Intramural Co-Ed 6-on-6 Dodgeball Rules

Rule 1 - Players, Field & Equipment:

Section 1: Team

Art. 1   Teams will be made up of 6-10 players. A minimum of six players will compete on a side; others will be available as substitutions.

Art. 2  Substitutions may enter the game only during timeouts, or in the case of injury.

Art. 3     Games may be played with 5 players  

Section 2: Field Dimensions and Markings

Art. 1   The playing field shall be the intercollegiate volleyball court.

Art. 2    The playing field shall be marked with sidelines, end lines, attack lines, and a center hash mark.

Section 3: Boundaries

Art. 1    During play, all players must remain inside boundary lines.

Art. 2    Players may pass through their end line only to retrieve stray balls. A stray ball is one that has not been picked up and is lying on the ground.

Art. 3    When retrieving a ball, the player must also immediately re-enter the playing field only through their end line.   Note: A player not immediately re-entering the playing area may be declared out.

Art. 4    Players may be handed/rolled/thrown a ball from a teammate who is standing out of bounds, provided the player receiving the ball remains completely within their team's field boundaries.

Art. 5    A player shall not:  

• Have any part of their body contact the playing surface on or over the sideline.
• Enter or re-enter the filed through their sideline.
• Leave the playing field to avoid being hit by, or catching a ball.
• Have any part of their body cross the centerline and contact ground on their opponents’ side of the court.  Exception:  During the opening rush, a player may inadvertently cross the centerline.  Officials should refrain from calling players out unless a definite advantage is gained by the action.
• Note: A player may, without penalty, step on the centerline.
• Penalty for Article 5 violation: Player will be declared out.

Section 4: Equipment

Art. 1    The official ball used in tournament and league play will be an 8-inch rubber coated ball.

Art. 2    The standard number of balls for a 6-player game is three on a side.

Art. 3    Participants must wear non-marking sneakers.   

Art. 4    Participants must wear shirt and shorts/pants free of buttons, zippers, snaps, or any other such item that may scratch the floor.   

Rule 2 - Game Play:

Section 1: The Game

Art. 1   Teams will alternate sides after each match.

Art. 2   The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them out.   An out is scored by:  

• Hitting an opposing player with a live thrown ball preferably below the shoulders.
• Note: If a player ducks, and this clearly is the cause for the player being hit above the shoulders, the player is out and the throw is legal.
• Catching a live ball thrown by an opponent.
• Causing an opponent to drop a live ball as a result of contact by another thrown live ball (usually occurs when a ball is being used to block a thrown ball).
• An opposing player stepping out of bounds in order to avoid being hit.  Players that step out of bound as a result of momentum will NOT be declared out.

Live Ball (defined) - A thrown ball that strikes, or is caught by an opposing player before contacting the ground, another player or ball.

Art. 3    A player may block a thrown ball with a ball being held provided the held ball is not dropped as a result of the contact with the thrown ball.  

Note: A ball deflecting off a held ball and striking the holder is no longer a live ball.

Art. 4   If a ball is tipped and subsequently caught by the tipper’s teammate, the thrower is out and both the tipper and catcher are in.  If the ball is tipped and the tipper’s teammate attempts to catch the ball but misses, the tipper is out.

Art. 5   When a player is deemed out, he/she must leave the court immediately signifying that he/she is out by jogging off the court through the end line of the court with his/her hands in the air.

Section 2: Timing, Time-outs, & Substitutions

Art. 1    A 3-minute time limit has been established for each game.

Art. 2    Each team will be allowed a 30-second time out per game.

Art. 3    Only the court judge's whistle starts and stops the clock.

Art. 4    All players are in jeopardy until the court judge recognizes and signals the beginning of a time out or end of regulation time.   Exception: All live balls in flight at the time of an official's signal to end regulation time or begin a time out remain live, and may eliminate an opponent, until they become dead.

Art. 5    During time outs, teams may substitute players. Substitutes may be players who did not start the game, or players who wish to re-enter after having been declared out.
Note:  Co-ed teams may not substitute male for female players.

Section 3: Beginning the Game

Art. 1    Prior to beginning a game, an equal number of dodgeballs are placed along the centerline on each side of the center hash mark. A standard game consists of 6 balls, 3 on each side of the hash mark.          

