Dodgeball Dodgeball
If you need this game explained, this might not be the page for you…
This is dodgeball. You know, dodgeball. Surely you don’t need us to explain how to play dodgeball… Ok, we’ll explain dodgeball. You need to split your group into teams of five or six, with a similar number of large, sponge balls as you have players in each team. Two teams play at a time – you could play winner stays on, or do a knockout tournament, depending on how many teams you have. Split your space in half, with the balls lined up in the middle and each team at the back of their half. When you say go, teams run to collect the balls. Players are eliminated by being hit with a ball (thrown by the opposition) below the neck (without it bouncing), or by having a ball they’ve thrown caught before it has bounced. If a ball is caught, one eliminated player from the catching team can re-join the game (in the order they were eliminated). The winning team is the one with the last player(s) standing.
Prison Dodgeball
This game is so-named because it’s exactly how they play dodgeball in jail. Set up the game in the same way as in ‘Dodgeball dodgeball’, but at the back of each team’s playing area, mark out an area you can name ‘jail’. Start the game similarly, but when players are knocked out, they go to the area behind the opposition team. During the game, if they manage to catch a ball thrown by their own team, before it bounces, they re-enter the game.
Solo Dodgeball
Because sometimes, you just need to play dodgeball on your own.
This game of dodgeball requires an equally large space, but only one ball. Get your group into the space and throw the ball into the crowd. When a person possesses the ball, they’re not allowed to move, but can throw it, and eliminate any other player – it’s a free for all! Everyone without the ball can keep moving. There’s no ‘catch the ball’ rule here either; if you catch the ball, you’re out. (If you’re mean, at the start of each round, you can throw the ball to a young person, who is eliminated if they smugly catch the ball.) As soon as a player possesses the ball, they can’t move. Once the game is down to four, everyone else circles the room, with one foot on the wall at all times, and can join in, throwing the ball at the people left in, as can the remaining players. The winner is the last ‘dodger’ standing.
Running Dodgeball
Dodge, duck, dip, dive, dodge… repeatedly…
Similarly to solo dodgeball, this is an every-teenagers- for-themselves type of game. Get the group congregated at one end of the room with leaders along the edge, dodgeballs at the ready. On your word, the young people run to the opposite end of the room a-la British Bulldog, dodging the balls thrown by the leaders (three balls is a good number). This game works best when you call out a few from the group at time, such as boys, girls, people wearing blue, 14-yearolds etc. Anyone hit is eliminated and moves to the side.
Mega Dodgeball
Imagine if dodgeball was… bigger.
Take the basic rules of dodgeball, but expand it to a bigger playing area. Split your group in two and place a few balls in the middle of your playing space, with teams at either end of the area. When you start the game, everyone and every ball is in play; don’t split your field in two, but allow everyone to run everywhere. Players can be dismissed by being hit beneath the shoulders or by having one of their throws caught. The last team standing wins.
Jamie Cutteridge is the editor of Premier Youthwork and a very competitive dodgeball player.
