Dodgeball is a physical and competitive outdoor game for four or more players. All you need is a ball and a wide area.
Today, dodgeball is also played as an official sport, but it is known to have
originated about 200 years ago in
Africa as a deadly tribal training game played with stones. In the 19th century, James H. Carlisle introduces a milder version of the game in England, using a leather ball. It has been played
worldwide in varying forms.
The gameplay: Players divide into two teams. The first team lines up on two opposite sides of a field, about 10 meters apart. The second team stands in the middle area.
The first team tries to hit the middle players with the ball by throwing it back and forth quickly from one end to the other. The middle team tries to dodge the ball without leaving the play
area. A player hit by the ball is out.
If a dodging team player catches the ball in the air, they earn a “life,” which allows them to stay in the game even if they get hit later or to bring back a previously eliminated teammate.
If the last player in the middle survives, for example, 10 consecutıve throws, the dodging team wins the round. Otherwise, the throwing team wins.
The teams switch roles and the game continues.
PS. As of 2004, seveal states in the US banned dodgeball from being played in schools, suggesting that this game could emotionally damage children. What a privilige it is to
live in world so sensitive to emotional and physical well-being of the children!
