Rules of Tournament

The tournament will consist of 2 rounds. The first round will be a round robin style with each team playing all others at least one to determine playoff seeds. Once playoff brackets are determined, the playoff round will begin and each team will play have a single elimination game to determine a winner. Refs will monitor all games.

Teams will be made up of 4-6 players. Only 4 players will compete at a time; others will be available as substitutes. Substitutes may enter the game only during timeouts or in the case of injury. Each team will be allowed one (1) 30 second timeout per game. 

The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them "OUT". This may be done by:

1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball.  

2. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent before it touches the ground.

If a LIVE ball hits a player and then is caught by a teammate, the player has been saved but the thrower is not out.

If a LIVE ball hits a player directly in the face, that person is not out.

Any player who crosses the center line will immediately be ruled out.

 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)

There are some usual dodge ball rules that do not apply during this tournament. If a ball if knocked out of the hand of a player, that player is not out. If a LIVE ball is caught, no previous eliminated players will return to the game.

Game begins by placing the dodgeballs along the center line. Players then take a position on their end line. Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the centerline to retrieve the balls. This signal officially starts the contest. Once a ball is retrieved it must be taken back to the end line before it can be legally thrown. 

The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner. A 4-minute time limit has been established for each contest. If neither team has been eliminated at the end of the 4 minutes, the team with the greater number of players remaining will be declared the winner. If the number of players remaining is equal, the team who eliminated a player first wins.

In order to reduce stalling, a violation will be called if a team in the lead controls all the balls on their side of the court for more than 5 seconds.  

All contests will be supervised by a referee. However, players are still expected to follow the ‘honor system’ in determining if a hit is legal. In the case of a dispute, THE REF’S DECISION IS FINAL.