National Dodgeball League

National Dodgeball League

Current season, competition or edition: 2010–11 NDL season
National Dodgeball League Logo
Sport	Dodgeball
Founded	2004
CEO	Edward Prentiss
No. of teams	14
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	None
Most titles	0 yet
Official website	The NDL.com

The National Dodgeball League (NDL) is currently the only professional dodgeball league. The league was founded in 2004 and is currently headed by Commissioner Edward Prentiss out of Hopkins, MN and the co commissioner "Dancin" Jimmy Richards out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The league is composed of 14 teams, which are divided into the National and the American Dodgeball Conference. In addition to professional dodgeball, the NDL hosts the annual amateur Dodgeball World Championship (DWC) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The DWC draws dodgeball players from across the globe to compete in a tournament to determine the best amateur dodgeball team in the world. Prior DWC tournaments have included teams from Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and Australia.

NDL Amateur Association

Before the opening rush of an amateur game during the 2008 World Championship

The NDL hosts an amateur association of play that goes all year from the end of one World Championship tournament to the start of the next. Amateur teams play with the same rules as the professional teams at various tour stops across the country with the NDL Championship Tour. Each tour stop is formatted as a tournament between other amateur teams where winners gain points towards their national rank as well as admittance into the World Championships for that season. Professional players in the NDL are required to attend any tour stops located nearby and manage the tournament.

Amateur Divisions

There are several divisions that players may participate in. Players are permitted to compete with multiple teams, but not within the same division. Players must be at least 16 years of age unless in the youth division.

Open Stinger

Played with four 8.5" dodgeballs and two 5" stingers. Teams may consist of any combination of men and women.

Open 8.5

Played with six 8.5" dodgeballs. Teams may consist of any combination of men and women.

Co-ed 8.5

Played with six 8.5" dodgeballs. A team must have at least 2 women playing in each game or have 1 play but be limited to a total of 5 players in that game instead of the usual 6.

Open No Sting

Played with six 8" no sting dodgeballs. Teams may consist of any combination of men and women.

Co-ed No Sting

Played with six 8" no sting dodgeballs. A team must have at least 2 women playing in each game or have 1 play but be limited to a total of 5 players in that game instead of the usual 6.

Recreational

A division where emphasis is taken away from winning the dodgeball game and placed on having fun. Teams earn points in categories such as Team Entrance, Team Uniform, Team Mascot, Celebrity Look-alike, Best Hair, Sportsmanship, and many more. The team accumulating the most points at the conclusion of dodgeball matches is declared the winner.

Youth Division

Not included as part of the 2010 Dodgeball World Championship, but available in other annual NDL tournaments. Players may range from 11 to 14 and 15 to 17 years of age in any gender combination.

Rules

The NDL Amateur Association follows the same National Dodgeball League rules used in professional dodgeball competition.

Dodgeball World Championship & Convention

The NDL's annual Championship & Convention is held in Las Vegas and hosts the professional teams' regular season, the Amateur World Championships, and the NDL Dodgeballer Awards & Banquet over the course of one weekend in August.

The first day consists of round-robin play for the amateur teams as well as the Last Dodgeballer standing competition. The evening activities include the NDL Dodgeballer Awards & Banquet where the previous year's amateur and professional winners are honored.

The second day is entirely dedicated to the amateur portion of the weekend where single-elimination play takes place among the teams and culminates in the NDL Amateur World Championship Finals for all divisions.

The third and final day is composed of professional team tryouts followed by the regular season.

Last Dodgeballer Standing

Last Dodgeballer Standing is a planned game involving all NDL participants and is essentially a large free-for-all version of standard dodgeball. All players are put in a sufficiently sized, self-contained playing area along with two dodgeballs.

Last Dodgeballer Standing Rules

Play starts all players standing along the walls of the play area followed by a scramble for the dodgeballs.

A player may only hold one dodgeball at a time.

If a player is holding a dodgeball, he is restricted to a limited range of movement. He may only take a certain amount of steps, usually starting with 2 and, as other players are eliminated, lengthened to 3, 4, etc. and eventually free to run.

Each player is allowed to be "out" twice before eliminated from the game with each out generally marked upon the player's hand with a marker. An out counts as either being hit with a dodgeball or having your throw caught by another player.

The last player left is the winner and deemed the Last Dodgeballer Standing and so rewarded during the following year's awards banquet.

NDL Professional League

Regular season

Unlike most other sports leagues, the NDL holds its entire regular season in one day during its annual Dodgeball World Championship & Convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each pro team plays the other teams in their respective conference three times. Since there are no playoffs as of now, there is no champion for the NDL, simply the top ranking team of each conference.

Rules

The National Dodgeball League rules define the rules for professional dodgeball competition.

Teams

Currently there are 14 teams in the NDL:

External links

• The Official Website of the NDL
• The Official Website of the Bluedogs
• The Official Website of the Avalanche
• The Official Website of the Chaos
• The Official Website of the Crossfire
• The Official Website of the Vipers
• The Official Website of the Vendetta
• The Official Website of the Epic
• The Official Website of the Shade
• The Official Website of the Scorchers
• The Official Website of the Undertakers
• The Official Website of the Explosion
• The Official Website of the Doberman
• The Official Website of the Bounty Hunters
• The Official Website of the Punishers

References

1. The Official Website of the NDL