In the famous words of Patches O’Houlihan, if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
And if you ever happen to be playing the character of Justin in a remake of the movie Dodgeball, this is when we’d urge you to quickly use one of the five D’s of dodgeball – dodge, duck, dip, pe or dodge. Yes, we know there are really only four, but you can’t really argue with Patches.
Luckily for all of us, wrenches aren’t typically used when playing the game that used to be found on just about every playground in America (until it got a bad rap as a dangerous and exclusionary activity), and they definitely won’t be a part of Evo Rock + Fitness’s newly formed dodgeball league.
So you don’t have to worry about metal objects flying at your head, but you do have to watch out for the rubber balls used to eliminate your opponent. It is, after all, called dodgeball, and if you get hit with one, you’re out of the game.
After hosting a couple of different events related to the sport, the Evo crew started talking about forming a league. So they decided to get the rules together, come up with a day, time and cost, and put it out there to see what kind of interest it could generate.
“There’s not something like it in the area,” said Evo General Manager Kris Hiller. “And people are always looking to be active.”
The league will begin July 12 and be held each Sunday, from 6 to 8 p.m., for seven weeks. The final week will serve as a tournament style playoff. And FYI, the climbing gym will be closed down for the league.
“You’re going to be circled by walls, so the balls will just bounce off,” Hiller said.
You need six to 10 players for your team, with matches using a six-on-six format. The one caveat is that there needs to be at least two players from each gender on the court at all time – that is until the elimination begins. Cost is $35 per player for the league.
The whole point of dodgeball is to throw your ball at the other team – and dodge the ones flying at you. Each match has a three-minute time limit, and the first team to knock out the competition wins. If there are still players remaining from both squads when the buzzer sounds, the team with the highest number of remaining players will be declared the winner.
And if you can’t find a group to form a team, there’s still the option to sign up as an inpidual and be put on a team.
“It would be great to get at least five or six teams,” Hiller said.
For more info or to sign up, visit evorock.com/concord-nh/specialevents.
