These rules are still under review and may be revised for purposes of clarity, fair-play, or
improvement of the competition.
UPDATED 10/1/12
Any rule or situation not expressly defined here will default to The National Dodgeball League
rules. At the end of the day, these calls will be made by the head referee. Whatever their call is, it
stands. Please do not put BLD in a compromising position where a game has to be forfeited due
to an illegal player. BLD provides itself in promoting a league based on sportsmanship and
integrity. If teams cannot abide by the rules set forth by BLD, then those teams should not
participate in our league.
STATE LAWS – ALCOHOL IS PROHIBITED AT ALL BLD DODGEBALL GYMS.
ALL PLAYERS MUST SIGN A WAIVER TO PLAY.
NO PETS IN THE SCHOOL BUILDING.
Rule #0: NO WHINING! The first and foremost rule of the game is to have fun. If you are
hoping to recapture your athletic glories from the past, this is not the league for you. Absolutely
no whining will be tolerated during the course of a game. The only players allowed to
communicate with the referees are the captain and co-captain. Any abuse (verbal or otherwise) of
the referees or other players will constitute an immediate ejection from the game. Repeated
offenders will be banned from the league. No exceptions.
The Court
The official dimensions for a regulation court are as follows:
The court is divided into two 30′ X 30′ areas, with a 4′ X 30′ neutral zone located at center court
separating the two sides, an attack line located parallel and 10′ from the center line, for a total
court length of 60′ from endline to endline, and a total width of 30′ from sideline to sideline.
Approximately 2′-3′ should be allotted for an out of bound area, allowing officials to move freely
along the sidelines. The Queue for each team is a 3′ X 12′ area, and should be located 2′-3′ from
the sideline, leaving enough room for an official to move free along the sideline. Every effort
should be made to obtain the correct dimensions. However court size may be adjusted to best suit
the available space.
EQUIPMENT Will be provided. This will consist of 6, Official Dodgeballs, and cones. Athletic
shoes are required.
PARTICIPANTS All players must be 18 years of age or older. Players may only play on a team
on which they are registered. Exception: BLD reserves the right to suspend any player at any
time for unsportsmanlike conduct, violation of any rules, for failure to pay appropriate dues, or
for being a general pain in the ass, without any refund whatsoever. Any team wishing to suspend
any member for just reasons must do so on their own and provide BLD a written reason as to
why. Again, no refunds. At the discretion of BLD, any member suspended may not in the future
be allowed to participate in any further BLD events.
Each team shall have one Captain and one Co-Captain who are charged with: Making sure that
only players registered on their team are participating on their behalf in a game. ANY TEAM
PLAYING WITH AN UNREGISTERED PLAYER IS SUBJECT TO FORFEITING THAT
GAME AND EXPULSION FROM THE LEAGUE. NO SUBSTITUTES. Disputing a call on the
court and remaining cool at all times. Making sure everyone on their team understands the rules.
Staying in contact with BLD and attending all required league meetings. Communicating any
changes in regards to scheduling or rules with his/her team. Ensuring that everyone on his team
is eligible to play. Contacting the other team and the league in the event of a forfeit by 9:00am.
Providing the referees as they are scheduled. Making sure that all trash is cleaned up after your
team after each session.
Any team that forfeits three or more games will be removed from the remaining schedule and not
be allowed to participate in any playoff situations. No refunds will be given and a team dropped
by the league may, at BLD’s discretion, not be allowed to rejoin the next season.
BLD will provide team t-shirts to all teams. Players must wear their official t-shirt during all
games. Teams are encouraged to be creative with names and t-shirts.
SPORTSMANSHIP Players should have no intentional or unwelcome physical contact with
opposing players. Doing so will be considered unsportsmanlike conduct and it will be at the
discretion of the referee to issue warnings or eject offending players. A player must make the
referee aware if he or she feels any contact was unwarranted. Trash talking is permitted as long
as it is not cruel, racially motivated, hateful, or a personal attack on another player. The trash
talking should only be good natured and shall not be allowed to get out of hand. Threats of
physical violence are in no way allowed. The team captain shall ensure that their players behave
themselves. Due to NY regulations, consumption of alcohol on school grounds is strictly
prohibited. If a person is seen consuming alcohol on school grounds, that person’s team
immediately forfeits that day’s game and may, at the discretion of BLD, be removed from the
league.
