Section 4: Players & Officials
Team Composition
- Standard team size: 6 players per team on the court at a time
- Recreational play: Teams of 6 to 10 players are common; larger groups can be accommodated by increasing court size
- Substitutes: In organized leagues, teams may carry additional players who rotate in between games or sets
- Mixed teams: Dodgeball is commonly played as a co-ed sport with no restrictions on team gender composition
Player Roles
- Throwers: Players who focus on eliminating opponents with accurate throws
- Catchers: Players who specialize in catching incoming balls to eliminate throwers and revive teammates
- Dodgers: Agile players who prioritize evasion and survival
- Distributors: Players who gather loose balls and quickly pass them to teammates in better throwing positions
In practice, most players perform all of these roles throughout a game depending on the situation.
Officials
- Head referee: Controls the game, signals the start and end of play, and makes final rulings on disputed calls
- Line judges (optional): Positioned along the sidelines and end lines to call boundary violations and close plays
- Scorekeeper (optional): Tracks eliminated and active players, game scores, and time remaining
- Casual play: Self-officiated; players are expected to honestly call themselves out when hit