Match Formats

Dodgeball formats are:

• Primary school dodgeball – interschool competitions between primary schools
• High school dodgeball – interschool competitions between high schools
• College dodgeball – interschool competitions between colleges
• University dodgeball – interschool competitions between universities. These use adult rules.
• u11 dodgeball – community events where the player may not turn 12 during the season (before 31st August)
• u13 dodgeball – community events where the player may not turn 14 during the season (before 31st August)
• u15 dodgeball – community events where the player may not turn 16 during the season (before 31st August)
• u18 dodgeball – community events where the player may not turn 19 during the season (before 31st August)
• Adult dodgeball – community events where anyone aged 14+ may compete

Competitive cloth dodgeball matches use 5 dodgeballs (except for u11 where 3 balls are used to help younger players learn the fundamentals of the sport at a slower pace). Two teams compete against one another, aiming to eliminate one another through methods such as hits and catches whilst attempting to avoid being eliminated themselves through committing fouls such as line faults, invalid attempts or stalling offences.

Each team consists of 6 players. There may be a coach who stands in the team’s box and also 2 ball retrievers who position themselves outside the court in their team’s half. One person (captain or coach) is nominated to be a team’s leader – this is the person that referees should speak to when announcing decisions.

Match Timings

• Some game formats (e.g., u11 dodgeball and school matches) are made up of 6 sets, each lasting for 2 minutes.
• Most game formats use a running clock to time the half. In high school dodgeball, college dodgeball, u13 and u15 dodgeball, each set lasts for a maximum of 2 minutes. As many sets as possible are fit into the half. If a new set is due to begin and less than one minute is remaining in a half, then a final one-minute set is played to finish the half.
• In u18 and adult dodgeball, each set lasts for a maximum of 3 minutes and as many sets as possible are fit into two 15 minute halves (or two 8 minute halves at shorter one-day events). If a new set is due to begin and less than one minute is remaining in a half, then a final one-minute set is played to finish the half.

See the summary below for timing information:

Format	Set length	Final set rules	Match length
u11 / School	2m	N/A	6 sets
College	2m	<1m remains = 1m final set	10m
u13/u15	2m	<1m remains = 1m final set	16m (2 x 8m)
u18/Adult	3m	<1m remains = 1m final set	30m (2 x 15m)

Match Scoring

Each set can be won, drawn or lost by a team.

Teams earn 2 points for winning a set. They win a set by either:

• Eliminating all of their opponents before the set ends; or
• Having more active players remaining than their opponents when the set ends.

Teams earn 1 point for drawing a set. They draw a set by having the same number of active players remaining than their opponents when the set ends.

Teams earn 0 points for losing a set. The lose a set by:

• Being fully eliminated before the set ends; or
• Having less active players remaining than their opponents when the set ends.

Task: The following shows some possible outcomes of a primary school dodgeball game. Sort the outcomes for Team A (the blue team) into the correct result box.

Rules Resources

Check out the Quick Start Guides – these are a particularly useful summarised version of the rules for each age group: