Refereeing Resources

Refereeing Standards

Referee's Manual

Rules

Regulations

Referee Standards

Referees play a pivotal role in the enjoyment and wellbeing of players of all ages and abilities in our sport. The British Dodgeball Referee Standards have been created to support the development of match officials in the UK. These standards assist in providing high quality, constructive developmental feedback in a consistent manner across the following 5 areas: Rules Application, Game Management, Communication, Safety and Core Values.

Our Refereeing Core Values are as follows:

Demonstrating a Professional Attitude
Adopting a Learning Culture
Understanding the Bigger Picture of how each dodgeball event and positive player experience promotes the sport in the UK

Reporting Abuse:

Abuse towards referees or any other staff member is not tolerated by British Dodgeball, and is directly in contravention of the British Dodgeball Code of Conduct. We encourage all referees to report any abusive behaviour they experience to hello@britishdodgeball.com in order to escalate the matter.

Referee Feedback:

Please submit both positive and constructive feedback about referees using the form below. Your feedback will be kept anonymous and we will use this information to:

Provide specific feedback to referees and to club referee leads in order to help improve the standard of refereeing across the UK
Structure referee training sessions to target specific issues
Celebrate referees who are doing a great job at facilitating the sport we all love

Referee Hand Signals

Starting a Set

Verbal Command: “The score is X:X. Y time remaining. Teams line up, ready…” whistle
Hand Signal: Raise hand, *wait for partner to raise hand*, lower hand.

Pausing/Resuming a Set

Verbal Command: whistle, “Time paused/resumed, X time remaining in set.”
Hand Signal: Raise hand, lower hand.

Ending a Set

Verbal Command: whistle, “Team X wins the set.”
Hand Signal: Raise hand, lower hand, gesture to winning team.

Calling a Team Timeout

Verbal Command: “Time out – Team X.”
Hand Signal: Make T sign, point to team calling time out.

Line Fault

Verbal Command: “Line fault, player out.”
Hand Signal: One hand gesturing a line on the floor, other hand pointing to player.

Hit

Verbal Command: “Hit, player X out.”
Hand Signal: One hand touches hit spot, other hand pointing to player.

Two hits (& other multiple plays)

Verbal Command: whistle, “Two hits, both players out.”
Hand Signal: One hand with 2 fingers raised, other hand points to both players out.

Head Shot (Dangerous Play)

Verbal Command: “Dangerous headshot, player A out.”
Hand Signal: One hand touches head, other hand points to player out.

Catch

Verbal Command: “Catch, player X out.”
Hand Signal: Gesture a catch and point to player caught.

Bounce Before Hit

Verbal Command: “Bounce, play on.”
Hand Signal: Gesture a bouncing ball’s path by moving one hand vertically.

No Hit (Near Miss)

Verbal Command: “No hit, play on.”
Hand Signal: Horizontal forearm sweep.

Block

Verbal Command: “Block, play on.”
Hand Signal: Gesture a ball shape with both hands.

Face Shot (junior-specific)

Verbal Command: “Face shot, play on.”
Hand Signal: Touch face.

Hit Made with Inactive Ball

Verbal Command: “Ball not activated, player X stay in.”
Hand Signal: Make circle with both hands then wipe away horizontally.

Burden Count About to End – Additional 2 Seconds Granted

Verbal Command: N/A
Hand Signal: Hold out closed fist.

Play X Balls

Verbal Command: “Play X balls.”
Hand Signal: Count 5 seconds on hand.

Giving a Sanction (warning, out, blue/yellow/red card)

Verbal Command: “Warning/player out/blue card/yellow card/red card to player X for Y.”
Hand Signal: One arm raised with closed fist, other hand point to sanctioned player.

Assistant Referee Hand Signals

Last 10 Seconds of Set: Counting Players Remaining

Verbal Command: N/A
Hand Signal: Show amount of players remaining on your side using fingers.

False Start

Verbal Command: “False Start”
Hand Signal: Raise hand, point to offending player.

Bounce Before Hit

Verbal Command: “Bounce, play on.”
Hand Signal: Gesture a bouncing ball’s path by moving one hand vertically.

No Hit (Near Miss)

Verbal Command: “No hit, play on.”
Hand Signal: Horizontal forearm sweep.

Block

Verbal Command: “Block, play on.”
Hand Signal: Gesture a ball shape with both hands.

Face Shot (junior-specific)

Verbal Command: “Face shot, play on.”
Hand Signal: Touch face.

Hit Made with Inactive Ball

Verbal Command: “Ball not activated, player X stay in.”
Hand Signal: Make circle with both hands then wipe away horizontally.

Line Fault

Verbal Command: “Line fault, player out.”
Hand Signal: One hand gesturing a line on the floor, other hand pointing to player.

Hit

Verbal Command: “Hit, player X out.”
Hand Signal: One hand touches hit spot, other hand pointing to player.

Two hits (& other multiple plays)

Verbal Command: whistle, “Two hits, both players out.”
Hand Signal: One hand with 2 fingers raised, other hand points to both players out.

Catch

Verbal Command: “Catch, player X out.”
Hand Signal: Gesture a catch and point to player caught.

COMMUNITY

UNIVERSITY

JUNIOR

SCHOOLS

BRITISH DODGEBALL

RULES & POLICIES

CAMPAIGNS

COACH

WORKSHOPS

REFEREEING

CLUB SUPPORT