Did anyone else get the chance to read Rick Reilly’s article in the last Sports Illustrated? It emphasized the fact that dodgeball is quickly losing support in public schools. My friends and I have formed a Bombardment Society down here in Houston, but the school has refused to even meet with us to determine whether we are eligible to be recognized as an official club. Any ideas on how to present a reasonable argument??? Is dodgeball dead? Are we gonna stand here and take it?? Oh, and look at our society’s site if you wanna see what we are about.
Yes, there are PE teachers literate enough to post to the Straight Dope, so stop sniggering! I’m a published author, hold a private pilot’s license, and I know all the words to “I’m My Own Grampa”. BIG RASPBERRY SOUND
Now then.
Dodgeball, as most of us traditionally know it, is indeed going the way of the dodo in Physical Education. There’s a simple reason for this: it has very little educational or fitness value in relation to the amount of physical and emotional damage it causes.
In this age of “accountability”, even the PE programs are being called on the carpet to justify their educational value. And dodgeball/bombardment is more of an excuse to beat the crap out of people from a distance than an educational experience. It’s not that good a warmup, and there are better activities for learning throwing technique.
Having said that, I LOVED dodgeball when I was a kid! I was good at it too, and wouldn’t mind throwing a few at your club some time. But I also sympathized with the folks for whom it was a horror. Those playground balls left terrible welts, and the strong kids were merciless to the weaker kids. Not good. Can’t blame them for hating gym class.
So I’m not surprised that your school won’t touch this one. But I doubt there’s anything stopping you from doing this somewhere else. Try renting a raquetball court somewhere for an hour and have at it.
Coincidentally, I grew up in Houston and played dodgeball in gym from time to time. Usually when it was raining outside. We used underinflated volleyballs.
I’m not surprised that it’s become un-PC. I didn’t really like it, as in something I would seek to participate in, but I was good enough that I was rarely out and when I did go out it was usually when I slipped and fell - that would draw the fire of everyone presently armed on the other side.
As Grok notes, though, it had little athletic value and some of the less athletically inclined guys really got nailed, often and sometimes hard, and I’m sure didn’t enjoy it at all.
Organizing your own club sounds like a great idea, as all will be willing participants. Good luck!
Dodgeball is one of those things that makes me feel old! I never hear about any kids playing it anymore, but I sure remember playing it when I was in elementary school. I don’t have any good or bad memories, it was just one of those gym activities.
BTW, Grok, when you mentioned teaching PE, you made me think of my gym teacher from the 7th grade, who used to call everyone “Pork Chop”. Guess it was just the first thing that popped in my head. 
Am I wrong? Or did Dodgeball start with SEVERAL targets in the middle, and as each was hit, they would join the side that hit them. The targets dwindled until there was one, the victor. Is this not how everyone played? The weaker, slower, folks got hit with a SOFT big red pebbley ball (one ball in the game) causing NO “welts”, and then they became the HUNTER!
The game was about skill in not getting hit. Sure, the weaker, slow kids may have been targeted early, but they then became the throwers! Vengeance!
Next thing they’ll be holding soccer games in MA where no scores are kept and there is no winner. Oops, too late. Just give the handbasket and I’ll go to Hell myself. Sheesh. No wonder kids resort to guns, they can’t handle defeat.
The dodgeball I know and love is usually played in a basketball court (the small elementary variety with walls close to the sidelines). The centerline was the boundry which you couldn;t cross. The class was split into half and each team took a side. The balls (usually a couple dozen) were divided up and placed spread out on the floor, when the game starts you run to get it and start throwing. If you get hit by a ball on the fly you are out, if you catch a ball on the fly the thrower is out. It goes until everyone on one team is out.
We played with the rubber kickball balls when I was younger. As we got older, bigger and stronger these balls became to lethal when we could aim them well and throw them hard. We then shifted to firm foam balls about the size of a 16" softball. These made it trickier since they would get effected by spin and drafts.
It was a awesome game. I suppose I can agree that its merits athletically are suspect, but I guess one needs to really decide what gym is for. With the internet and TV these days anything that gets kids up and moving is good. Running is probably beneficial, but kids won;t want to do it. Volleyball is good for teamwork and stuff, but it isn;t exactly a high cardio sport. If he point is to get kids active doing something thats fun, dodgeball is good. If it has to be directly applicable to the mandated US fitness guidelines, well I guess its gonna be done.
I think the schools are pulling it more due to the fact that too many kids were getting hurt or complaining about it. I can see the point, but I’d like to see it available as a choice for the kids who enjoy it. You shouldn;t sacrifice it for everyone just because a few kids choose not to participate. As long as there are enough alternatives, I would like to see it kept as an option.
Seriously, how many of us really remember playing basketball or volleyball in gym class back them? I think everyone remembers dodgeball.
Ah, the rainy day activity of dodge ball.
One fateful day in seventh grade, we were assigned this sport for PE. We girls were rather nervous, as it was the only co-ed sport alloted to us. The object, if I remember correctly, was to hit the coolest guy. This assured us of getting his attention, and would make us ‘cool’ in his eyes.
I selected my target, and heaved the sticky, rubbery ball in his direction. I connected with my target; however, my aim was a bit ahem low. The blow to his manchild parts caused him to writhe about like an electrified Gumby. I was stricken with horror!
Following that incident, I practiced my aim. By the time I was in high school; I was an ace pitcher for the women’s softball team. In my case, dodge ball motivated me to become a better athlete.
