The DU Invictus Initiative will be hosting its third-annual dodgeball tournament on Saturday, Oct. 20 from 11 a.m.to 1 p.m. The tournament will be held on the Carnegie Green and is open to all DU students.
The Invictus Initiative is a non-profit service organization that aims to serve communities through sustainable practices and relationship-building.
Students may sign up through the Invictus Initiative’s Facebook page or by stopping by the Driscoll Student Center from Oct. 15 through 19, where the club will be tabling. Ten-person teams must pay a $100 registration fee to participate.
Proceeds from the tournament will support the Initiative’s winter and summer humanitarian trips, which will take club members to India and Nepal, respectively. Additionally, items from past service trips will be available for purchase at the tournament, with proceeds benefiting the communities that produced each item.
“In Nepal, we started a Women’s Co-Op with these women who knit scarves, gloves and hats,” said Nicole Vanderburg, a senior hospitality management major who serves as the DU Invictus Initiative’s social media editor. “We will be selling these items at the tournament, with 100 percent of those proceeds going back to the Nepalese women.”
The tournaments multi-faceted approach to community service will allow DU students to explore aspects of other cultures that they might be unfamiliar with, said Hayden Schmidt, a junior studying international relations and Arabic who joined the DU Invictus Initiative this year.
“The Invictus Dodgeball Tournament is great way for students to come have fun, expose themselves to different cultures and support their fellow peers for a great cause,” said Schmidt. “We are hoping for huge turn-out and hoping for good representation from lots of clubs and groups on campus.”
Among the items available to tournament participants will be Kenyan mango avocado smoothies, Nicaraguan coffee and Nepalese tea.
Katherine Davis, a junior psychology major and Invictus Initiative member stressed the importance of supporting the tournament.
“It’s important because, without funds our team is unable to go back to India and Nepal and continue growing the relationships that we already have with them,” said Davis. “It is going to be an awesome event that supports an incredible cause.”
The DU Invictus Initiative meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in Sturm 124. Prospective members can also learn more about the Initiative by contacting Vandenburg at vanderburgnicole@gmail.com or club president Tommie Walsh at trw.walsh2@gmail.com.
