Canadian Cloth Teams Join Dodgeball Canada Exclusively
EDMONTON (November 4th, 2019) – Dodgeball Canada (DC) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with the Canadian Dodgeball Federation (CDF) to unify the sport under one banner in commitment to the development of the sport nationally. After months of discussion, the board of the CDF voted in favour of joining Dodgeball Canada to consolidate operations and create a stronger voice for advocacy in Canada. The cloth program of the CDF will join the broader DC National Program. Both teams will compete under the DC banner representing Canada at the 2020 WDBF World Championship in Glasgow, Scotland. “I want to thank the CDF Board of Directors for graciously accepting our proposal and for being such a strong partner in helping us grow the sport in Canada. It was clear in discussions with members of the cloth community that they had wished to see both formats supported under a unified banner. We have always been a strong community, even across governance lines. With the international landscape evolving and shifting rapidly, it’s the ideal opportunity for Dodgeball Canada to lead by example and build stronger programs together with all our community leaders and stakeholders,” said Duane Wysynski, President of Dodgeball Canada As part of the agreement, the CDF will cease its operations as a separate entity, and instead will work as an integral part of Dodgeball Canada to advocate and promote the best interests for cloth dodgeball in Canada. “On behalf of the CDF and our members, we’re extremely excited to be joining Dodgeball Canada as we work towards common goals and acting in the best interest of the sport. We will continue to advocate for the growth of cloth dodgeball in Canada and are looking forward to contributing to the National Program in 2020. We are eager to continue through our transition, working towards new goals, and getting acquainted with the WDBF,” said Katie Morrison, former President of the Canadian Dodgeball Federation. As DC begins the transition process ahead of 2020 planning, the management team for the cloth program will be comprised of the former CDF Board of Directors. They will play an integral role in transitioning the program and teams over to Dodgeball Canada and will report to Victor Gravili, who has been appointed the General Manager for the cloth team in 2020. Gravili will maintain his responsibilities as the head coach for the foam program and has been tasked with leading the transition of the cloth program to align it under the guidelines, expectations and standards established by Dodgeball Canada. “Looking towards UK2020 and knowing that the World Championship will feature both foam and cloth divisions, it’s so incredibly important that DC looks ahead to ensure that our National Program is both strong and consistent, regardless of format. There are plenty of key learnings from my years of building the foam program, and I hope to shed that wisdom in order to lead a seamless transition as we expand our National Program to support both formats,” said Victor Gravili. National Program planning for UK2020 is scheduled to take place in January 2020. Highlights of the merger:
CDF will join DC to unify within a single organization with common governance, operations and social media outreach. CDF Board of Directors to serve as the management team for the 2020 cloth team for UK2020;
CDF teams that were scheduled to compete in Cairo, Egypt will instead represent DC in the cloth division at the 2020 WDBF World Championship in Glasgow, Scotland; and
DC will work with CDF’s membership and former Board of Directors in the development of a National sport and player development strategy
For more information about the merger, please contact communications@dodgeballcanada.org. For player information, please consult the following document: