This might have already been asked, but do you remember,? dodge.ball in PE CLASS
Posted by curious-thatguy@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 137 comments
Chances are that’s outlawed today?
Temporary-Library597@reddit
We used to play Warball in our gym. The object was to knock down the other team's bowling pins. But if you got hit you were out for the game. If you catch a ball, the thrower is out. If the game lasted too long, the coaches would yell "FREE THROW LINE" and both teams could advance past half-court up to their opponent's free throw line.
It was glorious.
zoppaTheDim@reddit
Cliche, a rather tired one as it has been used for more than two decades now.
If you’re not a bot you might as well be one.
What a surprise, nobody has casual children sports that result in brain injuries anymore.
Are their millenials somewhere complaint that not heading soccer balls is somehow soft?
GrizzlyGuru42@reddit
I loved dodge ball!
AlfhildsShieldmaiden@reddit
Yeah! I wasn’t too bad at it.
Fragrant-Anywhere489@reddit
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
😂
ONROSREPUS@reddit
Yea and for a big guy I was pretty good at it. I was always trying to protect the girl I had a crush on. Didn't get me anywhere.
AngryK9_@reddit
You mean that game where kids try their best to zing the ball as hard as they possibly could at the faces of other kids? Yeah, I remember that...
Ok_Common_1355@reddit
Yep. Played it and Red Rover in vacation bible school as well!
menachu@reddit
sure do! we played shirts vs skins and instead of that red bouncy ball, coach had us use deflated soccer balls. they did some damage!
cbatta2025@reddit
Of course. We also played PomPom. You’d have 2 lines of people holding hands on opposite sides of the gym and one side would run at the other and try to break through the other line. Good times.
LayerNo3634@reddit
We called it red rover
LayerNo3634@reddit
Before dodge ball, we played Red Rover in elementary. I'm pretty sure today's parents would throw a fit.
Ok_Entrepreneur_8509@reddit
I actually remember when they switched from using balls to rolled up towels and started calling it "muffinball". I think that was when it died. I wonder if anyone else remembers this, or if it was just at my local school.
Firm_Accountant2219@reddit
Yeah 100%. I was a very talented dodger. I mean I was like Spider-Man out there. Unfortunately I couldn’t throw worth a damn.
Fritz5678@reddit
We played German Dodge Ball in PE in 4th grade. It was on a basketball court and the ball was rolled instead of thrown.
luvashow@reddit
Bombardment
kevtay1969@reddit
Loved it - and to be honest always aimed for face or nuts! Dodge ball was war dude!
Change_Request@reddit
Oh, he'll yeah! Some of the girls got drilled in the face.
cbatta2025@reddit
That sounds weird.
flyfish207@reddit
We had "Superman Dodge Ball." The whole gym and walls were in play. Only the gym teacher threw the ball... at us. Total mayhem. Last person not hit wins. We loved it!
I can't imagine this version is still being played. The teacher would be fired!
Tricky_Version8433@reddit
We had that version too, with the added bonus of having a curved wall that the teacher had lots of practice with ricochets. I remember quite a few boys getting hit in the head, bouncing them off the wall in the process. 4th, maybe 5th grade
Mycatreallyhatesyou@reddit
I went to catholic school and one time this very cool nun joined in to the dodgeball game and her wimple (veil) fell off and we were all in shock that she actually had hair.
whiskeygirl@reddit
Loved dodge ball. I still remember how the balls smelled and sounded.
PoorGovtDoctor@reddit
But not how it felt being thrown at my face!
whiskeygirl@reddit
I was a speedy little sucker.
Bubbly_Following7930@reddit
yes
AdrianValles@reddit
Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.
Z_Opinionator@reddit
RIP Patches
AdrianValles@reddit
RIP Rip.
Aromatic_Revolution4@reddit
We went so hard we called it Bombardment.
THSSFC@reddit
"Shambattle"
THSSFC@reddit
I absolutely loved dodgeball, even though I was never the dude that could throw the ball hard enough to be scary. Definitely solidly lower mid-tier in the dodgeball heirarchy.
Just utter fun dodging, catching and throwing. And it seems every time we played, there was some new twist to the rules to make it interesting (or to get the game over fast).
f700es@reddit
Best day ever
SlowEmphasis3676@reddit
Of course I remember. As well as the jerk that always made it try to hurt when the ball hit you.
little_boots_@reddit
we did have it, i remember in middle school. but we weren’t super savage about it and i don’t remember getting hurt. i was pretty bad at it.
EverythingScrolling@reddit
Of course we had dodge ball in P.E. class. But did anyone else also have scooter dodge ball? Sometimes our teacher would bring out these square scooters that you sat on and used your feet to move it around while playing dodge ball.
nosmelc@reddit
We didn't play dodge ball in PE class. PE teacher made us do other things. We played dodge ball during recess.
allbsallthetime@reddit
Yes, but I called it school sanctioned bullying.
Winter-eyed@reddit
Our favorite scholastic endorsed form of physical aggression.
geodebug@reddit
Catholic Dodge Ball in grade school, boys against girls for some reason.
Obviously an aggression-based game is going to be a little one sided so our teacher would play on the girls side.
Sister Pauline would take no mercy shots. I think she used it as therapy plinking the obnoxious boys.
Malapple@reddit
Yes, and in our youth group at church.
The latter used those red rubber inflatable balls that were really thick. The big ones were fine, but the smaller ones hurt like hell, and the youth pastor would -wail- you with them. Kids would get knocked over, go home with welts... it was freakin insane. And most of us still liked it. I think the risk/actual danger of pain was attractive to us or something.
Ok-Entertainment5045@reddit
Of course I do, what do think I’m a millennial or something.
AgentDangerMouse@reddit
I also remember crab dodge ball. Brutal.
ggoptimus@reddit
We didn’t play it in PE but we did at the bus stop. Giant Jeremy the 6th grader used to wail on the younger kids. Many kids got on the bus with black and blue circle marks.
UrsaMajor7th@reddit
Maybe you should have been in typing or English instead.
LadyNorbert@reddit
I think it was actually banned in our gym classes by the time I went to school.
GrouchyOldRN@reddit
Ohh the misery of being a skinny non athlete. Elementary PE was torture.
59apache01@reddit
We had two cardinal rules. No aiming for the head and no aiming for the crotch. If you got caught doing either, you were out permanently and had to face the wrath of our gym teacher, who was a former Korean War POW. None of us were ever brave enough to cross him.
AaronTheElite007@reddit
PING!
Nope, can’t say I do… /s
pmllny@reddit
There was always a stated "no headhunting" rule, but it never held up. It was all about headhunting.
Base_Ancient@reddit
Ah, we had so much fun. Although no one can forget the sting of a dodgeball in the face lol
XTanuki@reddit
I wasn’t great, but it was fun
FightPhoe93@reddit
That’s how I felt about it too. Thought it was fun and don’t have bad memories about it but apparently there’s many out there who hated it. I wasn’t a great athlete but I was quick so I probably was better at doing the dodging part of the game than many.
leungadon@reddit
In the 90s the school kept “banning” it but the gym teachers kept letting us play it, but kept renaming it nonsense names, green onions, bombardment, rabbit and the hunter
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
That is great! Keeping a game alive that teaches quick reflexes, accurate throwing, thinking on your feet and most importantly you are moving the whole time!
leungadon@reddit
I loved the game! Although I was excellent at dodging, I was less excellent or even ok at throwing other people out :-/
Material_Survey126@reddit
No....i dont remember dodge ball but i DO remember FrozeUp Ball!! A 2x 6th grader, Grant Stevens, whippin that cannonball directly at my face and i turned to "catch" it only to freeze up and got SMACKED right in my face...complete with a nosebleed AND a chipped front tooth....i was in 5th grade 🤬🤬💀💀.
tossaway-florida@reddit
The whistling sound that ball makes as it's screaming towards your head at 50mph ...
Blorg74@reddit
We called it Murder Ball.
Significant-Theme253@reddit
Hide. At all times. Make sure someone else is in front of you at all times.
90Carat@reddit
Zero percent chance. One of my kids played it the other day in school.
Katiecake80@reddit
I still hear the sound of that red ball…
Shawnaldo7575@reddit
Dodgeball is so fun!
The original game is was great.
My HS PE teacher would sometimes play a variation of it where there was 5 dodgeballs on top of 5 pylons on each teams baseline. 1 loose ball to start. First team to knock over the other teams 5 balls wins. By the end of the game there was multiple balls flying around. It was total chaos.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
That is NOT dodge ball!
Shawnaldo7575@reddit
Like I said, it was a variation of it.
Sumeriandawn@reddit
My elementary school banned dodgeball in 1990.
