Even though I’m still unable to play due to an elbow injury, the first night of dodgeball was still quite a fun event. It felt like the first day of grade school where you see all these dodgeball friends whom you haven’t seen in several months.
It was great to get caught up with old rivals and hear what they’ve been up to. It’s also amazing just how many people are kind enough to ask how my elbow is healing up. I was surprised that several of the people even recognized me as the injured elbow guy without my post-op brace on.
After showing off scars and trading old injury stories, I got to meet and introduce the new crop of Honey Badgers this fall.
We’ve got many returning players from last season: Kevin, Dustin, Jared, Caitlin and Meghan and welcomed some new comers in Julie, John B. Libby, Ginny and Pete. A solid mix of old and new.
The only real drawback to opening night was that we would be facing off against the Ghostbusters whom are yet to lose a game in 2+ seasons. So I was sure to remind our new players that the game will only get easier in upcoming weeks and not every team throws as well as they do.
They did go on to beat us pretty soundly, but our girls did win several matches for us. I think we’re going to have another solid girl squad this season lead by the Ludgates again. Once our new comers figure things out, we should be a squad to look out for.
Our guys on the other hand look like we might need to work on a bit more. I’d really like to add a few more guys so that we can rotate our older arms a bit more as the season wears on. They do play well together as a team and that should work to our advantage as the season goes on.
A pleasant surprise was that 5-time Honey Badger Lauren stopped by and played for us as well! It was great to have her on hand and her veteran presence really helped our new girls out. It will be strange not having her there every week, but we hope her the best in her new endeavors and she will always be an honorary Honey Badger.
I really look forward to Tuesday nights and watching the team improve. I’m still crossing my fingers that the doctors will clear me to play at some point this season, but I think I still have a ways to go.