Melbourne host the Asian Dodgeball Championships. With the sport booming across the globe, Mr. Hickson believes the tournament will make a significant contribution towards Australian Dodgeball, and will further aid in the development of grassroots and player participation.
‘We are very excited to have the City of Melbourne host its very first Asian Championships. This is an extremely important year as there are three World Cup qualifying positions available from this competition. As a result, national squads will be preparing for the most important competition that they have ever faced.’
‘In addition to high performance, the Melbourne Asian Championships represents the importance of developing grassroots Dodgeball, which is truly at the heart of all who are managing the event. Therefore, new community / school clubs, coaching opportunities and local competitions will be established to provide a lasting sustainable legacy for the people of Melbourne.’
The official draw for the Asian Dodgeball Championships will be broadcast in June, with each of the nine nations learning who they will face in the initial stages of the tournament. The format of the tournament will be unveiled during this period.
The 2015 Asian Dodgeball Championships official logo will also be unveiled in the coming days.
The DFA will organise several domestic tournaments, which will be used as a selection process for our Australian national teams, the Dodgeroos. Squads for our Men’s, Women’s and Mixed categories will selected for the 2015 Asian Championships.
Following the trial tournaments, provisional squads will be selected, where a final tournament will be held amongst the players selected in the extended lists.
The first DFA tournament will be staged in early May, with an official date and venue to be determined. Further details will be announced on the DFA Facebook page and website.
For media or sponsorship enquiries contact:
Robert Di Fabio
President, Dodgeball Federation Australia
info@dodgeballfederationaustralia.com.au