Dodgeball Rules

• 6 players per team max to start games (4 men max/2 women min)
• Teams may play with no less than 4 players (1 woman minimum)
• If a team has fewer than 4 players a forfeit will be awarded
• Teams may play with 4 players in any ratio as long as at least one player is a woman
• Teams must start at game time if the minimum number of players are present
• Men may only throw the large balls but can use either for blocking. Women can throw either ball
• Rosters are not limited in size, but no additional players may be added to the roster after the 3rd week. If you are short-handed during the season you may pick up another ZogSports player(s) not on your roster for the game. See below “Picking Up Players” for details. Waivers must be signed by all players and handed in before the start of the first game. PLAYERS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY GAME WITHOUT SIGNING THE WAIVER

PICKING UP PLAYERS

• Since occasionally, teams may be short players and ZogSports wants everyone to be able play every game possible, we permit teams to pick up non-roster, ZogSports players for your game. Before you get too excited, there are penalties and limitations.
• You should be able to field the minimum requirement of players with only roster players. ZogSports will allow teams to pick-up a maximum of 2 players/game. If you pick up players, your roster can never exceed 6 people.
• For each non-roster player added you will lose 1 point for the player missing and 1 point for the player stepping in, i.e; if you add 2 players you start down 4 points, for each match.
• Picked up player(s) must start the game “out” and wait for re-entry (a catch) to join the game
• If a roster player arrives at the court after the game has started, the non-roster player must be replaced by the roster player and the non-roster player may not re-enter the game
• A forfeit will be given to any team who picks up players and does not inform the referee
• Protests in regards to non-roster players must be made before leaving the court
• DURING THE PLAYOFFS, ONLY PLAYERS ON YOUR ROSTER ARE ALLOWED TO PLAY

FORMAT 

• 3 teams will play round-robin style for 1 hour
• Each team will play the other two teams twice (i.e., each team will play a total of 4 games/night)
• In round robin play, the winner of the hour’s first match may choose whether to play the 2^nd match or sit.

COURT BOUNDARIES

• Court will be marked with sidelines, ¾ lines, and a center line, all indicated by the referee’s explanation of existing gym markings. There is no back line boundary.
• There is no backline boundary (unless otherwise specified by the referee) until EITHER team has one (1) player left in the game. When there is only one (1) player remaining on a team, ALL remaining players from BOTH teams must stay in front of their respective boundaries. Any ball caught behind the backline boundary will NOT count and both players will remain in. If the team with 1 player left makes a catch/re-entry, play will continue with normal boundaries.
• Players are allowed to travel out-of-bounds to recover a dead ball or catch a live ball. The court lines are out-of-bounds
• Players are not to remain out-of-bounds

GLADIATOR RULE

• When each team has one individual left on the court, the referee will quickly blow his whistle to signal Gladiator period has begun. *Gladiator does not begin until the referee signals
• Each player may travel anywhere within the legal boundaries of the court. Players are allowed to travel out of bounds to retrieve/catch a ball
• The match is over once someone is hit with a live ball or a live ball is caught
• To avoid collisions, throws must be made from a safe distance (I.E. no contact made on follow-through; contact made on follow-throw will result in ejection/suspension)

SCORING

•  At the end of a game the referee will record the score based on how many players are left (i.e., if Team A had 3 players left and Team B has 0, the score is 3-0)
• If a ball is caught to end a game (which normally results in the re-entry of a teammate), the winning team only receive credit for the players that were on the court at the time of the catch – the re-entry will not be counted in the scoring (i.e. if Team A had 4 players on the court and caught a ball thrown by Team B to end the game, Team A gets credit for having 4 players on the court.)
• If a game should end before 7 minutes is up the referee will count how many players were left on the court for each side and issue a Quick Restart. The teams will go the same sides and start a second game from the beginning.
• There can be as many Quick Restarts as possible time-wise in each official game
• If more than one game is played in a 7-minute period, the winning team will be the team with the highest combined score (e.g., if Team A won the first game 3-0, but after the Quick Restart, Team B has 5 players left and Team A has only 1 at the end of time, Team B would win 5-4)
• Games will not be restarted with less than 30 seconds left in a match
• If the initial game in the 7-minute period should reach the 5 minute mark, the referee will blow the whistle to start the lightning round. Players will be allowed to attack up to the other team’s ¾ line until the next reset.
• Regular season games can end in a tie.

