Muddy Sports, Week #4
Today marks the end of muddy sports week here at Write Nonfiction in November. It is also my daughter’s birthday. My angel is now seven. Yay! Remember how I talked about how my daughter invented the concept of muddy palace and how it surprisingly led to a writing prompt about dwellings? Something similar happened with today’s topic – – mudd volleyball – – which surprisingly led me to write about fundraisers. Your job is to be equally inspired by mudd volleyball and research and write about five unique fundraising activities.
Creative Idea Gal’s Thoughts
As its name suggests, mudd volleyball is a variation of regulation volleyball using different play areas and rules. However, the sport is less about athletics and extreme sports than it is about fundraising. Simple internet research on mudd volleyball will quickly lead you to information about fundraisers that take place all over the United States. According to the March of Dimes, mudd volleyball has been around for at least 30 years.
In this week’s prompts, the mud sports have been about the physical fitness and sportsmanship of people playing competitive sports. Today’s sport changes everything, putting emphasis on something completely unrelated – – fundraising. I love the combination of unrelated topics because it gets the mind focused on other things. Sounds a lot like creative brainstorming, doesn’t it?
Creative Brainstorming Tips
The concept of doing research and letting one’s mind wander in doing creative brainstorming is terrific and may lead to obscure paths of beauty. That is what happened to me with today’s prompt. My original research on mud easily led me to mud races and mud bogging, but mudd volleyball came much later. I was stuck with two mud sports but I kept pressing forth because I knew I needed one more mud sport to complete the series of three for this week’s muddy sports.
I used Wikipedia to help me brainstorm using different variations of the word mud. Eventually, I came upon “volleyball that is played in a giant mud pit” with the word mud bolded. I was thankful to have found such an obscure topic on mud and sports that fit in well with my theme. The point is to press on with research without giving up. Deeper research may be obscure, but it is sometimes useful.
Helpful Resources
Mudd volleyball research yielded very interesting obscure information.
“In retrospect it seems ridiculous that no one of us anticipated the cruel fate the weather would play on us this day. Nor did we ever suspect the extent of the physical suffering we were in for. Like morons, we brought suntan lotion, but instead we should have brought coats and wet suits.” – Rick Archer for SSQQ Dance Studio
Remember the original description for the sport that “is played in a giant mud pit”? Referred to as mud or mudd volleyball, it seems that the sport’s original name was “oozeball.” More great obscure information!
“Players are forced by the mud to adapt a different style of play than other forms of volleyball, with more “leaning and lunging” as opposed to running in the deep mud. At UConn, each year over 1,000 players and spectators come out to watch the tournament. 2010 marked the 27th UConn OOzeball, making it the longest running tournament of its kind in the nation. OOzeball has also been recognized three times by Sports Illustrated.” – Wikipedia entry
Writing Prompt 060
Prompt: Research and write about five unique fundraising activities
- Step 1: Though mud volleyball is a sport, it has very little to do with traditional sports attributes. In fact, it is most closely related to fundraising. Think about other original ideas for fundraisers.
- Step 2: Fundraisers vary wildly by region, the type of group for whom funds are raised, and the quality of the fundraiser itself. Pick one specific category, like schools, religious groups, civic associations, or children’s groups, and research five unique fundraisers.
- Step 3: Write about those five unique fundraising activities with rich, vivid detail. Include all basics and add a note why people should be passionate supporters of unique fundraisers.
Please be sure to leave comments about this writing prompt. We want to hear from you!
About the Author
Amanda M. Socci, J.D., is a freelance writer with 14 years of experience writing professionally. Socci currently cuts her blogging chops on her personal portfolio blog, the Creative Idea Gal blog, and on an online news site, Mount Vernon Patch. Inspired by Nina Amir’s Write Nonfiction in November writing challenge, she created a unique 10-month training program for Writenonfictionnow.com and Writenonfictioninnovember.com blog visitors.
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