
Announcing The Thing 2023
December 23, 2022 – Seattle, WA,
Welcome back! After a huge success with our inaugural tournament in 2022, we are excited to announce the return of The Thing in 2023, the premiere foam dodgeball club championship in North America. This year’s tournament will be a two day event, taking place in Seattle, WA on March 11th and 12th and will be again hosted at the incredible Academy Sports Center in Lynnwood, WA.
The aim of this invitational tournament is to bring together the best club dodgeball teams on the continent to create the highest level of competition anywhere. There will be Women’s and Men’s Divisions, and five invites will be extended to team from Canada, and five invites will be extended to teams from the USA for each division. Invite information can be found below. If you our your team are interested in participating in The Thing in the future, please contact our organizer’s here.

The Venue

In addition to hosting best teams, we are hosting the event at one of the best dodgeball venues in the region. The Academy Sports Center is a state of the art volleyball training facility with six full-size WDBF courts, lighting optimized for athletic competition, and vaulted ceilings to give even more room for incredible play.
Event Details:
Day 1: Saturday, March 11th – Round Robin, 9am-7pm
Day 2: Sunday, March 12th – Knockout, 9am-5pm
Location: Academy Sports Center
Address: 2810 Lincoln Way, Lynnwood, WA 98087 (20min north of Seattle)
Registration Cost: $350 USD per team
Live Event Document: Link Here


Tournament Format:
Rules: WDBF Rules
Ball Type: 7″ Foam
Women’s Divsion: 10 teams, 5 American & 5 Canadian
Men’s Division: 10 teams, 5 American & 5 Canadian
Round Robin: 20min Matches, each team will play six RR matches
Knockout Bracket: Single Elimination, 40min Matches
Placement Matches: This year we will be including 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th place matches.
Reffereeing: Teams will be given reffing assignments. Teams are required to provide four referees for each of their reffing assignments.

Host Hotel:
We’ve partnered with the Lynnwood Courtyard Marriot to be a host hotel for The Thing 2023. It’s a 10min drive from the venue, near groceries, and restaurants. They’ve got us a deal for singles and doubles for $139/night. The deadline to book is Feb 22nd. Share with your teammates and fan clubs! You can book a room here.
After Party at Just Chill Pub & Grill (Saturday, 6pm)
We’ll be headed to Just Chill Pub & Grill after the Round Robin on Saturday. It’s just 7min from the venue, and you’ll be just fine your athletic gear. Just Chill has is also sponsoring our RR spirit awards. So if you bring the spirit, you might just have some free drinks coming your way.
Click Here for Directions to Just Chill.
Invites:
2023 tournament invites are distributed based on final standings from recent major 7″ foam events in the USA and Canada. These events include 2022 Dodgeball Canada National Championships, 2022 USA Dodgeball Nationals Championship, and the 2022 Foam Dodgeball Championships in Dallas. Click here for more information about elgibility and qualification.
2023 Club Invites :
WOMEN’S CANADA
✅ Rainbow Thunder
✅ Hyper
✅ Rack Attack
✅ Bloom
…Next in line…
MEN’S CANADA
✅ Hard As Foam
✅ Future
✅ Elite
✅ Vendetta
…Next in line…
WOMEN’S USA
✅ Finesse
✅ Fembots
✅ Whisper
✅ LFG
✅ Instinct
☑️ Pride
…Next in line…
Outsiders
Broad Street Bullies
MEN’S USA
✅ Outsiders
✅ Hexish
✅ Fortune
✅ Chicago Task Force
✅ Misfits
…Next in line…
Thieves
Havoc
Elgibility
The Thing Invitational is a club championship. Invites will be sent to captains of eligible teams that meet the qualifying criteria.
Final rosters at The Thing 2023 must contain at least 4 regular members of the qualifying team. These means that at least four players have played with your team in the past 12 months. If your team cannot meet the limit of rostered members, please decline your invitation. Exceptions will be granted to qualifying captains who have formed new regular teams this season.
After Party & Lodging:
We are working on a hotel sponsors and after-party spot. Our goal will be to have the hotel, venue, and afterparty all within 10min of eachother. If you want to book your own lodging, we reccomend getting it near the venue, address above.
Parking:
The venue has 100 parking spaces. Please carpool and consolidate whenever possible to make room for family, friends, and spectators to participate in the event.
Questions:
Please let me know if you have any questions or if your team has any challenges. We are here to help and do all we can to get you to The Thing.
E-mail: Lucas@dodgeballseattle.com