Official rules of Dodgeball Bingo

May 29, 2019, Daniel Foster

PLAYING COURT

• Full court is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, with a center line dividing it into two 30-foot square sides.
• The Free Space boundaries are parallel to the center line and 4 feet out from center line. The Free Space is an overlap of the two teams’ areas of active play, and it’s boundaries are considered to extend out into the side “out of bounds” area if any exist.
• Attack lines are parallel to and 10 feet out from the center line.
• Hit Boxes are 6 feet square, centered in and abutting each end line inside the active play area.
• The Shooters’ area of active play is 30 feet wide and 34 feet deep, as defined by the two sidelines, the endline at the back of the court, and the furthest Free Space line.
• The Daubers’ area of active play is bordered on the front by the furthest Free Space boundary line (as in the case of the Shooters), but extends out into any “out of bounds” areas on his team’s side of the court.
• It is suggested that 2 or 3 feet be left clear around the outer court line for the out of bounds area.

EQUIPMENT

• Six balls, all the same size and between 8 and 10 inches in diameter, sequentially numbered from “1” through “6” in 4-inch high letters, printed on at least 2 sides, but preferably 4+ sides.
• Two Dodgeball Bingo cards for each game to be played, each consisting of a 5X5 grid of squares with the letters B, I, N, G, and O labelled on the top of each column. Each column should have a random sequence of 5 integers chosen from the range 1 through 6, with no integers repeated in a column. There is no free space on a Dodgeball Bingo card. These cards can be randomly generated using any method, such as the custom bingo card generator at print-bingo.com.
• Each team will supply their own bingo pen or marker to be used by the Dauber in marking her bingo card during game play. It is highly recommended that each Dauber carry at least one spare marker, in case one becomes lost or damaged during game play.

TEAM COMPOSITION & UNIFORMS

• Teams consist of six total players: five Shooters and one Dauber. Players cannot be substituted or rotated once a game has started, except in case of injury.
• Shooters wear white or light-colored shirt, with the letters B, I, N, G, and O printed on each. The letter must be on the front of each shirt in large black letters of at least 10 inches in height. Other clothes at the discretion of the team.
• Dauber wears a plain black or dark-colored shirt without marking. Other clothes at the discretion of the team.

SHOOTERS...

• Are responsible for throwing balls in an attempt to hit opponents.
• May pick up balls from within the playing area, and are subject to the Out Of Bounds rule.
• May not mark a Dodgeball Bingo card.

DAUBER...

• Is not restricted to the sidelines on her half of the court. However, must remain within her team’s half of the court.
• May pick up balls but may not throw them at opponents.
• May hand, pass, or toss them to own team’s Shooters.
• May catch balls thrown by opposing team.
• Is responsible for marking her team’s bingo card, and may do so at any point during active play. Is the only player who may mark a Dodgeball Bingo card.
• If Dauber loses a bingo marker, or if a marker becomes damaged so as to render it unusable, she is responsible for swapping out to a replacement during active play, and she must assure that the dead marker be safely removed from the playing area, preferably by tossing it to a referee for disposal.

OFFICIAL — CALLER

• Distributes bingo cards to Daubers at the start of each game.
• Announces initial Rush.
• Judges & announces Calls.
• Judges if injury should result in substitution.
• Judges violations & issues penalty.
• Judges Bingo claims & announces winning team.

OFFICIALS – REFEREES (2 or more)

• Keep time for penalties.
• Stop play when a violation occurs & communicate violation to Caller for judging.
  
  

GAME START PROCEDURE

• Both teams gather in court.
• Caller distributes a Dodgeball Bingo card to each Dauber.
• All players take position, as a Referees place 6 balls along center line in any order, roughly evenly spaced across court. Outer balls should be 3 feet in from sidelines (leaving approximately 4 feet between rest of balls).

