Last weekend, iXsystems employees participated in a fundraiser dodgeball tournament event for the Diabetic Youth Foundation. This was a charity event with all proceeds going to the Foundation and their mission to improve quality of life for diabetic children and their families. iXsystems team member, Shawn Cox, graciously offered to share his experience in this latest blog post:
Saturday, June 1st
Location: Rotten Robbies Parking Lot. 10:53AM
“We’ve got seven minutes to be at the park and it’s at least ten minutes away,” I proclaimed.
Nick, not one to miss deadlines, turned to me, with not an ounce of worry in his voice.
“We’ll be there in six.”
Monster Energy’s cracked open and ready to drink. Open freeways and green lights marked our way. The only thing that could have made our arrival better was a shaded parking spot, but we had no time for luxury. We were here to destroy the competition…for a good cause.
Location: Flickinger Park. 10:59AM
Three baseball diamonds with games on every field, two playgrounds with families, and one half of our basketball court already set up for the tournament.
We found our Team Captain Matt Finney and Thomas Pham setting up the canopy next to our fellow participants, our soon-to-be adversaries. One of them offered us chips and cookies. We had to respectfully decline; no idea what they could have done to those snacks. We were in no position to take chances in losing our edge. Our last teammate Chris Try arrived later with a couple more fellow iX employees to show support.
As we became familiar with the event, we began to relax. We remembered this was for fun and in support of the Diabetic Youth Foundation. All proceeds from this event, from food and the raffle to the tournament itself, will go towards the Foundation. The weather was warm with blue skies. There were children running with super soakers, young teens playing basketball, and BBQs cooking on an open grill. Two additional teams were added to the bracket, making it a total of seven groups joining together for the same cause: To win. Of course.
Team iX watched as the first two teams duked it out for best two out of three. Looked easy. What could be so hard? As we lost our first game in the first round, we realized we needed a better strategy. Having one probably would have helped, but there was no time for that! Second round was about to start.
Nick threw the ball towards the head of an opponent much like Zeus threw a thunderbolt at the Titans who disobeyed. Thomas caught and returned fire like the grenade of an enemy. Boom! Round 2 was ours. Repeat. Round 3. Yes. We can do this!
We were confident in our next match up. We took the first round in no time. The opposing team would all try to simultaneously hit Chris Try, but to no avail as he dodged, ducked, and dived to safety. Finney would guide us in what directions to go and where we were weak. In the second round, I made the mistake of throwing too wide and not being mindful of the other side of the court. Nick and Finney were unable to catch the balls as they came towards them, and they joined me behind the line. Us three were “out”. We watched as Chris and Thomas held their ground against our opponents. It was even at first, but as time went on, our two players dwindled to one, and one to none. Round three was deja vu. We were bested.
The iX Team consisted of Thomas Pham and Matt Finney from Sales, Chris Try from Production, Nick Beck from Shipping, and myself representing Support. With such a diverse team of intellectuals and highly skilled individuals, it was a surprise we did not see our team make it to the finals. We may have lost in the second round, but at least it was to the future champions of that day. In the end, everyone had fun and we were proud to have supported a good cause.
I would like to thank Shawn for writing and sharing this experience. Many thanks also to the team who made the last Saturday a memorable one. We’ll get them next time! Go Team iX!
Shawn Cox
Support Technician
Lisa Liang
Marketing Assistant
