Capstone Brendan Barnes

For my capstone I chose to host a wiffle ball game, I wanted to focus on collaboration and how teamwork will led to a better performance in the game. To kick off my capstone I began by doing a ton of research on what it means to collaborate and how team work, enhances the teams play versus everyone just doing their own thing. After I got done with the research on that I then had to learn all of the wiffle balls rules and regulations. I learned the history behind wiffle ball and how it came to be. After gathering up all the information I needed I then made a google form, in the google form I simply asked “would you be interested in playing wiffle ball?” I only had two options for the answer and they were yes or no. I didn’t send the form out to every single student, I just sent it to people who I thought would actually want to play the sport. I only needed 11 other players, I wanted to have 6 players to a team. I felt like with more people the game would become more difficult to manage, also with less people there is less chances of conflict. We played the official game at Chew playground which is located 18th and Washington Ave. The game turned really well, every player from both teams were already friends and had already formed bonds with one another. I invited two friends of mine from outside of school to play in the game, and as the game went on they began to fit right in and they became friends with everyone else.

“A Brief History of Wiffle Ball.” Mental Floss, Mental Floss, 29 June 2014, mentalfloss.com/article/24609/it-curves-brief-history-wiffle-ball.

This source addresses the origins about how wiffle ball came to be and why it is played. I chose this because through my capstone I would like to also inform the players about some of the history that comes from wiffle ball. I feel as though if they knew about how the game started it would give them a better grasp of the game, with hopes that it will make them play harder.

“NWLA Tournament.” NWLA Tournament, nwlatournament.com/.

This source is the professional wiffle ball league, this will help me with planning the tournament and creating teams. I will use their league as a reference to structure my tournament. Hopefully this source will prove to be very helpful.

Rossmann, Jenn Stroud. “The Contentious Physics of Wiffle Ball.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 17 Jan. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/09/wiffle-ball-physics/539982/.

This source talks about some of the physics and math behind wiffle ball, this is a way to make my capstone educative, I can hold a meeting before the game and inform the players

Santora, Marc. What's 50, Curvy And Full of Air?; It's the Wiffle Ball, Still Popular, Holes and All. www.nytimes.com/2003/08/14/nyregion/what-s-50-curvy-and-full-of-air-it-s-the-wiffle-ball-still-popular-holes-and-all.html.

This source talks about how wiffle ball stayed relevant through the years, I feel like this relates to my capstone because if wiffle ball didn’t stay popular I wouldn’t even be able to do this as my capstone. This link also points out a few places that you can get wiffle balls and bats from which I found helpful because I will need to go out and buy at least two bats and maybe a couple balls just in case anything happens.

The Wiffle Ball, Inc. - A Brief History, www.wiffle.com/pages/game_rules.asp?page=game_rules.

This source provides information about the wiffle ball rules and regulations. I chose this because while running a wiffle ball tournament it is essential to know how the game is played. I need to have a grasp of all the rules to ensure that we will have fun and fair play.

“UGA SBDC | The Importance of Collaboration.” University of Georgia Small Business Development Center, The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center, 31 Aug. 2015, www.georgiasbdc.org/terry-the-importance-of-collaboration/.

This source points out the importance of collaboration, this is the centerpiece of my capstone. That is one of the reasons why I chose this source, I need to have a deep understanding about the whole concept of collaboration before I do a whole capstone with it at the core. After I read this article I can definitely say that I have a way better understanding of what collaboration should look like and what it should be

Wehbe, Shada. “5 Important Reasons Why Teamwork Matters.” The Online Learning Platform, 17 Apr. 2018, www.potential.com/articles/5-important-reasons-why-teamwork-matters/.

This source gives us information about why teamwork is so important. Wiffle ball is a team sport in which each team will have to work together in order to succeed. Through my capstone I would like make the players understand the importance of teamwork and collaboration and how it will affect the performance of the teams. I want them to understand that teamwork could be the difference between winning and losing.

“What Collaboration Really Means.” ThoughtFarmer, 14 Jan. 2019, www.thoughtfarmer.com/blog/what-collaboration-really-means/.

This is another source that details the importance of collaboration it also gives a few different definitions for the term “collaboration.” I chose this source to even further  my knowledge and understanding of collaboration. I will have to know as much information about it, to prove that collaboration is one of SLA’s most important core values. It also highlights different ways people can collab with one another.

“Which of Your Friends Needs to Learn This Term?” BusinessDictionary.com, www.businessdictionary.com/definition/collaboration.html.

This source gives different definitions for the word collaboration, while watching and reviewing the wiffle ball games it would be very important for me to be able to use different angles to analyze and view the collaboration of the teams. This will eventually make my capstone even stronger, because this can let me explain our core value in different ways.

Payne, Marissa. “Adult Wiffle Ball Is a Thing, and This Play Is Perhaps the Greatest Wiffle Ball Play Ever.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Aug. 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/08/14/adult-wiffle-ball-is-a-thing-and-this-play-is-perhaps-the-greatest-wiffle-ball-play-ever/?utm_term=.7bbf1c11e27c.

This source is about the best adult wiffle ball game play ever. This is important to my capstone because this shows that people are still interested in wiffleball. So that means I have an audience for my capstone. So all the hard work that I will put on the capstone will have value to those who have love for wiffle ball.