When I was a girl, I loved dodgeball. I didn’t care too much for the circle dodgeball where a small group of people are in the center and everyone surrounding them is pounding them with balls. 

But the dodgeball in a rectangular court, with bases on opposite sides of the court. And if you get hit, you go into your base which is behind the opponent so that if the ball goes into your base you can try and hit the enemy. And if you do, you have another chance at getting back into the game. Yeah. That was my version of dodgeball.

Hand-eye coordinated I am not. Baseball. Softball. Basketball. Football. All of those were nightmares for me. Soccer was better. Hand-foot coordinated I kind of am. Or at least I can the kick the ball really hard and make it go a good distance away. And, when I did play soccer as a girl, if I was intimidated by kids, I just tried to kick the ball and usually kicked them in the shins. I am not a good person. When the poor kid limped away from me I took a small sense of satisfaction because I was no longer intimidated by the kid. Wow….I really do feel guilty now.

But dodgeball was different. It’s not like my hand-eye coordination improved. But I could dodge like a pro. It was like dancing only no one was going to laugh at me for my crazy moves. And the fact is that dodgeball isn’t really about getting people out. It’s about staying in. Yeah. I know that sounds backwards. But it works for my non hand-eye coordinated brain. 

Being the outsider looking in, maybe that’s why I loved dodgeball. I was in. I was in the box and I was dancing and dodging and even the center of targeted attention because in order for the other team to win, I had to be out. And, inevitably, I was. But for a few glorious moments, I was IN!

I have no memories of ever getting anyone out. I know that I was afraid of the ball because my hand-eye discordination meant that I was likely to drop the ball and I can’t remember if the rules of dodgeball meant that I would be out. I know that every now and then I would be able to get hold of the ball and fling it in the wild direction of the opposite team. In my memory, the ball just seems to disintegrate in so much that it just disappears. I flung the ball. The other team moved. But the wall went from existing to not. 

Existential dodgeball. Now that’s kind of cool.

I wonder if children play dodgeball anymore. If they get into massive groups and get ahold of those rubbery balls that make that alto-pitched hollow boomph when they bounce. I love that sound. I wonder if children are allowed to run around in rectangular or circular boundaries and dodge and dance and fall flat on their bellies to let the ball skim over their backs. I wonder if they know the freedom of the hectic happiness that comes from dodgeball.

With how much society has changed, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that dodgeball is now outlawed. Is it just teacher approved bullying? Is it considered too violent? I kind of feel sorry for kids nowadays.

I was bullied in school, much like any person. I would not be surprised if every person has a memory when they were picked on. But I never felt like dodgeball was a bullying tournament. It was just that magical, wonderful point where I could play and be part of the group and fight the other group and there were no hard feelings. Maybe some reddish welts if we got hit too hard by the ball. But even then, no one really cared. We were just having too much fun.