On November 23rd, at 7:00 pm in the lower gym, Bernards High School will host the 2021-2022 dodgeball tournament. This tournament has been going on for four years, where students can sign up, create teams, and play against each other in a series of volleyball games. Bernards student council and peer leaders are running the event to get kids to raise money and be able to play fun and competitive games of volleyball.
Alyssa Samson, a co-runner of the peer leaders program says “It’s a great way to get the students to come out, have fun and compete! I am looking forward to the event.”
Each team consists of five people, six people max, with five members on the court at a time. Each team should dress like a team accordingly as well as there is a $10 entry fee when entering the high school. This money is going towards the student council program here at Bernards high school so they can continue to host and raise money for great events just like this. Each team can either sign up for a fun or competitive game, therefore if some teams don’t feel as comfortable playing more driven games, they can go to play for the fun of it.
For the rules of the game, 5 players will start on each side of the court. The play then begins with all players positioned behind their team’s end line. Upon the official’s signal, both teams rush to center court and attempt to retrieve as many balls as possible. In this particular game, diving or sliding is prohibited and not allowed in order to pick up a ball. Players must use their hands to retrieve a ball without allowing their feet to cross the midline. No other body part (i.e. feet or legs) will be acceptable. Players who do will not be tolerated and will be called out from the game. These players must run back to the end line and tag up before they begin throwing to start a new play or the ball must cross the backline in front of the wall if it is passed back to a teammate. A player is considered out when a live ball hits any part of the player’s body or clothing below the shoulders. If the ball is caught by your opponent before it touches the ground you are out as well as if a player dropping or losing possession of the blocking ball is considered an out. When a player is out, they must leave the court immediately and take his/her place in the outline. Lastly, If a player blocks a ball with another ball and the ball then hits his/her body they will be called out. Players can defend themselves by blocking the ball in flight with another ball but must retain control over the ball they are blocking with.
A save occurs if a player is struck by the ball and the ball is in turn caught by a teammate before the ball touches the ground, wall, any inanimate object, or any inactive player. The thrower is the only one eliminated in this instance. When it comes to stalling, It is illegal for a leading team to control all the balls for more than 10 seconds. At all other times, teams are required to make a legitimate effort to throw a ball at least once every 15 seconds. If the game is down to 2 individual players the throwing time will be reduced to 5 seconds. If both feet of a player ends up over the end line/sideline he or she is out. One foot out and one foot in will be considered when crossing a sideline. One foot across the midline during play will also be deemed out.
Momentum may carry a player out of bounds while making a catch, provided control of the ball was established prior to going out of bounds. He/she must have at least one foot in bounds when catching the ball prior to falling out of bounds. A player may not leave the playing field to avoid being hit. Each time a player is out, he/she will go to the outside of the court and wait in line at the back of the sub line to re-enter the match. If a team has more than 6 players, subs will also stand in this line and be the first to come in. If a teammate catches a ball thrown from his/her opponent, one member of the team (first in line) may come back in (First Out/First In). When a player re-enters from the line they must immediately touch the back wall and will not be considered live until then. The beginning of the sub-line must go, girl, boy, girl, boy, etc to the best of a teams’ ability.
The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner. A 5-minute time limit is established at the beginning of each game. If neither team has been eliminated, the team with the greater number of players remaining will be declared the winner. In the case of an equal number of players remaining the game will be declared a tie.