SCHEDULE
Please check www.bigleaguedodgeball.com for the Official Dodgeball Schedule
TEAMS
A full roster consists of a minimum of 10 players and a maximum of 15. There are a maximum
of 6 players on the court at one time. When a team has 9 or more players a minimum of 3
females are required to play. When a team has 6-8 players a minimum of 2 females are required.
When a team has 4 or 5 players a minimum of 1 female is required. BLD reserves the right to
add players to teams to make sure that all teams have a balance in numbers.
Teams must play with a minimum of 4 players on the Dodgeball court and 1 of the players must
be a female. Teams with less than 4 players will forfeit.
Teams must start at game time.
TEAM SCENARIO’S FOR STARTING A GAME
The maximum amount of players on the Dodgeball court is 6. If a team starts with 6 players a
minimum of 2 females are required to start. If a team starts with 4 or 5 players a minimum of 1
female is required to start.
THE START OF A GAME
There will be 6 dodgeballs on the court. 3 dodgeballs will be placed on each team’s ¾ line. The
referee will blow their whistle. Players will then run from the baseline to the ¾ line to grab the
dodgeballs. Players must run or pass the ball to their own baseline before throwing the ball at
their opponents.
GAME LENGTH
Games are 10 minutes long. If all of the players are eliminated before the 10 minute time limit,
the referee will do a Re-start. That means that teams will play another game starting from the
beginning. You can do as many Re-starts as possible until the clock runs out.
REFEREES
Teams must provide and follow the Referee Schedule that is on your Official BLD Division
schedule or at www.bigleaguedodgeball.com
OUT-OF-BOUNDS
The only times players are allowed to travel out-of-bounds is when they are catching a live ball
or recovering a dead ball. Otherwise, players must remain in the court.
A THROWER IS OUT WHEN
1. A defender catches a live ball
A DEFENDER IS OUT WHEN
1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders.
2. Ball blocked or deflected by a player using another ball, hits the defender
3. Ball ricochets off a teammate and hits into another defender while still live
4. In this case BOTH defenders are out
5. A player may block a live ball and catch the live ball as long as they do not drop the blocking
ball
6. Players may catch an incoming ball while hanging onto the ball currently in their possession
Definition: LIVE: A ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything, including the
floor/ground, another ball, another player, official or other item outside of the playing field (wall,
ceiling, etc)
PLAYER RE-ENTRY
A player may re-enter the game if and only if that player’s team catches a live ball. A player who
is waiting to re-enter is now a substitute and must follow substitution rules.
PLAYERS ON THE SIDELINE
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
Substitutes are out of play and may not interfere with play on the court, such as:
Kicking or passing balls to a teammate
Preventing a ball from going to the other side of the court
STALLING
Any team to control all 4 balls or more for more than 5 seconds. Individuals (not just teams) can
be called for stalling. If a referee determines that a player is holding onto his/her ball without
intent to throw, we have several penalties in place including calling the player out. There will be
NO count down. The ref will give either the entire team or the specific individual a warning.
After that warning the ref may penalize the player or team at any time.
SCORING
At the end of a game the referee will record the score based on how many players are left.
If a ball is caught to end a game (which normally results in the re-entry of a
teammate), the winning team only receive point for the players that were on the
court at the time of the catch – the re-entry will not be counted in the scoring
If more than one game is played in a 10-minute period, the winning team will be the team with
the highest combined score.
Games can end in a tie.
Forfeits are scored 25-0.
FINAL RULES
The BLD court manager will have a copy of the rules at the gym. 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.
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
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
PLAYOFFS
TBA
BLD does not offer refunds once you have registered for a league season.