The playground game has gained followers from all ages and many countries around the world, including Australia and Pakistan.
LINDSEY BESECKER
Sports editor
BEN YOUNG/PHOTO EDITOR
What once was a playground game in elementary school has now taken adults by storm and has even led to intramural sports teams at Pepperdine.
That’s right, dodgeball – also known as war ball, chain ball and prison ball – has become the “it” sport of the year, especially after the summer release of Ben Stiller’s movie, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”
“I think part of it is the movie that helped a little bit,” said junior Karl Kalinkewicz, who plays intramural dodgeball at Pepperdine. “Everybody remembers playing dodgeball as a kid, kind of like how we played four-square last year. I think the old-school nostalgic feel of kindergarten and the days of yore has contributed to the popularity.”
Sophomore Kenny Felkel said he believes the recent popularity of the sport is a result of the movie.
“People saw that dodgeball is kind of a fun sport, and it brings people back to the days of elementary school,” Felkel said. “It has a little nostalgia effect.”
According to the International Dodgeball Federation’s official Web site, www.dodge-ball.com, the federation was started in 1996 by Rusty Walker.
In 1998, the federation formed rules and equipment committees. Now there are teams all over the country and the world.
Most recently, the federation welcomed the Pakistan Dodgeball Federation to its organization. Australia and Puerto Rico have also recently formed organizations.
“I think that’s great,” Kalinkewicz said. “I really want to see dodgeball as an Olympic sport.”
While children still make up the majority of the game’s participants, adults age 25 to 35 were the fastest growing group in 2004, according to the IDBF Web site.
The Los Angeles Dodgeball Society offers games in Hollywood, Silver Lake and West Los Angeles.
Even gyms are getting into the dodgeball craze. In Hollywood, Crunch gym is offering dodgeball once a week.
“I think it’s a fad,” senior Leslie Pacheco said. “It was fun when you were in elementary school. I’m just surprised that people are as into it as they are.”
The official league and tournament balls for the International Dodgeball Federation’s games are not the red rubber balls most people are used to seeing. Instead, they are yellow with a red target on one side, which is the logo for the IDBF. They also have a polyester fabric cover to help take away the sting most people remember from elementary playground dodgeball games.
Felkel and his intramural dodgeball team, the Shockers, are in third place out of 10 teams.
“When I was a small child I realized that dodgeball was my sport,” Felkel said. “When they finally offered it at Pepperdine I realized I could dominate every aspect of it. It was probably the single greatest experience of my life, because of the fun, because of the fellowship and because of the dodgeball.”
Pacheco, the student coordinator for intramurals, said she was surprised by the turnout for the first-year sport.
“There’s a lot of interest,” Pacheco said. “Having 10 teams for the first year is quite good. Some teams are so serious. There are some teams that even have uniforms. They are into this. It gets pretty intense.”
Intramural dodgeball games began in September and are played Wednesday nights at the Rockwell Towers basketball courts. The season will end before students go on Thanksgiving break.
According to the IDBF official rules, there are six players on a team for indoor games and 10 players on a team for outdoor games.
Other rules in the federation’s 48-page rulebook include definitions and rules that get so technical that they define what type of sweatbands may be worn by players (headbands are allowed, but wristbands must never be worn).
The sport’s popularity has spread to television as well. The Game Show Network is showing “Extreme Dodgeball” every Thursday, a show where teams battle to win $25,000 at the end of the season.
“I enjoyed the show,” Kalinkewicz said. “There’s always teams that have a lot of character to them. There’s a sumo wrestling team and there’s definitely a team of midgets. I watch it whenever I see it on TV.”
The IDBF is not the only organization promoting dodgeball across the United States.
The National Amateur Dodgeball Association (www.dodgeballusa.com) also offers tournaments, and players compete for the Bexley Cup, which is awarded to teams that win outdoor and indoor championships in the same season. The association recently welcomed a chapter at UCLA.
“I really wouldn’t even call it a craze,” Pacheco said. “It was just something we wanted to add. I kind of wanted it last year but then the movie came out over the summer and so we decided to do it.”
For more information on the Los Angeles Dodgeball Society, visit www.dodgeball4ever.com.
11-04-2004
