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 Just A little dodgyBanned on the playground, dodgeball bounces back big time Dodgeball was just one of those long-forgotten rites of passage. Once only played in gym class, it was torture for some, a chance to rule for others. The game was believed dangerous and commonly banned in schools, but it wouldn’t be forgotten. A 2004 movie, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” ignited a few die-hard fans, and the game came back. Dodgeball is cool outside school. Young and old flock to makeshift outdoor arenas and small auxiliary gymnasiums to hurl foam balls at other people. There are leagues, with tournaments. On facebook.com, there are thousands of groups dedicated to the game. At the Monroe County YMCA, Matt Osgood organizes a dodgeball league a few times a year. There were four teams in the summer league, including one from The Herald-Times. For the most part, the players are there to have fun and exercise with the fast-paced sport. But after several weeks of the same faces, competitiveness started to flare. “People end up taking it seriously,” Osgood said, “but it’s still fun. Rivalries come out of it. People get on each other’s nerves.” Osgood said he expects to have even more teams in the league that begins in September. The game is easy to learn, harder to be good at. Basically, the opposing teams line up behind their own lines, and the balls are placed on a center line that divides the sides. When the whistle blows, both teams rush to try to collect the balls. They then have to recross their starting lines before firing away from anywhere behind the center line. If the target catches the ball, you’re out. If it hits her, she’s out. If it misses, hits her head or she deflects the shot with a ball in her possesion, she’s safe. The winner is determined by the number of people left standing at the end of the match. In the summer league, teams met up on Tuesday nights. Marcio Sainz, of the Ivy Tech team, said he enjoyed taking out some aggression. He said his strategy for staying in the game involves not trying to catch the ball. Some opponents throw really hard. Even though the foam balls don’t hurt, they are elusive and easy to drop. Other strategies include a team agreeing to go after a certain player at once, in an effort to overpower her. Osgood — whose team won the tournament — said he started the season trying to catch balls to knock out opponents, but as the games went on that changed. “I started dropping everything,” he said. So he started waiting until opponents weren’t looking before launching a left-handed rocket. Just mentioning the Tuesday night revelry will draw smiles and jokes. Joining a league is a way to make friends. Sainz said he only knew two of his teammates before the season started. Tournaments, such as the corporate challenge at the Y, draw many more teams and hundreds of spectators. The next season is set to start in October. And, as coach Patches O’Houlihan (Rip Torn) said in the movie, “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” The rulesThe YMCA league follows the rules of the National Dodgeball Association of America, which was the American Dodgeball Association of America in the 2004 movie. There are six people per side, six regulation foam balls and five-minute games. Survival tips Wear a plain shirt, or wear uniforms. Often, the other team will single out a player to aim at based on a distinguishing characteristic. H-T Reporter Dann Denny thought his Superman shirt made him super, but it really made him a target. Other times, it’s the tallest player or the best player who the opposing team tries to knock out first.
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