- This article is about the sport. For the 2004 movie, see Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. For the GSN Show, see Extreme Dodgeball.
Dodgeball (or dodge ball) is the name of a traditional elementary school game, taught in high school education classes, but also popular in informal settings, often played by schoolchildren on a playground. There are many variations of the game, but all involve some players trying to avoid being hit by a ball, that other players are throwing at them.
Players are usually split into teams, though sometimes play individually. A number (although sometimes only one) of medium-sized rubber balls (the same sort used in four square) are placed in a central ___location. The objective of each player is to hit an opponent so as to eliminate him or her from the game. The game ends when one player (or team) remains.
In some variants, catching the ball enacts a reversal; if the target catches (rather than dodges) the ball, the thrower is eliminated. In other variations a catch (in addition to eliminating the thrower) also allows another player from the catching team to re-enter. In other variants which don't allow catching, handling the ball counts as a hit, while punching or handling the ball with a closed fist does not. In all versions, a player who steps from his square to the enemy team's square is also eliminated.
One rule variant specifies that players who are hit, instead of stepping off the court, sit down where they are hit. If any of these players should later catch a ball thrown by the opposing team, the opposing thrower is out (and must sit down) and the player who caught the ball is back in.
Variations
Several variations of dodgeball include Scramble, Pin-Dodge, Dr. Dodgeball, King's Court, King sting, "German" Dodgeball and Prison Ball.
Scramble is an every-player-for-him/herself variation which starts with a jump ball. The first player to posess the ball becomes the attacker and attempts to eliminate all the other players. No other player is allowed to posess the ball unless it is the result of a catch, in which the attacker is eliminated, every player that said attacker eliminated returns to the game, and the catcher becomes the new attacker. The player who successfully eliminates all other opponents is the winner.
Pin-Dodge is played like standard dodgeball, except that each team has four wooden pins (like bowling pins, but narrower and more easily knocked over) at the back of their side of the court. If a team's pin gets knocked over, either by accident or by a ball thrown by the other team, all players on the other team return to play. Once knocked over, a pin must stay down. The game ends when all of a team's players are eliminated, or (more often) when all of a team's pins are knocked over.
Dr. Dodgeball (also known as Medic) involves a leader in each team who tries to avoid getting hit. When players are hit, they fall on the ground and waits for "Dr. Dodgeball" to come and save them. When Dr. Dodgeball saves the fallen players, they can get up and play again. The game ends when one team is entirely eliminated, which would happen a lot quicker if a team loses their "doctor", and another variation of the game ends as soon as the doctor is hit. Therefore, it is key for a team to pay attention in order to figure out who the enemy doctor is. Some teams employ a "fake doctor" strategy to throw the opposing team off-guard as to who the doctor actually is.
King's Court also involves a leader. If the leader is hit, the game is over.
"German Dodgeball" is a free-for-all game with no boundaries. The ball cannot be carried, but must be bounced off a wall and caught. When a player is hit, he or she leaves the court and his or her victims return to the game. A variation on this is a game termed "Wall Ball"; if someone fails to catch the ball (after an attempt to catch it and touches it without the result of a catch) then they must endeavour to get to the wall before another player strikes them with the ball. More often than not the ball is thrown as hard as possible for incentive. If one is struck before getting to the wall then they are out. The winner is the last man standing.
Prisonball (also known as Nationball, Battleball, Teamball, Crossfire; King's Court in Canada and Queimada or Queimado in Brazil) is played much like dodgeball, but when a player is hit, he gets put in "prison" behind the opposing team. To get out of prison, he must hit the opposing team from behind. This puts a lot more pressure on the teams as they can be sandwiched between enemies. In all except Prisonball though, "prisoners" remain behind the opposing team until the game is over. Furthermore, in "prisonball," a ball thrown to a "prison," when caught, releases all the "prisoners" to return to their original side.
Court Dodgeball is played with two people on either end of a circle with one or two balls while everyone else is in the middle. When i person is hit they are then out and must join the others around the circle throwing the ball(s) at the other players.