TEAM REFEREES

The team not playing can help the ZogSports Head Referee officiate the game. Be clear in your call and raise your hand to get the attention of the head referee if necessary (player is not listening to your call). The reffing team shall position themselves:
1. One player directly across from the head ref
2. Two additional players on the far side, one on each end line
3. The balance on the same side as the head referee

The ZogSports head referee has final decision on any disputes and may overrule the referees from the third team if the referee had a clear view of the play

PLAYER ELIMINATION 

Term Definitions:

Live Ball – a thrown by the offensive team that has not yet touched the ground, walls, ceiling, or player already out.

Dead Ball – a thrown ball that touches the ground, ceiling, walls, or player who is already out.

The THROWER is OUT when:

• A defender catches a live ball – One player also returns to the defender’s side
• If the defender’s team already has 6 players on the court, no one can enter or re-enter. A team can never have more than 6 people on the court at one time
• Throwing a ball at the opposition while out of bounds regardless of if someone was hit or not
• A male throws one of the small (female only) balls. This includes throwing a small (female only) ball at/to a player as a decoy.
• Stepping or reaching over the center line (if in the lightning round, the ¾ line)
• Standing out of bounds for more than 5 seconds at the warning of the referee
• Hit defender in the head while defender is standing reasonably upright.

The DEFENDER is OUT when: 

• Hit by a live ball
• Clothing is considered part of the player’s body
• An attempt to catch a live ball is dropped
• Ball blocked or deflected by a player using another ball, hits the defender before hitting the ground, wall, ceiling, or player that is already out.
• Ball ricochets off a teammate and hits into another defender while still live – In this case BOTH defenders are out
• Ball is blocked into oneself and falls to the ground
• Blocking ball is dropped as a result of contact from a live ball – the player who drops the ball is out
• A player may block a live ball and catch the live ball as long as they make a clear/intentional motion to throw away the ball currently in their possession
• In the eyes of the referee a player did not make a clear/intentional motion to throw away the ball currently in their possession in order to catch an incoming ball as opposed to simply just dropping the ball
• Players may catch an incoming ball while hanging onto the ball currently in their possession
• Leaving the playing area to avoid being hit. One foot must be in bounds as per “college” dodgeball rules – Players are allowed to go out-of-bounds to recover a dead ball or catch a live ball. If a player is hit with a live ball while out-of-bounds, they are out. The player must immediately return to the court after retrieving/catching the ball or they can be called out at the discretion of the referee
• Stepping or reaching over the center line (if in the lightning round, the ¾ line)
• Standing out of bounds for more than 5 seconds at the warning of the referee

Players REMAIN IN when:

• Hit by a ball thrown by the opposition when the thrower was out of bounds/stepped over center line
• Hit in the head by a thrown ball
• Head shots resulting clearly from the defender dodging or ducking result in the defender being out (i.e. you can’t get the other team out by “blocking” with your head)
• Hit by a ball thrown by a player who stepped over the center line o It does not matter whether the player was hit or not before the thrower stepped over the line
• Hit by a ball and it is then caught by another teammate before hitting the ground, wall, or ceiling

PLAYER RE-ENTRY

A player may re-enter the game if and only if that player’s team catches a live ball and their team has fewer than 6 players on the court. A player who is waiting to re-enter is now a substitute and must follow substitution rules.

