Running with a ball doesn’t have the same effect as hitting people with one. Just ask members of the 24 teams participating in the inaugural season of intramural co-ed dodgeball.
It’s madness, insanity, craziness… war.
The rules are quite simple; six people on the floor for each team, three girls and three guys. Each game has a time limit of seven minutes, but it usually doesn’t last that long. The first team to win six games wins the match.
Obviously, the object of the game is to hit players on the opposing team without them catching the ball, but to reduce injury, head-hunting is prohibited.
Even though dodgeball is only a co-rec league, games are taken extremely seriously. For example, after a girl on Team Min was eliminated last week by a player on the Beercats, she was reintroduced to the taste of yellow foam balls. While she was walking off the frozen tundra, she took another two devastating shots to the head. No penalties were awarded due to a stipulation found on page 45 of the rule book that states once a player is eliminated, they then remain on the court only at their own risk.
There are also many set plays and much strategy involved in intramural dodgeball. A popular play among teams is to have the three fastest members run to the balls after the opening whistle, so they could toss them back to stronger teammates that stayed behind. One strategy used by a female player after getting hit by a male was to stare down the guilty victim, trying to make him feel bad.
Besides for the sheer enjoyment of eliminating opponents, dodgeball offers many more benefits. It provides many opportunities to “relieve so much stress,” Beercat member Melissa Hernandez exclaimed.
If you’re interested in signing up for dodgeball next fall, or any other intramural sport, check out intramurals.binghamton.edu or stop by the office in the East Gym. Remember, if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
Team Min star Aaron Moriarty has had so much fun this season he said, “I would try out if we had a Division I dodgeball team!”