How to Organize the Dodgeball Tournament

Preparation

• Creating the teams is up to the organizer. First, get everyone who wants to play to sign up. Make an announcement at lunch how to sign up and by what time at the latest. Then go through the list of participants and rank their skill level, 1-5. It’s up to the organizer how they rank people. The goal is to spread out the best players (skill level 5) among the teams to create fair and balanced teams
• 8-12 members per team, depending on the total amount of participants
• Be sure to give teams a way to express spirit, whether it is headbands, face paint, etc. Check about availability of these materials before camp, or on the first day of camp so general affairs can buy needed materials if needed
• There are no exact measurements for field size. The larger the teams, the larger the sides of the fields should be. The total length of the fields should be around 40-50 ft in length, each side being exactly half of that. With the width being 20-30 ft, use your judgement to create the best fitting fields.
• Recruit volunteers as referees. Parents, or older participants who don’t want to play love to fill this role
• Create a simple and efficient bracket that will allow the most amount of playing time for all teams. Perhaps begin with round robin, moving towards bracket play. This is crucial to organize and be very strict in how it plays out, you don’t want two teams facing each other over and over. It all depends on the amount of teams you have
• Start playing early! You want to end before it gets dark, so try to speed up games if needed
• Be sure to set up and have teams organized ahead of time, always be prepared for someone join who didn’t sign up beforehand

Starting the Game

• Both teams must start at either ends of the court behind the court boundaries
• At the referee’s count, both teams rush for the balls in the middle of the court
• During the initial rush, stepping over the middle line does not count as an out.
• All balls MUST be taken back to the start lines before they are in play and can be used to get someone out

Play

Rules Regarding the Ball:

• If the ball hits a player directly, they are out
• If a ball is caught, the thrower is out and the person on the catcher’s team who was out the longest comes back in
• Once a ball hits the ground, it is neutralized and does not count
• A player may block a thrown with a held ball to neutralize the thrown ball. However, if the player drops the held ball while blocking, the player is out
• If a ball hits multiple people without touching the ground or another ball, each person who is hit is out
• If a ball hits one person but is caught by another without touching the ground or another ball it counts as a catch and the thrower is out, but no currently out player re enters the game
• If a ball hits a player’s head who is just standing there, then [either the thrower is out or the ball is neutralized. Up to the dodgeball organizer] and the receiver stays in. However, if the player dodges into the path of the ball then they are out.
• If a ball is held for more than 10 seconds, it is considered neutral and must be rolled over to the opposing team’s side
• Balls that are outside the court are to be given to the team who’s side of the court is closer.
• Any team members can retrieve the ball but if they are out they must remember the order in which they got out

Rules Regarding the Court:

• If any part of a player’s body or clothes touches the ground on the opposing team’s side of the court that player out and any ball thrown by them becomes neutral
• If a player leaves the court while dodging a ball, they are out
• If the game has been going on for a long time and no one has gotten out in a while, then the referee can call a timeout and shorten the court (when and by how much is up to the referee)

Other Rules:

• Gloves that increase grip and cleats are not allowed