Meet April Player of the Month Nick Dodenhoff, from Marietta, Georgia. Nick started playing Kendama in 2011, \”kendama was especially popular the high school I was attending; Cherokee. Everyone was playing it, and everyone got good enough that we were making edits. For most people, it was a fad, but for me, kendama stopped being fun.\”

\”Currently, one of my favorite setups is the nova shape craft ken with a saucy coral tama, that is the move. My favorite kinds of tricks right now are stalls and strings, the Sweets\’ Special has a place in my heart as the first advanced trick I ever learned. My left index finger actually has a callus from ‘em, haha.\”

So many shoutouts. Shoutout to Ryan Plourd for coming to my jams at KSU and introducing me to so many people. Shoutout to Christian Fraser for being the first kendama player I looked up to and helping me plan so many GA Kendama events. Shoutout to Jero for believing in me years ago and showing up out-of-the-blue to a jam just to hand me my first ever prizes for our jams (and not to mention the WHOLE GA DAMA COLLAB Ken we did years later). Shoutout to Corey Sipes for being the biggest Kendama homie ever and pushing me to get better in those early days. Shoutout to Chad Covington for giving me the roadmap to hosting great Kendama competitions. And probably most importantly shoutout to Nick Fisch, Aidan Smith, Aidan Hitz, Jay Garland, Jonah Holcomb, George Marshall, Austin Johnson, Juwan Shields, Katarina Dodenhoff, T Mac, Alissa DeCoteau, and all the Georgia homies that come out to the jams on the regular. You all are the reason I play and do what I do for GA Dama.

\”Georgia has one of the best squads in the nation (the world!?).  Any time you are in our state, hit us @gakendamaplayers and we will make things happen for you! Hope to see you all in September at ATLO 2022!, Much Love & Respect to Kendama USA, the community, & everyone pushing to help it grow.”

Kendama in Georgia has a long history, and the GA Kendama Players have roots going back as early as Dama Fest in 2011. Community leaders like Nick Dodenhoff have made large efforts to get the word out and host local jams and events. As the scene has grown, they have created their own logo, T-shirts, stickers, and even their own podcast “Georgia Kendama Radio. The podcast itself has hosted everyone from Jeremy Stephenson (Kendama USA) to Chad Covington (of Sol Kendamas) and Matt Jorgenson (of Sweets Kendamas). In 2018 the Georgia Kendama Players Club hosted the Georgia Kendama Open (GKO), followed by the Atlanta Kendama Open (ATLKO) in 2019.

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Making this collab Kendama seemed like a great idea after so many years of mutual support. It features a unique GA Peach themed tama with KUSA Silk paint, a Maple SHIFT Shape Ken with a new base cup hole, custom engravings, and much more. This club hopes to spread the excitement and community of Kendama to even more people in the south. If you are ever in Georgia, make sure to attend one of the jams and meet all of the incredible people that make up the Georgia Kendama Players.

Georgia Kendama Players hopes to spread the excitement and community of Kendama to even more people in the south, and the support of companies like Kendama USA has been huge. If you are ever in Georgia, make sure to reach out to them to get a Jam going and meet all of the incredible people that make up the Georgia Kendama Players.