Employee goes from the banker’s desk to the World Dodgeball Championships

Gaihj Young was a member of Team USA, which made it to the championship finals in Austria

For the last six years, Gaihj Young has worked for U.S. Bank as a floating client relationship consultant, serving clients at different branches across the Phoenix area. And for the last several weeks, Young has been a silver medal winner at the World Dodgeball Championships.

In August, Young was part of Team USA at the championship tournament held in Graz, Austria. In competitive dodgeball, there are men’s, women’s and mixed teams, as well as teams that use foam balls and teams that use cloth balls. Young competed on the mixed foam-ball team.

After five round-robin games to enter bracket play, Young’s team beat Germany, Argentina and Hong Kong to get to the final match, where it came in second behind Canada. (A replay of the match is available on YouTube.)

“When the bracket play started, the whole facility was being used, with eight courts going at a time,” Young said. “But as the day went on, it got down to fewer courts and more people watching each match.”

The intensity and noise levels also grew as the games progressed, he said.

“People are so passionate about rooting for their country,” Young said. “There were lots of chants, drumming and flag waving. It was such an amazing thing to witness and be part of.”

Like many people, Young was first exposed to dodgeball in grade school. While some people have traumatic memories of playing the game as a child, Young isn’t one of them.

“The first time I played it, it blew my mind,” he said. “I had played baseball before, so I was good at throwing, and that helped me a lot.”

Young’s family moved around as he was growing up, with homes in Washington, Colorado, California and New Hampshire before settling in Arizona. Everywhere he lived, he continued playing dodgeball.

“I loved it so much, I would always look for a league I could play in,” he said.

Young set his sights on playing for Team USA, which holds tryouts every year. He tried out in 2019 and 2022 but didn’t make the team either time. In the meantime, he played in other competitive tournaments and continued training – throwing balls at a cone to hone his accuracy and running to build his cardiovascular abilities.

“I had to have a lot of deep conversations with myself after I wasn’t picked in 2022,” he said. “I knew I could make the team if I kept working.”

Young’s third tryout was in 2023, and that’s when he made the team. And while he said he hopes to continue playing on the team, there are no guarantees.

“There’s a tryout process every year and it’s never going to be easy to get on the team,” he said. “They’re only taking so many players, so you always have to show that you’re one of the best players in the country.”