Dodge This

The first dodgeball game has been played. The first team has been conquered. Let's do a recap:

Team Name: Our Balls Hurt

(Note: Every team name we came up with had some sort of play on "balls". Ball Busters, Blue Balls, House of Balls...we're going to get kicked out of the league for being perverts. Hee hee.)

Number of times I fell out of bounds: 1

Number of times I was hit: 2

Number of people I hit: 11

Number of balls I caught: 0

Number of times I shrieked like a little girl: 1

Number of games we played: 6

Number of games my team won: 5

Number of times I was the last player and led my team to winning: 1

Number of times I was directly responsible for my team losing: 0

Number of times I yelled "Strobbe, watch your balls!": 1

Number of times I yelled "John, give me one of your balls!": 1

Number of times I yelled "Dude, I got some balls for you!": 7

Dodgeball was fun. Kathy and I were talking before the game...we were both petrified and having flash backs to the trauma of playing dodgeball in grade school. This trauma was reinforced when the guys on our team decided to warm up by chucking balls at each others' heads.

I was surprisingly agile on the court. I would like to extend a sincere debt of gratitude to Brett, for all those years while we were growing up when he would randomly throw objects (some soft, some sharp) at my head. It was either duck or be bludgeoned.

We play again tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. For those of you who have blocked dodgeball from your memory, the league rules are below.

The Rules

1. Games will be played until all participants on one team have been eliminated.
2. Teams will play as many games as possible for 30 minutes. The team who wins the most games during that duration is the winner. If a winner has not been determined by the end of the time limit the team with the most players at the end will win the game. If both teams have the same amount of people they will play sudden death until one person is eliminated.
3. To start the game three dodgeballs will be placed on each side of the center line at the ten-foot spiking line (red line ten feet away from the center line on each side of the court).
4. All team members will start at opposite ends of the court with their feet behind the back red out-of-bounds line.
5. On the whistle, each team will run to their red line to obtain a dodgeball.
6. Teams must then run back to the free-throw line before they can throw a ball.
7. If a player is hit by a fly ball, before it hits the floor and after being thrown by a player on the opposing team that player is out.
8. If a player catches a fly ball, the thrower is out. In Addition: The other team returns an eliminated player to their team. Players come back into the game in the order they were eliminated.
9. A player who is hit in the head (if they did not duck) is not out. The thrower is out. If the player hit in the head did duck, there is no consequence and they are out.
10. A ball deflected by a held ball, whether caught or not, does not result in player elimination. Once a ball is deflected off another ball it becomes dead.
11. A ball rebounding off a catch attempt may be caught before it hits the floor by any in-bound player on the hit player’s team. It may not hit the wall or basketball goal. The result of this catch will be the elimination of the person throwing the ball and entry of another person from the same team. The hit player is out.
12. If a player tries to deflect a thrown ball with a held ball and the held ball is dropped, that player is out.
13. If a player steps over the center line or outside their own playing area they are eliminated. Any body part touching the red line is considered out-of-bounds.
14. If a player catches a ball and then steps out of bounds, the player who stepped out of bounds is out and the player who threw the ball is still in the game. You must possess the ball and stay in bounds to eliminate a player on the opposite team.
    
    
    VARIATION:
    
    1. When there is only one person left on a team, that person can attempt to hit a target at the other end of the court to let everyone on his/her team back into the game.
    
    2. The target will be the square or the rim of the basketball goal on the opposing team’s court.
    
    3. Each team may use this variation once per game.