Dodgeball is a popular in informal settings and is often played by schoolchildren on a playground. There are many variations of the game, but each involve players trying to avoid being hit by a ball that players on the other team are throwing at them.

Players are usually split into teams, though sometimes people play individually.

In street dodgeball, a common rule is to have a basketball hoop on each side of the court, and if a player makes it on his opponents side of the court, all the players from his team may reenter the game.

It is often clichéd that in school dodgeball, nerds are often smothered with balls. Ironically when dodgeball was invented in 1922 it was widely believed to be a sports only for nerds.

Battleship Dodgeball is unique in that you are not actually trying to sink the other team’s ships. It is played in teams so that all of one team’s ships are on one side and the others` on the opposite. The ships consist of a mat, which is large enough to fit about 5 people, with 4 pins placed at each corner of the mat.

Army Dodge Ball Involves no true teams but is more of a free for all. Players who are hit in the legs or arms lose the use of that limb. If they are hit in the head or torso they are out. If they catch a ball thrown by another player he is not out but they regain one of their “missing” limbs. The last player standing wins.

Their are many variations of dodgeball including Super Dodgeball, Multi or Socko, Scramble, Dr. Dodgeball, Pin-Dodge, King’s Court, “German” Dodgeball, King sting, Barrier Dodgeball, Battleship, Prison Ball, and Ultraball, .

The sport of dodgeball is experiencing new growth in recent years thanks to the release of the 2004 comedy, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story”.