News

Team Dover battles it our during Wing Sports Day

  • Published
  • By Airman Shen-Chia Chu
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Dover Air Force Base, Del. --  It looked like there was a chance of rain Wednesday morning, but it brightened into a sunny afternoon for the bi-annual 436th Airlift Wing Sports Day here.

Motivational cheers could be heard from the softball field and the Fitness Center, which was packed throughout the day with spectators and servicemembers competing in sporting events.

It's like a rewards day, said Mindy Rolkowski, 436th Services Squadron Fitness Center director. It is a base-wide competition.

"I want to see Dover's Airmen fit to fight and having fun," said Col. Sam Cox, 436th Airlift Wing commander. "'Do the mission, have fun,' is the slogan I like to use and Wing Sports Day captures it perfectly. Besides, this was my last chance to compete with the chiefs in volleyball. Unfortunately, the Colonels came up a little short."

One of the new additions to this year's event included extra points for participation, said Ms. Rolkowski.

Another change included the Company Grade Officers Council volunteering to assist as referees, cooks for the Burger Burn and wherever help was needed.

"The CGOC helped out with running events to give the servicemembers a break so they would also be able to play," said 1st Lt. Megan Schmid, 436th Mission Support Group executive.

"I'd like to thank the Services Squadron and the Company Grade Officers Council for their support of the event," said Colonel Cox. "Their hard work ensured that the day was a great success!"

Colonel Cox said events such as Wing Sports Day build camaraderie and boost morale with some inter-squadron friendly competition and give everyone a chance to meet other Dover Team members they may not have met otherwise.

"Competition always builds camaraderie," said Lieutenant Schmid. "It's good fun to be together to relax and enjoy being with one another."

Enjoying the day together was what Lt. Col. Dave Arthur, 326th Airlift Squadron, C-17 pilot, did during one of his volleyball matches.

"We're like brothers and sisters in our squadron," said Colonel Arthur. "I came here just for fun, to be with the players, although we didn't get to play against another team."

The volleyball team they were to play against was the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron, who forfeited, and the reservists played a friendly four-on-four game with their own squadron instead.

Another team was not so lucky to move into the next bracket, but understood the heart of what Wing Sports Day was all about.

"It's a beautiful day to have some fun and bring sportsmanship to Dover," said Master Sgt. Samuel Louie, 436th Aerial Port Squadron Mobility Flight NCO in-charge.

Volleyball wasn't the only sport played Wednesday. Dover's squadrons battled it out in a 3-2 pitch softball tourney.

"I'm going to blast the ball out into the outfield," said Airman Gary Stines, 436th Communications Squadron, bragging before his first game of the day. "Our team is good; we have skilled players and good batters who play all year-round. We will have most of the same players from last year's wing day playing again."

The 436th Operations Support Squadron, Dover's reigning intramural basketball champions, were the top dogs for the three-on-three basketball tournament at the Fitness Center.

"We used teamwork as our main strategy," said Senior Airman Joel Sines, 436th OSS. "Since we've played together for so long, we've developed a way to use our individual talents and working well with each other. It's also a nice opportunity to get out to see the rest of the base and talk to everyone we normally wouldn't meet."

Outside the Fitness Center in the late afternoon sun, the competing members of Team Dover and their fans eagerly awaited for the final results to be announced for each event's first and second place winners and the first-place overall large-unit winner. 

When the time finally came, Colonel Cox handed out t-shirts to first and second place winners as their squadrons were called.

Chief Master Sgt. Bruce Blodgett stepped up to claim the huge trophy for winning the Chiefs versus Eagles volleyball game.

"This was the first time we have beaten the Colonels in a physical sport," said Chief Master Sgt. Gary Webb, 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron Supply Chain Management Flight chief. "If you count the 9mm shoot out, this is our second win, but it still felt pretty good."

After handing out all the awards, Colonel Cox made a short speech and congratulated the overall winner of this year's event.

"It couldn't have ever been a better day than this," said Colonel Cox. "It's great that all of us are having fun, but competition is good because it's what makes us better. When we compete with one another, we all can become the best we can be. Thank you all, it's been a lot of fun."