Dodgeball Rules
Start of the Game
- Each team will start on their respective backcourt lines until the announcer starts the game.
- The balls will be placed at the center line (three balls to the left and three balls to the right of the centerline). Balls to the left belong to your team and may be retrieved by 3 players from your team at the start of the game.
- Players cannot immediately throw the ball when retrieved from the center line. Before throwing the first ball, all players run to the back line/back of the court.
Gameplay
- 6 players on each team is the court maximum. If you catch a ball with 6 players on the court, you do NOT get a 7th player.
- Each round is timed, to stay on track teams must be ready to play when called to the court. The game will start on time with the players that are there. If you cannot field 6 players of your team at start time, it is a loss.
- If a match finishes prior to the end time of the round, teams may continue to play until the other courts finish or the buzzer sounds. The first game played counts towards the bracket win/loss. Any extra games are for fun!
- If a player gets hit and his/her teammate catches the deflected ball in the air, the player is NOT out.
- Intentional delay of the game will result in loss of possession of all team balls.
- All referee decisions are final and any rule not covered above will be determined by the referee.
- If a player does not exit the court after getting hit and the referee blowing the whistle, the game will stop. If the player still does not exit, the team will be disqualified from the tournament.
- First team to completely eliminate the opposing team wins.
- If after regulation time (5 minutes) neither team has been eliminated, the team with more remaining players wins.
“Five Count to Throw”
- A player has five seconds to throw the ball to the other side upon picking the ball up. This violation results in the loss of the possession of all team balls.
Tie Breaker
- If there are an equal number of players remaining after regulation time, a sudden death period will decide the winner. Six shooters each have one ball to throw at one defender (30 seconds maximum time limit). The number of hits is recorded, the roles are reversed. The team with the most hits will be declared the winner.
Sportsmanship
- Proper sportsmanship conduct is expected from all teams at all times. Any behavior that implies or contains; inappropriate, offensive, language or symbols, is not permitted.
- Referees reserve the right to remove any player without prior warning if there are any incidents of unacceptable sportsmanship.
Methods of Getting “Out”
The ball is live until it touches ground, ceiling, walls or out of bounds.
- Players that cross the centerline receive 1 warning, if they cross the line a 2nd time they are eliminated from the game.
- You cannot stop a ball with a ball (by holding it), this will count as a direct hit and will eliminate this player.
- A player is eliminated if they are hit with a ball below the neck (ducking eliminates this rule).
- If a player ducks and gets hit in the head they are out. The ball is live until it hits the ground. The ball is dead once it touches the floor.
- If a teammate catches an opposing player's throw, the opposing player is eliminated and one teammate who was eliminated can return to the game (this is done in the order the players were eliminated, first eliminated player returns first).
Double Elimination Championship Rule
- If a team is undefeated in the championship round the other team must beat them twice to be the final winner since it's a double elimination tournament.
Please remember that this is a FUN event to benefit the Methacton Education Foundation. Everyone helping at the event are volunteers.
email: dodgeball@methactonfoundation.org
