Dodgeball

Dodgeball (or dodge ball) is the name of a traditional game taught in physical education classes in the USA as well as other such parts of the world, usually in elementary school, but is played in middle and high school as well. It is also popular in informal settings and is often played by schoolchildren on a playground or in a gymnasium. There are many variations of the game, but each involve players trying to avoid being hit by a ball that players on the other team are throwing at them.

The sport of dodgeball is experiencing new growth in recent years, often attributed to the 2004 release of the film "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story". While the 2004 comedy can be partially attributed to the rebirth of the sport, the resurgence of dodgeball in certain areas was in full-swing before the movie debut. Leagues such as the National Amateur Dodgeball Association (formed in 2000), the International Dodgeball Federation (formed in 1996), and other emerging entities such as the National Dodgeball League, National Dodgeball Association, and others have all existed since before the popularization of the sport through the media. The rebirth of this, and other school yard games, might also be attributed to the growth in popularity of culture, movies, and fashion of past decades such as the 1980s.

Dodgeball, when it emerged in about 1922, was touted as the "nerd's sport".^{[citation needed]} Since players normally were not part of a team, no player had to endure the teasing that would fall upon a player accused of "causing the team to lose." As well, the game was seen as having a light-hearted and self-deprecatory nature and, therefore, more amenable to non-athletic students.^{[citation needed]} Dodgeball advocates also argue that dodgeball is a way for more aggressive students to use their violent energy on soft foam balls, rather than with their fists when they aren't under the supervision of a gym class teacher.

However, dodgeball has come under attack for failing to meet the needs of precisely those students. Opponents of dodgeball have argued that the game provides, for bullies, the excuse to abuse unathletic and unpopular students, by throwing the ball hard enough to cause injury. The aim of the variant King sting or Brandings is to throw the ball at others as hard as possible. In some cases, the rule may be used that a player hit above the shoulders is not out; this discourages the dangerous practice of aiming for the face.

After a series of publicized dodgeball injuries in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many schools have removed the game from their physical-education requirements, and some have even banned the game entirely.^{[citation needed]}

Many other schools, however, have taken a more moderate approach, allowing dodgeball by using soft foam balls instead of harder rubber balls. Many schools avoid the no dodgeball rule, simply by renaming the sport and adding an extra rule or two (ex. free all your teams players by making a basket on the opposite side of the gym). Most of the schools that still play dodgeball also implement a variation on the "head shot" rule, where a person that throws a head shot is called out, much as if his victim had caught the ball.^{[citation needed]}

A second regional dodgeball league is in Boston, Massachusetts. The league began with Cambridge-based Lesley College's club dodgeball team before spreading out to neighboring schools. Currently, students from Bentley College and the Art Institute of Boston regularly gather once a week to play. The league is less formal than the MDC and more closely aligned with the NADA ruleset. Occasionally, the three main schools will band together into one team to play a formal match against another school. Previous matches have been against MIT and Harvard. The league ordinarily plays at Lesley College, but has played at both MIT and Bentley in efforts to spread the game.

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