Impressive-Yak-7449@reddit
I can still here the sound of the ball
bbqprincess@reddit
Paaaa-ting!
Only_Presentation758@reddit
At recess. 5th grade. Everybody forced to participate day after day and yes the boys nailed all the girls hard, with glee, while the teacher/monitor did nothing
MarxandRec@reddit
Our gym teacher thought it was hilarious to pit 9th graders against 7th graders. There was this guy that tormented us in the hallways (dumping books, etc.) who always screamed, "BANZAI!" when he threw at a sevies head. One game I caught the ball and got that fucker out. Best day of junior high.
CynicalTelescope@reddit
I sucked t it, and was always picked last (I understand PE classes no longer do team captain and selection in favor of random assigment). Plus, I had the laziest PE instructor EVER who did nothing else than have us us play dodgeball. I really do hope it's banned now.
freedom781@reddit
It existed in my last year of PE, spring '94.
Life changing, honestly.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
Mine was 79-81 middle school
Evening-Top-4245@reddit
Army Ball. One armed, one legged hilarity!
Ealthina@reddit
LOVED Dodge ball...
87YoungTed@reddit
IDK if it's outlawed but I loved dodge ball days in gym class.
Ihaveaboot@reddit
I just asked my nephew this question the other day! Nope, they don't play dodgeball in PE at his middleschool. They still do the parachute ball bounce thing. Not sure about square dancing.
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
Someone cried so now they don’t play real dodgeball anymore!
retrokezins@reddit
I mostly remember the sound of the ball when it hits your face. We also played a version called Battle Ball in PE which used a larger, heavier and more painful ball.
OldGamerX79@reddit
Ah yes. I remember the sound it makes when it contacted a person's head. And the tears of the fallen. Those were the days.
thelimeisgreen@reddit
I loved dodgeball in school. And I still play. There are official leagues all over the US and Canada. They don't use those stinging playground balls anymore (which is good).
deagh@reddit
I used to really suck at it. I was the tallest girl all through school, and the tallest kid in middle school, so I was the biggest target. Except one game the dodgeball gods smiled on me and I was the last one in the circle and no one could hit me. To this day I couldn't tell you how I managed it, but it was epic.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
Absolutely too cool, great memories Right…✌️
daydreamersunion@reddit
I miss Dodgeball. It was one of the things I was good at. Our pe teacher always tried to get me to try out for football on defense because I could catch anything thrown my way. My parents were super religious and felt football was against gods teaching.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
That story makes me sad 😔 I grew up in a Pentecostal environment I believe you were given other talents and your rockin those. God bless.👊
UnicornFarts1111@reddit
Hated it. I was always the smallest person in class, so usually the first targeted.
printerdsw1968@reddit
Loved it.
Steelwraith955@reddit
I vaguely remember playing in elementary school, though it was replaced by another game (foursquare or something?). As the shortest kid in the class and quick on my feet, I was pretty good at it... pity I couldn't anything smaller than a cube van. 😒
Bjorn_Blackmane@reddit
Who doesn't
UnicornSheets@reddit
Remember punch ball? (Same as kick ball but you punch the ball instead of kicking it)
waveydavey321@reddit
If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball..
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
LMAO…who else gets this reference.??
ObsoleteAuthority@reddit
Came here to say this. Take my upvote!
Weekly-Batman@reddit
Still happening in my sons highschool
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
That’s really super cool 😎. I thought that went away. Took me an hours bus ride to get to my school. Country life. Yep
Substantial_Cow7628@reddit
We did dodgeball in elementary school, but by junior high we'd moved on to real sports.
lshifto@reddit
We still played dodgeball in freshman PE in high school. Sorry your school was lame.
Substantial_Cow7628@reddit
We played ball hockey in the gym and baseball when it was warm enough outside. It was fine.
Heinz37_sauce@reddit
Yes, and I haven’t played dodgeball… or kickball or tetherball… since HS graduation.
Present-Assignment99@reddit
I loved all of those!❤️
awnitsol@reddit
We did dodge ball on Fridays and it was what we looked forward to. They still do it, but they use those candy-ass foam balls that don't hurt a bit. For a time, we went in to school early and played dodge ball using racquet balls. Good times.
aran_maybe@reddit
The main rule was no throwing out the head. So naturally everyone threw at feet. One kid was a really good jumper and anytime anyone would throw the ball he would jump up and do the splits so that the ball would pass underneath him. So someone threw at his head. He jumped. The ball hit his head, but not the one you think.
lisnter@reddit
Yeah, except we called it warball. I loved it even thought I wasn’t very good. I could avoid the incoming balls for a while but could throw them terribly hard/accurately.
