By Katy Peplinskie
The sound is like an explosion of rapid machine-gun fire, as round after round of balls slam against the gymnasium’s concrete walls.
The room echoes with laughter, cheers and the squeak of running shoes on hardwood as players duck and dive to avoid being hit.
But a few differences exist between this dodgeball game and the one most people remember from their childhood.
For starters, the players are a bit older — many are balding, pot-bellied and drive SUVs. For another, the teams have names that would make many an elementary school teacher blush — names such as “Don’t Touch My Balls” and “Hot and Bothered.”
Dodgeball has officially left the kids-only realm, with league after league springing up across the country.
The development of a Canada-wide dodgeball association is even in the works.
When its establishment is complete next month, members will be able to participate in national championships and enter dodgeball discussions in the association’s online chatroom.
But, what’s causing this shift in attitude?
Most people say it’s a response to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, the recent movie starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in which a group of misfits enter a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament to try and save a local gym from closure.
“The movie got people thinking about the game,” says player David D’Angelo.
“After watching the movie I was actually considering starting a dodgeball league myself, but then I found out about this one,” he says of the Ottawa Sport and Social Club (OSSC) league, which was set up almost immediately after the movie hit theatres.
Members of the league meet Wednesday nights at the Hunt Club region’s Holy Family Catholic School.
Smiling, D’Angelo continues: “I guess the only real difference between playing as a kid and playing now is that now I visualize my boss when I throw the ball at someone.”
Sophia Weber, another member of the OSSC league, says playing dodgeball takes her back to a time of “fingerpainting and milk and cookies.”
“I loved the game in grade school and I still love it now,” she says.
Another dodgeballer, Shari Kulik, says she plays the gamebecause it’s a great form of exercise.
She says with volleyball and football she sometimes doesn’t break a sweat, but after the game of dodgeball she can “wring her shirt out.”
Plus, “It’s a good stress reliever.”
Intense as the game may be, it doesn’t require a high level of athletic ability. In fact, D’Angelo calls the game “a great equalizer.”
“In this sport, being big or tall is a disadvantage since smaller players are harder to hit,” he says, pointing to a lanky man who had just been hit in the leg.
Instead, it’s all about strategy. Players use techniques like the Boomerang, the Bowling Ball and the Upper Cut — sneaky ways of throwing the ball to surprise opponents.
“It might have started as a kid’s game, but this ain’t kid’s play,” says D’Angelo with a laugh before jumping back on the court.