RUSH

• Caller issues audible signal & both teams rush to center court & attempt to grab as many balls as possible.
• There is no limit to how many players can rush to center.
• There is no limit to how many balls an individual player may retrieve.
• Players may enter neutral zone, but may not enter opposing team’s area.
• Players may not physically pull or push another player out of bounds, or physically hinder their movement in any way.
• During Rush, balls retrieved from neutral zone must be taken behind attack line before being thrown at an opponent. A ball that has not been taken behind attack line is considered dead, & any hits by or catches of a dead ball are voided plays. A ball may be carried by a player across the attack line or passed to a player behind the attack line – in either case, it become active.
• A ball that is rebounded off the back wall of a closed court must first be handled by a player behind the attack line to become live.

GAME PLAY

• During game play, Shooters throw balls at opponents in an attempt to hit them.
• A ball remains live until it has hit a player or touched the court floor. Balls bounced off court walls are live, provided they have not touched the floor.
• If a player catches a ball thrown by an opponent, the Shooter who threw the ball is considered hit by that ball.
• A player may defend themselves by blocking a ball in flight with another ball in their hands, but must retain control over the ball they are blocking with. A player dropping or losing possession of a blocking ball is deemed hit by the ball they attempted to block.
• A blocked ball rebounding off another ball remains live, even if the blocking player drops the ball they used to block.

HITTING & CALLS

• Teams earn chances to mark their bingo card – called “Calls” – by hitting a player on the opposing team.
• A hit is considered valid if a live ball hits any part of a player’s body or clothing, excepting the players’ hands if the player successfully blocks the ball.
• Active play continues when a player is hit.
• When a player is hit, she immediately drops any ball(s) he/she is holding & proceeds to her team’s Hit Box for 30 seconds. The 30 seconds begin as soon as the penalized player crosses into the Hit Box. At the end of 30 seconds, as indicated by a Referee, the player is free to leave the Hit Box.
• When a player is hit, Caller announces the Call awarded to the team that made the hit (example: “H-5 to Wombats!”) twice. The Call, which names the bingo square that can be marked, is composed of the jersey letter of the player hit followed by the number of the ball used to make the hit. The Call is awarded to the team whose Shooter threw the ball.
• Caller keeps a written record of Calls earned, but does not announce them again following the initial announcement.
• After a Call is awarded by Caller, Dauber of the team who won the Call may mark the appropriate boxes on her team’s Dodgeball Bingo cards. This may be done whenever & in whatever fashion the Dauber wishes, but the Dauber remains in active play while marking her card.

HANDLING VIOLATIONS

• If Referee sees a violation, she blows whistle to pause game play & declares violation to Caller.
• While game play is paused, all players stop in position they are in when Referee whistled. They may keep holding any ball(s) they were holding when the whistle was blown, but may not throw or pick up any ball(s), pass a ball to any other player, or move from the position they were in when they stopped. Dauber must also remain where they were standing & may not mark any bingo cards during a pause in game play.
• If Caller rules to sustain the violation, she announces penalty which takes effect as soon as game play resumes.
• If Caller overrules violation, she announces this.
• After Caller makes announcement regarding violation, she signals for active play to resume.

STANDARD PENALTY

• Standard penalty for rule violations is banishment to Hit Box for 30 seconds.
• Penalties earned while in the Hit Box result in an additional 30 seconds added to the end of the existing penalty period.
• Players banished to the Hit Box remain in active play while in the Hit Box. They may pick up and throw any balls that they can reach without leaving the Hit Box, including any passed to them by the Dauber. They also remain subject to being hit by a thrown ball.

CLAIMING BINGO

• When Dauber believes her team has achieved Bingo on a player’s bingo card, she shouts “Bingo!”
• Nearest Referee pauses game, and all players (except Dauber) freeze in place as in pause for violations.
• Dauber hands card to Referee, who takes the card to Caller.
• Caller checks squares involved in Bingo claim against her record of hits. Only squares involved in Bingo claim need to be checked.
• If claimed Bingo is good, Caller announces game over & declares winner.
• If claimed Bingo is invalid, card being reviewed is seized by Caller, who issues new card to Referee to deliver to Dauber.
• Dauber is penalized for false Bingo claim, and after receiving new card, proceeds to Hit Box for standard penalty. Penalty starts as soon as game is resumed.
• Game is resumed with all players in position they were in when game was paused , with Dauber who made claim in Hit Box.