There’s nothing like a good game of Dodgeball. If you’re from North America, you’ve probably played it in elementary school or at least, are familiar with the rules. The first time I played Japanese Dodgeball, I was surprised at how different it was. It was fun and interesting, but in my heart, I felt North American Dodgeball was on a totally different level.

During the end of 2024, beginning of 2025, MAJET was trying to find a way to raise money for funding. I thought that hosting a cash prize dodgeball tournament would be a perfect opportunity to raise money and introduce North American Dodgeball to the Locals of Miyazaki!

The event turned out to be a huge success! To help with the fundraising, there was an entry fee of 500 yen per player. To incentivize participation, a portion of the entry fees would be pooled into a cash prize for the winning team. 

When it was all said and done, 10 teams registered with a total of 62 players leading to a total of 32,000 yen. The winning team ended up with 14,500 yen which averaged out to around 2400 per player for that team (Pretty good rate of return, right?). The rest of the funds got used for the gym/equipment rental and paying off the MAJET website.

Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the tournament, many of the Japanese Locals expressed how intense and fast paced it was compared to their version of Dodgeball and how fun it was.

At the end of the day, I was really grateful for everyone who participated and my fellow MAJET members for helping me organize this event.

You can definitely look out for another Dodgeball tournament this year in March!

-Ryan Laguatan