Dodgeball!!!!!!!!!!

Even before the movie “Dodgeball” came out, rumors were surfacing about adult dodgeball leagues popping up in scattered places around the country. Dodgeball may sound like a game for kids. It may seem ridiculous. It may not add up to other “real” sports. It may also be incredibly fun!!!!! Needless to say, I wanted to get in on it. I’d tried to find info on it in the past, but usually came up with mixed results. Leagues would be to far away, out of season, or you’d be required to have set teams. One of Equipoise’s posts a while back reminded me to do a search in the Sacramento area. I happened to stumble across a group on MeetUp.com. No leagues, no commitment, just a bunch of people getting together to try to play pickup games once a month. I finally got my first chance to join them on Saturday.


The plan was to meet in Rosemont Community park at 4:00, and play on one of the tennis courts. One of courts apparently never has a net, so it’s a choice selection,; with the addition of two lines of athletic tape, the court is transformed into a dodgeball court. When I arrived, three others were there already; just finishing putting the tape on. As all pickup games go, people tend to trickle in after the meeting time. This allowed us to warm up our throwing arms a bit. It now occurred to me that throwing would actually be a large part of the game. Not good. As some of you may know, the only reason I don’t throw like a complete girl any more is because I had a girlfriend in college who taught me how to throw better.

Eventually, nine of us had gathered, which was deemed enough to start playing. Since these guys had been playing for a couple of months, they had modified the rules slightly to promote better play. Instead of having one center line to divide the court in half, there were two lines, which put a “common” area in between. Either team was allowed in the common area, meaning you really had to watch your sides if you were advancing to your line for a kill. The second rule they added was the one-on-one rule. If there’s only two players left, you can go anywhere on the court. This prevent strung out one-on-one situations; and in fact, made them go fast. Really fast.

I had a super fun time, and I hope to be able to make it next month also. We’re going to try to move it to a more visible location, and maybe attract more people. I highly recommend looking for a Dodgeball club in your area if possible, or check out MeetUp.com to see if there are pick up games happening.