Art. 2    Players then take a position behind their end line.          

Art. 3    Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the centerlines to retrieve the balls. Teams may only retrieve balls placed to the right (as they face the center line) of the hash mark. If balls remain on the centerline after a team has retrieved and moved their balls beyond the attack line, either team may retrieve those balls. 

Section 4: Opening Rush Rule

Art. 1    Each and every ball retrieved at the opening rush must first be taken beyond the attack line and into the team's backcourt before it may be legally thrown at an opponent.

Example: Following the opening whistle, a player rushes and is the first to secure a ball from the centerline. That player must then carry or pass the ball into their backcourt before it may be legally thrown at an opponent.  

Art. 2    After the opening rush, teams do not have to be behind the attack line when throwing.

Section 5: Declaring a Winner

Art. 1   The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner. The best out of  3 games is declared the winner of the match

Art. 2    If neither team has been eliminated at the end of regulation, the team with the greater number of remaining players will be declared the winner.

Art. 3    In all overtime periods, the first team to legally eliminate any one opponent will be declared the winner.

Section 6: Overtime

Art. 1    If an equal number of players remain after regulation play, a 3-minute sudden death overtime period will be played.

Art. 2    The same players who were on the court at the end of regulation play must begin the OT period.

Art. 3    All overtime periods will begin with an equal number of "balls in hand" behind a team's end line. The first team to legally eliminate any one opposing player will be declared the winner.

Art. 4    No time outs are allowed during overtime.

Art. 5    At the end of each overtime period, if no players have been eliminated, an additional player from each team will be placed back into play.  

Art. 6    The sudden death format continues through all extra periods.

Section 7: Stalling and 5-second violation

Art. 1    It is illegal for the leading team to control all the balls for more than 5 seconds. If the leading team controls all the balls they must make a legitimate effort to get at least one ball across the attack line and into the opponent's backcourt. If this is not done within 5 seconds, a violation will be called. A team may avoid a 5 second violation by throwing or rolling a ball into the opponent's backcourt. This does not mean throwing the ball over and through an opponent's end line.  

Note:   Only a court judge or official may call a 5 second violation.  

Penalty for a 5 second violation:   The official may give verbal “reminders” about the 5 second hold.
Upon the discretion of the official, the following penalty will result after “reminders” have been ignored

PENALTY: Free throw for the opposing team - a penalty in which one player is allowed an unobstructed throw at their opponents without risk of elimination. This is possible because a caught free throw does not result in an out for the thrower.  

Note: The stalling rule is expanded to 10 seconds during overtime periods.  

Rule 3 - Officials and Their Duties

Section 1: Court Judges and Officials

Art. 1    All contests will be supervised by the IM Assistant or IM Coordinator. A court judge will officiate from the sidelines

Art. 2    Rules will be enforced primarily through the honor system. Players will be expected to rule whether or not a hit was legal or they were legally eliminated. The court judge will confirm

Art. 3    The court judge's responsibility will be to rule on any situation in which teams cannot agree. A team may appeal to the court judge if they feel a player has violated any rule. THE COURT JUDGE'S DECISION IS FINAL.

Art. 4    Court judges may warn players and call technical fouls on those who display unsportsmanlike conduct. Any player receiving 2 technical fouls in a game will be ejected and suspended a minimum of one game. Suspensions will begin with their next scheduled game. Severe infractions or multiple technical fouls may result in suspensions from matches or tournaments.

Note: A court judge is not required to warn a player before calling a technical foul.  

Section 2: Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Unsportsmanlike conduct may include but is not limited to:

• Abuse of the honor system
• Hits above the shoulders
• Unnecessary roughness
• Arguing with officials, staff, participants, or fans.
• Foul Language

Code of Conduct Code of Conduct

• Understand, appreciate and abide by the rules of the game and the honor system.
• Respect the integrity and judgment of game officials and staff.
• Respect your opponents and congratulate them in a courteous manner following each match, whether in victory or defeat.
• Be responsible for your actions and maintain self-control.
• Do not taunt or bait opponents. Refrain from using foul or abusive language.
• Players who blatantly disregard the honor system will be removed from the tournament.

The Intramural Director reserves the right to change any rules based on discretion and safety.