Dodgeball is a sport that many children fondly remember from elementary and middle school PE class. However, as familiar as most students are with the game, the Virginia High School League (VHSL), the organization that sanctions and regulates interscholastic sports and competition does not support it. Critics of the game have concerns that the sport is too dangerous; however, there are other sports that are just as dangerous as dodgeball, such as football, wrestling, and lacrosse. It is puzzling why the school allows those sports and does not allow dodgeball.

The dodgeball community is fairly large and has different tournaments all over the country. It’s a sport that is simple and easy to learn and play :you have two teams of individuals that try to throw/dodge dodgeballs from each other–that’s it. There is no long rule book like football or basketball, which is likely why it’s such a treasured activity in the hearts of so many young people. Taking away this sport would be taking away a fun interactive sport and an American tradition, but discussion of its removal from schools is a growing trend in many schools.

To address the concerns of safety, the VHSL could create a rule list that would allow for the safety of the students playing, and give a list of safety items. For starters, they can use foam dodgeballs as an alternative to those thick rubber balls, which would lower the risk of injury. Secondly, as a competitive sport those who do not wish to participate do not have to. There could be tryouts for those who want to join to determine who is fit for the game. Also, for extra protection they should require that students that participate are to wear special headgear that will protect their face. For the rules and penalties, curtain body parts are absolutely not allowed to be intentionally hit, if a referee thinks it was intentional the player will be swapped out. The maximum number of players that are allowed on the field at any given time is 5 per team, each team can have any number of players between 7 and 11. Also there could be a set area that, marked by a line, the players are not allowed to cross. And if they do cross it they would receive a penalty similar to a yellow card, and if the cards reach red the opposing team would receive a point and the player will be swapped out.

An article by “The Washington Post” claims that dodgeball is a tool of ‘oppression’ used to ‘dehumanize’ others, but compared to common sports played at High Schools, this is clearly an over exaggeration. If dodgeball is too oppressive or discriminating, then the VHSL shouldn’t allow many of the common sports played today that require tryouts. It could be argued that sports like football, which are commonly played in high schools today, can be far more oppressive and discriminating than games like dodgeball. The article also states that dodgeball dehumanizes others, but if that is the case any team sport can dehumanize an individual.

Finally, in the era of social distancing, what better way to play team sports and maintain social distancing than with a game like dodgeball? There’s no tackling, no grappling, and players are actively trying to stay away from other players. While critics argue that dodgeball is unsafe, it may very well be the safest team sport to play in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. For all of these reasons, dodgeball should be considered and supported by the VHSL for competitive play.