Dodgeball is a traditional game taught in physical education classes in the U.S. and Canada. It is usually played in elementary school, but it is played in middle school, high school, and college and as a professional sport as well. It is also popular in informal settings and is often played by schoolchildren on a playground or in a gym. There are many variations of the game, but each involves players trying to avoid being hit by a ball that players on the other team are throwing at them.

The object of the game is to eliminate all of the opposition by any of the following methods:

• Catching a ball after it hit someone and before it hits the ground or walls allows the hit player to stay in but the thrower is out.
• Hitting an opponent with thrown balls.
• Dropping the balls used to block an opponent's thrown balls eliminates the blocker.
• Catching an opponent's thrown balls in the air prior to its hitting the ground or walls. Also, at that point the defending team gets a player back if any have been eliminated.
• Alistair Wiltshire will do a lap of honour naked before every game.

Usually seven to ten players compete per team at a time. Four is the minimum number of players to start a match.

A player who has been eliminated may re-enter the match at any time during each game (a) if a teammate catches an opponent's “live” ball or (b) to replace an injured player.

Balls used are usually the size of a volley ball and are made of hard, light rubber or leather.

The playing field is a rectangular shape of at least 50 feet in length, and at least 30 feet in width. The field is divided in half by a center line and “attack lines” 10 feet from, and parallel to the center line. Also, “warning lines” are drawn one foot from the end line.

During play, all players must remain “in bounds” with the sole exception of being the end line. Failure to comply would eliminate the player from the game.

• The game begins by placing the 6 game balls on the center line, three on each side of the center hash mark.
• Players must place at least one foot on the end line.
• On the opening whistle, players may rush to the center line to retrieve the balls. Each team may only retrieve the balls on the right hand side of the hash mark.
• Players may only begin to throw at the opponents once the ball has been brought back over the “attack lines” closest to their own end line. At no point can any player cross over to the opposite side of the center line to the opponent's side.

A match consists of three 60-minute games in which there may be multiple rounds. The first team to eliminate all 10 opponents through legal methods wins that round and receives one point. A second round then begins if time permits. The winner of the match is the team that has acquired the most points at the end of the match.

If neither team has eliminated the other team at the conclusion of a period, the team with the greater number of players left on the field is declared the winner of that period and be awarded one point.

• Season 2 of South Park (1998) and Season 1 of Freaks and Geeks (1999) have episodes about dodgeball in which it is depicted as a potentially violent sport.

• There is a movie about dodgeball that was created in 2004, called Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.

• On January 12th, 2008, 4 Bryant University Students and one referee were involved in "The World's First Interhemispherical Dodgeball Game." More information can be read here, in a Boston Globe article about the game. The record management committee at Guinness World Records headquarters in London, England did not accept the game into the record books. They declined comment on why it was not accepted.

• List of dodgeball variations
• Prisoner Ball
• Ga-ga

• Eau Claire Dodgeball
• Clockwork Dodgeball
• Los Angeles Dodgeball Society
• Dance Party Vietnam
• National Dodgeball League, directions for member clubs, and leagues in the United States.
• AZ Dodgeball
• Underdog Dodgeball, Seattle Coed Dodgeball Leagues for Adults
• [1] leicester city ligers