Rules

Match overview

• Matches are 50 minutes in length, with roughly 25 minute halves and teams switching sides after half.
• Five dodgeballs will be used for each match. Dodgeball Nepean currently uses 7″ WDBF (World Dodgeball Federation) foam dodgeballs. At the start of the match, captains will decide who starts with three balls. The loser of every point starts with three balls after that.
• Once all players have been eliminated from one side, a point is awarded to the winning team.

Match start

• To start the match, each team stands at their respective back wall with three or two dodgeballs each (depending on who won) and will start the match by shouting, “3, 2, 1, Dodgeball”.
• Once play has started, players must remain on their own side of half.

Default conditions

• If your team is more than 10 minutes late then your team will lose by default, unless the opposing captain agrees to play the match with your team having less than the minimum number of required players.
• If you do not have a minimum of 2 women and 2 men then your team will lose by default unless the opposing captain agrees to go ahead with the match.
• When submitting scores, please submit a score of 1-0 in favour of the team that did not default.

Mercy rule

• If a team is down by more than 15 points at the start of the second half, captains can decide to end the match early and play for fun.

Team composition

• Teams are comprised of a maximum of 6 players on the court, with a minimum of 2 women and 2 men.
• A team can play with a minimum of 4 people, as long as 2 of the players are women and 2 are men.
• The 6 players that start each point are the only players that can play during that particular point.
  • If a player becomes injured during the point, they can be substituted for another player (male for male and female for female, if possible).
• Substitute players must wait until the next point before playing. Teams can alter their roster for each point, as long as the gender requirements are met.

Area of play

• The area of play is a rectangular area split in half by a half-court line.
• The half-court and side lines are considered “soft”. Touching the line is allowed, but stepping over will cause elimination.
• A player must have at least one point of contact in-bounds for a throw or catch to count.
• Players can lean over the half-court line to retrieve a ball, but the player cannot cross onto the opponent’s side of the court.
  • If any part of a player touches the other side, that person is out.
• Players cannot jump from their own side of half-court and land on their opponent’s side in an attempt of getting an opponent out. Only the thrower is out in this scenario.
• Players cannot hide in areas that conceal (or partially conceal) their body or remain outside the rectangular area of play for an unfair advantage.
• If a player has to step out of bounds to grab a ball, they should raise their hand to indicate that they are no longer in play and drop it once they re-enter.
  • Opposing teams should wait until out of bound players return before attempting to throw at them.
• If a ball rolls out of bounds, whichever side it rolled out of is where it should return into play.

Pace of play

To maintain the pace of play, Dodgeball Nepean has implemented the following rules:

• The team with the most balls have a 5-second count to throw, as soon as it is determined that they have more balls. The count only starts once a player has a ball in hand. Timekeepers are optional so teams are asked to respect the count.
• If a team does not throw a ball within 5 seconds of the timekeeper’s count (if available), they lose all the balls to the other team.
• Players should refrain from using the unique structure of a gym to gain an unfair advantage in the match (i.e. throwing the ball high off the wall to reset the count).
• If a ball rolls out of bounds, immediately return it to the side on which it rolled out of. You may either pass it to a teammate or roll it to the back wall.
• If balls hits eliminated/substitute players, they should pass any ball that could have made it over if it was uninterrupted.
• Every time that only 1 player from each team remains, players will have 30 seconds to eliminate each other. After 30 seconds has passed, remaining players cannot block. If players block, they are eliminated.

Live-ball vs. dead-ball

• A live-ball is defined as a ball that has been released by an opposing player. It can eliminate a player by being hit by it.
  • If a live-ball hits a player or ball and ricochets onto another player (and so on), it is still considered a live-ball.
• A dead-ball is defined as a ball that has hit the floor, walls, ceiling or any other obstacles around the court that is not a player or another ball. A player is not eliminated after being hit by a dead-ball.
  • If a ball is thrown by a player who crosses the middle line, the ball is considered a dead-ball.
  • If a ball is kicked or slapped in an attempt to eliminate a player, the ball is considered a dead-ball.
  • If a ball hits a player that is already eliminated, the ball is considered a dead-ball.
  • If a ball hits an opposing ball before hitting a player, the ball is considered a dead-ball.

Hitting players

• A player is out if they are hit by a live-ball.
  • If a player is hit in the head, they are still considered out however they will receive a warning.
  • If a player’s clothing and accessories are hit, they are still considered out.
  • If a thrower’s ball ricochets off an opposing player’s ball and knocks that ball out, that is considered a disarm and the opposing player is out.
• A player who hits an opposing player in the head will get a warning. After their third warning, they will be ejected from the match.
• Once a player is out, they should raise their hand to avoid confusion as to who is out and exit the area of play, without interrupting the flow of the match as much as possible.
• There is no referee during matches. Players are asked to be honest in calling their own outs.
  • If a dispute remains, captains are encouraged to stop the match and discuss what happened and arrive to an agreed upon conclusion.

Catching

• A legal catch is defined as one where a player is in full control of the ball, with at least one point of contact on the court.
  • If a player is fumbling with the ball and doesn’t gain control until after the other player has already made a secure catch then the player with the secure catch is the legal catch.
  • If a catch is made while holding a ball, it is considered legal.
  • If a hit happens just before a catch on a player, the catch is considered legal if the ball that hit the player is still live (i.e. has yet to hit the floor, ceiling…etc.)
• When a live-ball is caught by an opposing player, the thrower is out. In addition, a player from the opposing team previously eliminated can return to the point.
  • Players must return in the order that they were eliminated.
• Upon returning to the point, you must immediately touch the back of the court before you are considered a live player.
• When a thrower from each team catches each other’s ball, only the first catch counts since the other player would be out before a legal catch is made.
  • If it cannot be determined who caught first, then both catches are nullified and play resumes.
• A trapped catch is defined as an attempted catch that is difficult to judge (i.e. catches it very close to the ground). The catch is typically nullified, but captains should convene to determine on an agreed outcome.

Sportmanship, honesty and respect

Dodgeball is a game of honesty. Without it, the integrity of the sport is lost. At Dodgeball Nepean, because there are no referees, we expect players to call themselves out when they get hit. We also expect players on the same team to call players out if they see it. Should you see a player get hit on the opposing team and not go out, you must speak to your captain. Only captains should discuss if there issues across the court.

Dodgeball is also a game of respect. Should a ball hit above the shoulders, players should apologize after the point. While it counts as a legal hit, it should not be the intention.

Dodgeball Nepean will not tolerate any form of excessive behaviour, bullying, threats, personal violence, or physical confrontation. Any person or teams found violating this will be ejected from the league. If a physical confrontation were to occur, both parties will be ejected from the league with no refund. Players/teams may also be ejected from the league with no refund if there are repeated incidents or complaints. We suggest teams contact us if teams witness any of this sort of behaviour.