Fall 2024 dodgeball league updates

At Play Sask, we believe in continuous improvement. Here are a few things that will be slightly different in our fall leagues compared to previous seasons.

Casual A and Casual B on Tuesday nights

Tuesday Casual leagues now have more play-level options! When registering, teams looking for a higher level of competition can choose Casual A, and teams that want to keep it chill can choose Casual B.

The Casual A league is for teams that have competitive or provincial-level players on their team. This league is still Casual — it’s wall-ball style on a split court, and no headshots are allowed, among other Casual rules — but your teammates are experienced and up for a challenge.

The Casual B league is for teams that have newer players or just want to have fun! None of your players are in the Competitive league or have played at the provincial level.

We made this change because the level of competitiveness on Tuesday night was ramping up, and we wanted to give teams more options that suited their play style.

One request we heard was to limit the number of provincial-level players on any given team, but we chose not to go that route because provincial players are chosen in the middle of the Play Sask season. Technically, there are no provincial team players at the start of the fall season because those teams have been disbanded. By the end of the fall season, a new team has been formed and some of those players weren’t provincial-level at the beginning of the season. Additionally, some players have played at the national level but no longer do.

Peer-officiation

Last year, we switched to World Dodgeball Federation (WDBF) rules with some modifications, including using a “hot ball” to track advantage instead of using refs. (This video gives a great rundown of advantage if you need a refresher.) Players supported the rule changes, but the modified advantage rule really slowed down the game, so during our spring/summer leagues, we tested peer officiating, where other teams are asked to send a volunteer to ref.

The feedback we heard was that teams enjoyed the game’s pace more when a ref keeps track of advantage, but some teams did not have any players who wanted to volunteer.

This season, if the assigned team doesn’t volunteer any refs, captains can decide whether the game reverts to the “hot ball” rule, or if there are enough subs, whether each team or one of the teams provides a rotating ref from the player bench. If teams choose a rotating ref, that ref can only call advantage and cannot call outs due to the inherent conflict of interest.

60-second rule

When we switched to WDBF rules last year, we eliminated the “60-second rule” — if the last player survives 60 seconds, another player gets to come back. We brought back the 60-second rule during the Casual spring/summer leagues with a modification: The 60 seconds needs to be recorded by a timer, not spoken aloud, to avoid arguments about teams counting too fast.

We’re keeping the 60-second rule this season for Casual leagues, with another modification: When a team has one player left on the court, the last player can keep no more than three balls on their side. This means the team or the player will need to pass up to three balls to the other team, regardless of advantage.

This modification was made because players would run out the clock using the advantage countdown, keeping balls on their side and only throwing once every 10 seconds or so. This made it easier than intended for people to survive 60 seconds. Plus, dodgeball rules are designed to keep balls moving back and forth across the court, and hoarding balls goes against the spirit of the game.

Full court on Wednesdays

For our Wednesday Competitive league, we’re continuing to bring the league closer to full WDBF rules by switching to a full volleyball-sized court for games. This change comes with a price increase because we’ll only have two teams using the gym each hour.

Share your feedback

We’re always open to hearing feedback from our members! Send us a message on Discord, chat on Messenger, or email [email protected].