indoor natatorium

Dodgeball Rules

All games will be governed by the 2007 Official ASA Slow Pitch Rule Book with the following Texas A&M Intramural Sports modifications:

Players and Equipment

  1. Each participant must present a current Texas A&M student or a Rec Membership ID card in order to be eligible to participate. If a participant has lost his/her ID card, a Lost ID letter may be obtained from the Intramural Supervisor desk. However, you must have some form of picture ID in order to play.
  2. Each team shall consist of six (6) players. Each team must have a minimum of four (4) players in order to begin a game. A co-rec team shall consist of three (3) men and three (3) women per team. Each co-rec team must have a minimum of four (4) players (at least two (2) of each sex) in order to begin the game.         
  3. Game balls will be provided for each game. 
  4. Shoes: Tennis shoes are the recommended footwear. No black-soled shoes that may mark the floor are permitted. Sandals, street shoes, combat boots, or hiking boots are not allowed. No player will be allowed to participate in bare feet.
  5. Jewelry: No jewelry or any other item deemed dangerous by the Intramural Staff may be worn during play. Any player wearing exposed permanent jewelry (i.e. body piercings) will not be permitted to play.
  6. There will be no hats, bandanas, or hard barrettes worn during play. Cloth (elastic) bands may be used to control the hair.
  7. Players may wear soft, pliable pads or braces on the leg, knee, and/or ankle. Braces may not have any exposed metal and/or screws. Braces made of any hard material (including plastic) must be covered with a padded sleeve or at least one-half inch padding for safety reasons. Under no circumstances will a player wearing a cast or splint be permitted to play.
  8. If eyeglasses are worn, they must be unbreakable. Each player is responsible for the safety of his/her own glasses.

Game Format

  1. A team must have the minimum number of players to start a game. If there are an insufficient number of players, the team will have 10 minutes to get the minimum number of players to show. Play will start as soon as the team has the minimum number of players present. The minimum number of players to start a game is four.
  2. Forfeits: A forfeit will be declared after the 10 minute wait period. During the 10 minute wait period, a team will be penalized for showing up late. Below are the guidelines for being penalized.
    • 5 minutes:  The team that does not have enough players will lose Game 1.
    • 10 minutes:  The game will be forfeited with a score of 2-0.
  3. A match will consist of a best three (3) out of five (5) games series. Each match will have an 8-minute time limit with a continuously running clock. If time expires before the completion of the game, the team with the most players remaining on the court will be declared the victor. If both teams have the same number of players remaining on the court, a sudden death overtime game will be played with the remaining players on the court at the end of regulation to determine the winner of the game.
  4. Sudden Death Overtime: The game will begin with each team having its remaining players at the end of regulation on the court with two (2) balls in hand. The first team to eliminate any ONE (1) opposing player will be declared the winner. No timeouts will be allowed during overtime.
  5. All matches will be officiated by two (2) officials. The officials will be responsible for determining if a player is OUT and returning game balls to the playing field that would have otherwise not re-entered the field of play (i.e. the basketball court). All decisions made by the officials are final.
  6. Each match will begin with a coin toss. The team winning the toss will have its choice of either side of the court. Teams will alternate sides following each game.
  7. Each game will begin with the players of each team standing on the baseline of its respective side of the court.
  8. The officials will line six (6) balls along the center line and then assume their positions. There will be two different sizes of balls. The breakdown will be 3 large ball and 3 small balls or the head official will then signal play to begin.
  9. Following the signal by the official, teams may approach the center line to retrieve the balls; this is known as the Opening Rush. 

Rules of the Game

  1. The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them OUT.
  2. An OUT is scored by:
    1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders.
    2. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent.
    3. Causing an opponent to drop a held ball as a result of contact by a thrown LIVE ball. (Usually occurs when a ball is being used to block a thrown ball.) 
    4. A player crosses any of the boundary lines on the court and touches an area outside of the boundary in an attempt to dodge a ball.  The boundary lines are the outer and center lines of the basketball court. 
  3. A LIVE ball is a thrown ball that strikes or is caught by an opposing player without/before contacting the ground, another player, ball, official, or other object.
  4. Once a player is OUT, he/she must immediately exit the playing field and report to his/her team’s players’ box. Each player in the players’ box must line up in the order that he/she got OUT.
  5. If a LIVE ball is caught, then one player from the team that caught the ball is allowed to re-enter the game. The player that will be permitted to re-enter the game will be the next player in line in the players’ box.
  6. Deflections off the floor, wall, court dividers, or officials do not count as an out if caught. Deflections off a teammate do count, and both players are out.
  7. If a ball hits another ball, which a player has in their possession, it does not make either player out. If the ball is dropped as a result of contact from the thrown ball, then the players who drops the ball is out.
  8. If a ball hits another ball, which a player has in their possession, and that ball is caught by a teammate, the person who threw the ball is out. If a ball hits another ball, which a player has in their possession and that ball hits a teammate, the person who was hit is out.
  9. Retrieving balls: All players are confined to the out of bounds lines. Players may intentionally leave the playing area on their own baseline of the court to retrieve a ball. If a players goes out of bounds to avoid getting out, the official will call them out. If a player is hit out of bounds while retrieving a ball, no one will be out. 
  10. Stalling Rule: If it becomes apparent that a player is maintaining possession of a ball for an extended period of time, the official, under his/her own discretion, can implement a 10-second stalling count. The 10-second count will be issued for a particular player(s). If at the end of the 10-second count the same player(s) is still in possession of the ball, then that player(s) will be considered OUT. If in the course of the match, a player(s) habitually violates the stalling rule, then the official may issue a technical foul to the player(s).
  11. Time-outs:  Each team will be given two (1) 30-second time-out for the match. Only the official’s whistle starts and stops the clock. All players are in jeopardy until the official sounds the whistle AND signals the beginning of a time-out or the end of regulation time. Following the time-out, play will resume with the same number of players and balls on each side as when the time-out was granted. No remaining time-outs will be honored during overtime. The game clock stops during all time-outs. 
    Exception: All LIVE balls in flight at the time of an official’s signal to end regulation time or begin a time-out remain LIVE until they become dead and may eliminate an opponent if contacted.
  12. Substitutions: Substitutions will only be allowed during the period between games.
  13. Keeping the game competitive: Once a team is down to (2) players, the boundary lines will be reduced to the volleyball court.

The Officials and Conduct of Conduct

  1. Intramural officials will be used to officiate intramural dodgeball. All decisions by officials are final. ARGUING A DECISION WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! Players arguing after given a warning will be given a “technical” and will have to sit out for the remainder of that game. If a second “technical” is given to the same player during the entire match, that player will be ejected from play and will have to be reinstated by the league administrator before being allowed to play again.
  2. Verbal Conduct: The use of profane language directed to one’s self or another will not be tolerated. Arguing with an official or player in an unsportsmanlike manner will not be tolerated. Failure to abide by this rule may result in consequences listed above.
  3. Ejections: A player ejected from a match shall not participate in that match again. The official may eject a player from the court area if deemed necessary. If ejected from the court area, the player shall leave within two minutes. Failure to do so will result in that team to forfeit the game. An ejected player is automatically disqualified from ALL intramural contest in all sports until they see the proper staff member in charge of that sport.