Space Dodgeball is set up like so:(X=Team 1|A=Team 2|O=Balls).
A O X O A
X O A X
A X O A
X O A O X
It is played with both teams on one half of a Basketball Court. You can be attacked from any direction. Besides that, the rules are the same as regular dodgeball.
"Army Dodge Ball" Involves no true teams but is more of a free for all. Players who are hit in the legs or arms lose the use of that limb. If they are hit in the head or torso they are out. If they catch a ball thrown by another player he is not out but they regain one of their "missing" limbs. Last one standing wins.
In the county of Cornwall in England, there remains a regional version of the game called Cornish Dodgeball. It is practically the same as the standard version but there are strict time limits on throwing the ball and defending. It requires very strong anaerobic and aerobic stamina.
Sticks has two phases to the game. In the 1st phase, two wooden ice-cream or stirrer sticks are adjacently placed parallel on the ground leaning against a wall, supporting a horizontal half-length crosspiece. One team (the throwers) take turns attempting to strike the sticks with a ball from a fixed distance, while the other team (the catchers) try to catch the ball on the rebound off the wall before it hits the ground. If the ball is caught, the thrower is out. If not caught, the thrower goes to the back of the not-out throwers' queue awaiting another turn. The 1st phase ends when a thrower strikes the sticks. If the ball is caught after hitting the sticks, the entire throwing team is out, and the teams swap roles. If the ball is not caught after hitting the sticks, the game proceeds to the dodgeball phase, the catchers attempting to strike the throwers. There is no court. When all throwers have been struck, the teams swap roles and the game returns to the 1st phase. In the non-team version of the game, throwers caught in the 1st phase join the catching team, as do players struck in the dodgeball phase; the 1st player struck during the dodgeball phase becomes the sole initial catcher on return to the 1st phase.
Trench is a variation typically played inside of a large gym (spanning two basketball courts). The dividing line is the center line of one of the basketball courts (imaginarily spread across the gym). Both teams start on a line roughly 8-10 feet away from the center, where several balls are placed. When the whistle is blown, players run to grab those balls and a game of standard dodgeball begins, with one exception. Any time a player is hit, he must go stand behind the opposing team in the trench, a designated area, usually the out of bounds portion of that side of the basketball court. If a player in the trench catches a ball from one of his teammates, he can re-enter the game and is not a valid target until he is back on his side (but he can be eliminated as soon as he steps over that center line again). Play continues until one team has wiped out the other team.
A variation of Trench is Capture the Flag, which is played the same way as Trench except that each team has 8-10 flags in the back of their court (usually on the dividing line between the trench and the team's field of play). A player can attempt to steal an opposing team's flag by running across the center line, retrieving it, and returning it back to a bucket in the back of their court. While on the enemy side, a player can be eliminated only by being tagged. If a player is tagged or eliminated on his side by a ball, he must immediately drop the flag, which can either be picked up by another teammate or returned to its starting position by a member of the enemy team. No more than one flag can be picked up by a single person in one run. A team wins by either eliminating the other team or capturing all of the flags.
Controversy
Dodgeball, when it emerged, was touted as the "nerd's sport". Since players normally were not part of a team, no player had to endure the teasing that would fall upon a player accused of "causing the team to lose". As well, the game was seen as having a light-hearted and self-deprecatory nature and, therefore, more amenable to non-athletic students.
However, dodgeball has come under attack for failing to meet the needs of precisely those students. Opponents of dodgeball have argued that the game provides, for bullies, the excuse to abuse unathletic and unpopular students, by throwing the ball hard enough to cause injury. The aim of the variant King sting or Brandings is to throw the ball at others as hard as possible. In some cases, the rule may be used that a player hit above the shoulders is not out; this discourages the dangerous practice of aiming for the face.
After a series of publicized dodgeball injuries in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many schools have removed the game from their physical-education requirements, and some have even banned the game entirely. On November 18, 2002, the state of New Jersey banned the game from public schools. New York followed suit shortly after.
Many other schools, however, have taken a more moderate approach, allowing dodgeball by using soft foam balls instead of harder rubber balls.
