The 2015-16 DODDS-Europe winter sports season shuffles back into action this weekend with a smattering of basketball games and marksmanship meets.
On the basketball court, Wiesbaden hosts Ansbach for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader while northern rivals SHAPE and Brussels conduct a home-and-home series over the same two days. Alconbury’s visit to non-DODDS squad Cobham rounds out the light schedule.
DODDS-Europe wrestling, which hasn’t hit the mats since Dec. 12, enjoys one more week off before resuming with three meets Jan. 16.
Not every sport is stuck in post-holiday molasses, however. While basketball stirs slowly to life and wrestling prolongs its slumber, DODDS-Europe marksmanship stages a full-fledged pair of conference meets on Saturday.
Reigning dynasty Stuttgart looks to continue its dominant start to the season in a crowded meet at Kaiserslautern that will also include Alconbury, Baumholder, Bitburg and Wiesbaden. That event represents the first home meet for a young but fast-rising Raider program that has finished second to the Panthers in each of the season’s first two meets.
In the east, meanwhile, Vilseck hosts fellow Bavarian contenders Ansbach and Hohenfels along with Italian visitor Vicenza for a four-school event Saturday. Vilseck won both meets before the break, with Hohenfels ranking second on Dec. 5 and Vicenza claiming the runner-up spot Dec. 12.
This weekend’s slate represents a soft relaunch of a winter campaign placed on pause for the winter break nearly a month ago. But things will heat up quickly in the near future.
A key Division I basketball showdown between Kaiserslautern and Wiesbaden is set for Tuesday, leading to a robust weekend schedule featuring games at 10 sites across four countries. A total of 18 DODDS-Europe wrestling programs gather for Jan. 16 meets at Ramstein, Wiesbaden and Vicenza. And marksmanship moves into the stretch run of its season with a pair of remote meets ahead of the fast-approaching Jan. 30 championships.
