More than 30 Dallas companies weren’t playing around on Thursday, June 27, at the American Airlines Center. Well, maybe they were. Their teams checked their suits and ties at the door and played dodgeball benefiting Vogel Alcove. To add a professional touch to the “7th Annual Dodge for a Cause,” they even had WFAA’s sport reporter Mike Leslie doing the play-by-play. Here’s a report from the field including some of the creative team names:
Say the word “dodgeball,” and the image that probably comes to mind is a high school gym filled with students diving for cover from hurtling rubber balls. At this year’s “Dodge for a Cause,” attendees witnessed a similar scenario, but instead of high school students, the employees of more than 30 of Dallas’ most prominent companies competed head-to-head in Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP’s seventh annual dodgeball tournament for an extremely worthwhile cause – to raise funds for Vogel Alcove, an organization dedicated to providing free therapeutic services for more than 3,000 local homeless children.
Teams met on the floor of the American Airlines Center the evening of Thursday, June 27, to participate in the round-robin style tournament. Channel 8 sports broadcaster Mike Leslie’s voice filled the arena as he provided play-by-play commentary of the tournament – and the occasional comedic relief. Competition was fierce, but after several intense, sweaty and athletic hours of play, driversselect emerged as this year’s victor.
“Dodge for a Cause” originated in 2012 as part of Weil’s “Pay It Forward” program supporting local community organizations that are typically underfunded, and has grown dynamically since its inception. The tournament started with a 12-team event that raised $11,000 in its inaugural year for Vogel Alcove. This year, nearly three times as many corporate sponsors came together and raised $105,000 benefiting Vogel Alcove. This successful effort brings the event’s cumulative, 7-year fundraising total for Vogel Alcove to nearly $450,000.
“Once again, the North Texas business community stepped up to support this entertaining and philanthropic Dodge for a Cause event,” said Courtney Marcus, co-managing partner of Weil’s Dallas office. “We are always proud to support Vogel Alcove and are happy to provide local corporations an opportunity to give back to our community and have fun doing it.”
As if the dodgeball tournament itself weren’t enough competition, each team tried to one-up each other by creating clever names. A few of the fan favorites were Game of Throws, DodgeFathersVI, Highballers and Dodgerninos.
In addition to Weil’s own team, major tournament sponsors and team sponsors included: American Airlines, Armanino LLP, AT&T, Austin Industries, Bain & Co., The Beneficient Company Group, Caddis Healthcare Real Estate, Celanese Corporation, City Electric Supply, Copart, Crow Holdings Capital, Dallas Mavericks, driversselect, Forterra, HALL Group, HighGround Advisors, Houlihan Lokey, Hunt Consolidated, Interstate Batteries, Kainos Capital, KPMG, Lennox International Inc., Mr. Cooper, ORIX Corporation USA, Sewell Automotive Companies, Southwest Airlines, Tailwater Capital, Trinity Industries, Vinson & Elkins LLP, YourCause and media sponsor WFAA – Channel 8.
Dallas companies interested in learning more about opportunities to support next year’s “Dodge for a Cause” event can contact Tournament Co-Chair David Gail at 214.746.7786.
* Photo provided by Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP