(Showdown in Dodge City Page 2 of 2)

Once the scourge of slow, uncoordinated children in junior high Phys-Ed classes everywhere, dodgeball's resurging popularity over the last year has been fueled by the immensely successful (though marginally funny) 2004 movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. The cultural impact of the film was present on the field, as people brazenly recited their favorite lines.   One woman, a mousy sort with a tiny beige dog, bellowed to her husband's team from the sidelines, "You guys look like a bunch of retarded kids trying to hump a doorknob!" The success of the movie has spawned several national organizations, including the International Dodge-ball Federation (IDBF). Each November, the International World Cup of Dodgeball is held in New York City , with teams participating from exotic, faraway lands such as Pakistan, Australia, and Fresno. The IDBF will have representatives in all 50 states by the end of 2005 and a projected 300,000 sanctioned players by the end of 2007.

But not everyone is enamored with dodgeball. The National Association for Sports and Physical Education (NAPSE), which represents more that 20,000 educators, has condemned the game, placing it on the "do not play" list with other dangerous schoolyard activities such as the scissor toss, fat kid piñata, and the much-maligned urine slide. In a 2000 paper, NAPSE officials declared "activities such as relay races, elimination tag, and dodgeball provide limited opportunities for everyone in the class, especially the slower, less agile students who need activity the most. Being targeted because they are 'weaker' players does not help kids to develop confidence." Following NAPSE's recommendation, several states banned dodgeball from K-12 schools, including Maine, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, Utah and Texas, claiming the activity is detrimental to personal development. It's interesting that Texas, a state that prides itself on its prolific execution record, has taken this aggressive stance against something as banal as dodgeball. Apparently, they don't consider death by lethal injection detrimental to personal development.

< Previous PageBack to Articles >