Time to duck, dip, dive and dodge Winnipeggers heading to inaugural World Youth Dodgeball championship By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 4:05 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025

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This article was published 13/02/2025 (534 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Charlie Havixbeck didn’t know dodgeball existed beyond gym class, much less that he could see the world while playing it.

The first revelation came to light in October 2023 when a friend asked Havixbeck to join him at a Winnipeg Minor Dodgeball training session. It didn’t take long for the 16-year-old to catch the bug and cement himself as one of the best young players in the city.

The other will come to fruition next week when Havixbeck and 20 other teammates dodge, duck and dive at the inaugural World Youth Dodgeball Open in Calgary.

The tournament, which runs Feb. 18-22, will draw teams from 11 countries. The U.S., United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Ivory Cost, Ghana, Egypt and Uganda will be represented, while Regina and Hamilton will also send teams.

“It’s really interesting that we got this opportunity because it would be really cool to just go out there and express my talent along with the team,” said Havixbeck, who will lead the charge for Winnipeg’s U18 squad, while a younger group competes in the U14 division.

“Also, it is stressful knowing that we are going to compete with people out of Canada, out of the province, which we haven’t really done.”

That is the most important aspect of the upcoming event for Brent Mackin, director of Winnipeg Minor Dodgeball, who believes the tournament is key for player development and for up-and-comers to experience competition beyond Winnipeg.

If there’s one knock on the niche sport locally, Mackin said, it’s that kids are playing against the same people every day, which can get boring if he doesn’t find ways to make things fresh.

“I really think — and I stressed to the parents who were on the fence about whether or not they should have their kid go to this tournament in Calgary — that something like this, for one, it’s the first time it’s ever happened, we don’t know if it’s going to happen again, but it’s unbelievably important for our kids to go and compete against other kids from around the world,” said Mackin.

“These other kids from England, from Mexico, from Malaysia, they love the sport that these kids love and they’re going to be able to meet new people, have these new relationships, these new connections in the community and I think this is an unbelievably amazing thing to have in their life.”

“…it’s unbelievably important for our kids to go and compete against other kids from around the world.”–Brent Mackin, director of Winnipeg Minor Dodgeball

Mackin has worked hard to grow Winnipeg Minor Dodgeball since launching the program in 2019 after he noticed how many kids bowed out of athletics altogether if they didn’t take to a popular sport like hockey. He almost watched it happen to his son, who tried soccer and basketball but eventually settled on water polo.

“I was like, there’s got to be kids out there that want to get involved with stuff,” Mackin said.

“They are competitive, they want to play sports but they don’t want to chase a puck around or throw a ball in a hoop, so there’s got to be something else for them. We started this up and, yeah, it’s been pretty good the last few years.”

A program that started with 50 kids and has more than doubled in size over the years has become more strategic in how it trains players.

No longer does it resemble a free-for-all gym class, now Mackin teaches the strategy of dodgeball and helps players hone their skills up to two hours per week.

Lately, his focus has been finding ways to give kids more competitive opportunities. In December, he organized a local tournament dubbed the Winter Classic, which was a success and will run again in March.

Mackin has also been in touch with Dodgeball Winnipeg, a league for adults, about a potential partnership and Regina Youth Dodgeball about organizing competitive matches between the two cities.

He’s also had talks with other organizations about creating a Canadian championship for youth.

“This has been something that really I’ve wanted to push toward, is more of this tournament style … as we progress in this sport and it becomes more and more popular,” Mackin said.

“We do have a vision to move it beyond where we’re structured now.”

The effort is appreciated by players. Havixbeck, who is also a competitive curler and rock climber, has seen tremendous growth in his skills and is already being recruited to play with adult teams in tournaments, something he will do regularly once he turns 18.

“In the sessions that we played dodgeball, I’ve really grown into it. And the way Brent coaches, it really helps,” said Havixbeck.

“Though it seems like it’s one person or two people doing all the throwing and everyone seems to be very individual, on the inside it’s very much a team sport,” he said of the lessons he’s learned since playing.

“There’s a lot of communication that has to go in. Everyone brings their own skillset to the team, it’s not just one person doing everything.”

Mackin is optimistic that the competitive opportunities on the horizon will positively impact the growth of minor dodgeball in Winnipeg over the next few years, and while this is the first iteration of the World Youth Dodgeball championship, he’s confident it won’t be the last.

“After this, I really think it will gain steam and recognition (and) that they’ll have it again,” he said.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca