Thinking back you might have fond, or not-so-fond memories of dodge ball. Maybe you were a captain of a team or were always picked first. Maybe you were the kid who was always picked last.
But when you think about dodge ball you probably don’t think of people playing intense, high-speed and out-for-blood games. There is an actual Dodge Ball Club at Eastern Michigan University that travels to different states and schools to compete.
The rules of dodge ball are pretty simple, but depending on where the competition is being held some ground rules change, according to Julian Weisenel, a senior majoring in graphic design. He throws at 50 to 56 mph.
Daniel Bartrum, a junior at EMU, has been playing competitive Dodge Ball for three years. He started at Henry Ford Community College, and when he transferred to Eastern he started the club here.
“I got involved when a friend of mine told me about The National Collegiate Dodgeball Association, and I was hooked from the beginning,” Bartrum said.
He thinks this year the team will do a lot better than last year, because it now has more experience under its belt. He is also glad that the team is more well-known around campus.
Josh Rogers, a senior, got involved when he was shooting a video for a class project about dodge ball in the fall of last year. He found out EMU had a Dodge Ball Club, and then decided to join. Rodgers tries to lead the team by example, though he is not a captain, and plays at a high level. He says his most memorable incident was, “The time I got hit in the face. I went deaf for a couple minutes and all I could hear was a ringing. It was comparable to the sound of a flash grenade in the game Call of Duty.”
Aaron Timberlake, a senior in communications, said the speed of the balls flying by is crazy.
“You can hear them whizzing by sometimes, the balls clock in from 50 to 70 mph at times,” he said. Timberlake’s worst injury was being hit square in the face.
Sarah Jobin, an education major, is the only girl on the team.
“I would love more girl involvement,” Jobin said. “Being with a bunch of guys can get really annoying and weird at the same time. I have to deal with all the B.S.- that’s what I am calling it. Guys are guys, as long as they show me respect, I give them respect back. If they don’t that’s when I get annoyed.”
She got involved in the fall of last year when some of her friends wanted to start the club.
The EMU Dodge Ball team has traveled to Bowling Green University, Ohio, but this year they also will be traveling to Saginaw Valley State University and Kentucky University According to multiple team members, including Weisenel, last year the team was weak, but this year it is growing and getting a lot better.
Anyone interested in getting involved should go to an open practice. Practices are Mondays and Wednesdays from 8-10 p.m. in 208 Warner, and Thursdays 8-9:45 p.m. in the Utility Gym of the Rec/IM. All practices are open to anyone who wants to come play.
Rules of Dodge Ball
• If you get hit by a ball you’re out.
• If you cross your team’s line you are out.
• A ball is dead when it collides with something before actually hitting its target.
• If you catch a ball your opponent is out, and a teammate is back in the game.
• If you catch a ball that has collided with a teammate before the ball collides with the ground, wall, or another ball and catch it is considered a “team catch.” Nobody is out, but a teammate is back in the game.
• A game lasts until all players on one side are out.
• A competition can consist of multiple games.
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