I encountered my poor dodge ball victim at our 25th reunion last summer, and my guilt was lifted when he showed me pictures of his children. relief
We played dodgeball in elementary school and junior high. I wasn’t big on physical activity, so my friends and I would throw each other out as soon (and as gently) as possible, then sit down and talk.
I loved the games like dodgeball where you could get “out” because you could then sit out and get back to daydreaming.
-fh
The rules that you posted were the way that we always played dogeball. I really enjoyed it in elementary and junior high school, due to the use of red rubber or foam balls in a large gym. Injuries were few and far between.
I did not like it when we played it in high school though. We always played with fully inflated volleyballs in a very small gym (about 1/2 the size of a regular sized school gym. It was our back up gym.) It wasn’t fun at all. We had a lot of strong guys in the class, and they loved aiming for the face. I got hit in the head once and I couldn’t open my eye for about a half an hour. No swelling or anything, but it actually hurt to have the air touch my eye. This was due to the fact that the ball was going so fast that I didn’t have time to close my eyelid and direct conatct with the eyeball was made. It hurt like you wouldn’t believe.
I usually just got out as soon as possible. It was much safer that way.
Dodgeball. The very name conjures up images of all that was evil about my primary and secondary school years. And no offense, Grok, but I’m convinced there’s a special circle in Hell for high school gym teachers (see Brian Conley on The Grimleys for an example of what mine were like).
Once dodgeball gets banished, can we get rid of floor hockey too? I always got stuck as goalie. With no protective equipment whatsoever. Bastards. 
THough I was frequently picked on in school, I loved dodgeball, it was about the only ‘sport’ I enjoyed playing.
I was ok at Dodgeball and usually managed to not get hit, but my throwing arm wasn’t all that good. Once in awhile, I would get a good throw in and get one of the jock kids out and since I knew how not to get hit, he would be out for a very long time. He he.
The game I liked best was similar to dodgeball. I believe it was called scatterball. 1 to 3 balls would be used and there were no boundaries. Everyone was for themselves and if you got hit, you were out. I was the best at this game. I figured out that you didn’t have to throw the ball hard to get people out. I used a 2 handed technique that not only hit my target, but would allow me to get the rebound and hit somone else.
We used to play a variant of dodgeball called Cu Chullain.
There were no border lines though. If you had the ball, you were an open target. Either you hit one of the other team with the ball, or you we jumped by your opponents. Whichever team had the ball, had control of the game. It was extremely violent, and had no athletic benefit whatsoever.
We were only 12 when we played it.
Then again, I am a product of an education system that teaches every child how to fight with lethal ash sticks and call it “hurling”. 
I hated dodgeball. I wouldn’t even play, but nobody knew that. I would stand way off to the side and wait until a few people were out before slinking off to the Out section and sitting down. There were a couple of times where I’ve almost won, but I never really played fair (I would just stand to the side or behind someone), because I didn’t want to get killed.
I have a lovely scar on my right knee from dodgeball. I went to a parochial elementary school and our “playground” was the church parking lot. In 5th grade at recess, dodgeball was a popular pasttime for those of us who didn’t like tag or kickball.
One fateful day, having been hit out, I was enroute to the sidelines when some doofus who wasn’t paying attention picked me for an easy target - after all, I was walking and not looking at the lines of throwers - DUH! Said doofus launchd a ball that caught me at foot level. Next thing I knew, I was on my bare knees (we had to wear jumpers), with a chunk of parking lot gravel imbedded in my right kneecap. I hobbled to the school nurse, who wiped away the blood and stuck a bandage on it. I probably should have had a couple of stitches, but parents and school nurses didn’t sweat that kinda stuff back then (circa 1965).
Just another traumatic event that made me who I am today…
Oh my. When I was in grade school we called it killer ball, with all that the term implies. If I remember correctly, the object was to hurt or maim as many of the other side as possible. My kids have to play this game in gym class regularily-and they all hate it. It’s nice to see that most schools are doing away with it.
You guys play with balls that hurt? :eek:
I loved dodgeball, but then we played with sponge balls.
Fran
I was the Zen Master of Dodgeball for some time–it was the only thing in PE that I was any good at until we started weightlifting. Unfortunately, everyone eventually figured out my Secret Weakness–I can’t hit a stationary target worth $#!*. I’ve been known to peg people running at top speed 30 feet away with a party balloon full of birdseed (an IFGS “throwing knife”), but miss people standing perfectly still within arm’s reach. It was weird, kind of like a dodgeball mixed with freeze-tag–if I had a ball in my hands, everyone I looked at froze until I got frustrated, threw, and missed. Then they ganged up on me.
We mostly used underinflated volleyballs, which didn’t hurt much. Of course, this is from the guy who voluntarily got clobbered with clubs several nights a week…
Damn straight we did. They hurt a lot.
We played it in my high school gym class all the way through senior year. We used volleyballs as the weapons of choice. And let me tell you, some of those big ol’ high school boys could really whip those things. It was always a better strategy to try to catch the projectile than avoid it. If you proved you were a good catch, the other team wouldn’t target you as often for fear that you would catch their throw and get them out.
I don’t remember being traumatized or anything by it, but I do remember getting whacked pretty good a few times. I was usually pretty good at catching or avoiding the shots. Too good, in fact. I was often the last one left on my team. This was not an ideal place to be when there were still three or four guys left on the opposing team. There would always come that point when they would suddenly get smart and say “Allright, lets all throw on the count of three!” There is nothing quite like the feeling as four hard volleyballs travelling simultaneously at just under the speed of sound (or so it seemed) race towards you and you know you can only catch one of them.
Oh, almost forgot. We didn’t call it Dodgeball either. It was usually Bombardment or MurderBall.