SUBSTITUTION

• Players who do not start must stand in line on the sideline
• Players who were in the game and called out will proceed to the end of the line in the order in which they were eliminated.
• Players will return to the game in the order in which they are standing in line. End of the line begins next to the referee at mid-court. Players enter near end line
• No more than 2 males may enter the game consecutively UNLESS all available females are currently on the court
• There may NEVER be more than 6 total players and NEVER more than 4 Men on the court at one time
• Substitutes are out of play and may not interfere with play on the court, such as: o Preventing a ball from going to the other side of the court

Equipment Abuse

• Individuals are not allowed to wear gloves or hard helmets while playing
• Individuals are not allowed to squeeze/crush the ball in their hand(s) before they throw the ball. This technique has resulted in numerous balls being ruined.
• Any out resulting from this technique will not be counted and the player will be warned by the referee • On the second offense the thrower will be automatically called out

On/Off-the-Court Involvement

• Players who have been called out must proceed to the sideline.
• Players who are off the court/playing in a game are not allowed to make calls (unless otherwise stipulated by the ZogSports referee) or distract the referee in any way from the action on the court. There will be no arguing with the referee over judgment calls.

*Referees will have a copy of the rules at the gym. If you have any questions regarding a call that was made (which is rule-based), please ask the referee to refer to the rules if there is disagreement.

We also recommend that each team bring their own copy of the rules just in case. Only captains can discuss a rule with the referee and no judgment calls will be discussed. Players will be ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. Any rules issues not resolved at the gym cannot be overturned once teams have left the gym

PLAYOFFS

The playoff format will NOT be a round robin like the regular season. 2 (two) teams will play a best 3 out of 5 regular 7 minute games with 2 minute overtime if necessary. Only the winner of each game will matter, points will not matter as there will be no tiebreaker scenarios. Thus in each 35 minute match you will play a minimum of 3 games and a maximum of 5 games. The winner will be the team who wins 3 games first.
IN THE EVENT OF A TIE IN ANY OF THE 5 POSSIBLE GAMES:
1. Teams will play a 2-minute sudden death game with no quick restarts a. If a team eliminates everyone on the opposing team, the match is over.
b. If neither team eliminates all opposing players after 90 seconds, lightning round rules will take effect; when time runs out, the remaining players will be counted and the winner will be the team with more players left on the court. i. If still tied, the game will issue a Quick Restart with only the remaining players under 2-minute sudden death rules.

TIE BREAKERS FOR PLAYOFFS/SEEDINGS

1. Total number of points

2. Head-to-head competition

3. Record against other teams in or tied for playoffs (winning percentage – i.e., 0-1 is same as 0-2, but 1-3 is better than 0-1)

4. Number of wins

5. Record against next best common opponent

6. If team forfeited, loses tie breaker if other tiebreaker rules don’t resolve seeding

SPORTSMANSHIP

ZogSports is a charity-focused, social sports club. Our goal is for you to have fun. We hope that you keep this in mind when participating. Although the games may become intense, you still can be competitive while maintaining good sportsmanship. With this said, any behavior deemed unacceptable by the referee or ZogSports staff may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league.

SUSPENSIONS/EJECTIONS

• Any player(s)/team(s) that are involved in a fight will be suspended from all ZogSports Leagues for life. Any teams will forfeit all remaining games
• Any player abusing the referee will automatically be ejected from the game without a warning
• A player ejected for ANY reason will be suspended for the next game. If that player is caught playing in that game, the team will forfeit

BEER/TRASH/CLEAN-UP

Beer is not allowed in/at the schools. It is also important to do your part to keep the gyms clean and use the trash cans provided. Throw away food, wrappers, or bottles. If we do not clean-up, we risk losing our permits.

PETS

Unfortunately pets are not allowed in/at the schools. Please leave your pet at home or outside the school. This is really important. We risk losing our permits if an animal is brought into the building. Any team who does so (whether player or spectator) will be asked to take the pet outside or to leave the gym with the pet. Lack of compliance will result in games being forfeited for that team.