Quasigriz_@reddit
In the 80s, Florida Panhandle, we used to play cone war. It was dodgeball with milk crates that had cones on them. Either eliminate other team or all their cones.
Chibi-Skyler@reddit
Yep, I remember Dodgeball! I sucked at it, but it was right up there with the parachute as my fav activities.
During recess, we had our own version, which involved throwing tennis balls at each other. Fun times.
jollytoes@reddit
I have a vivid memory of getting blasted in the face during 6th grade dodgeball.
Perfecshionism@reddit
Yes. It was my favorite PE activity.
FujiKitakyusho@reddit
The sting, the bruise, the adrenaline, the fear, and that unforgettable characteristic slightly echo-ey ring of the ball when you take a headshot.
Yup.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
It was sorta kinda violent and both boys and girls played on each team, no discrimination, just don’t get hit ✌️😝
relikter@reddit
By middle school we had split boys and girls up for dodgeball. Boys were trying to give their best friend a concussion and girls were trying to settle scores with someone who had been their best friend just 3 days earlier. It was a beautiful chaos.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
True story. It was a way to settle a score Or they got a chance to settle their score. No permanent damage just a good head shot . Give or take 👊
l0st1nP4r4d1ce@reddit
Remember it. I think there is still a mark from when Brian tagged me at Mach1.
Fuck you Brian.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
lol, I think I remember Brian 😎
Substantial_Cow7628@reddit
The Brian in my school was named Clint.
l0st1nP4r4d1ce@reddit
There's always a Brian.
Only person I can remember who could CURVE a dodgeball.
Generally_Tso_Tso@reddit
If you don't remember dodgeball as a GenXer it's because you weren't good at it. CTE is real.
countered_measures@reddit
The great ball of death and embarrassment? That was the best part of elementary and high school.
curious-thatguy@reddit (OP)
Lmao, sucked so bad to get taken out in the first few or take a face shot, but I guess settin on the side waiting for the one winner. Was fun to.?!😝
TroyTony1973@reddit
I remember Dodge!Ball!
KatrynaTheElf@reddit
I hated it so much. In sixth grade, the PE teachers would give us like eight of those hard red balls. I dodged well, and they would wait until they had all the balls and peg me all at once. My best friend and I always hoped to be on opposing teams so we could each collect a ball, hit each other out lightly, and then sit and chat.
Cross_22@reddit
The only thing I was ever good at in PE class; they should have scored that one instead of running & long jumps.
relikter@reddit
Dodgeball is still played in schools today, but with much softer balls.
ChrisBourbon27@reddit
Of course
Kamimitsu@reddit
Yup. Hated it. I was decently athletic, so it wasn't a skills thing so much. I was just terrified that I'd get beaned in the head, my glasses would break, and I'd have to face the displeasure of my parents.
Fragrant-Tradition-2@reddit
I feel awful, and I promise I am not a sociopath, and I am also a fairly small person, but I kinda liked dodgeball.
Suit-Local@reddit
In middle school, gym teacher called it murder ball. Got complaints when I was in 8th grade. One day tells us we can’t play that anymore. Tells us we are gonna learn a new game called throw and catch. Same rules as murder ball. Mr Sherwood was a legend
Trick_Praline_3316@reddit
That was my favorite! And then there was kickball.
Knight_thrasher@reddit
It’s why I had cheap plastic frame glasses, wasn’t to much if they broke
avidinha@reddit
I'll never forget the sound of that red ball hitting someone in the head.
xangkory@reddit
Loved it.
About a decade ago I worked out at a CrossFit gym that had a kids class right before the class I attended. The gym was owned by a guy who played minor league baseball for a while and one day I walk into class and he was playing dodgeball with the kids or really more using kids as target practice. I swear one of the kids he hit in the chest with a ball looked like he got launched off the ground and flew several feet back.
The kids were loving it. Too bad more kids these days don’t get the chance to get knocked off their feet like that.
TeenNinjaTortoise@reddit
Yes and I was skinny and fast. One match I remember was just me left for my team, with about 8 on the other side, and I couldn't be hit. At some point, the opposing team figured out that they had to all simultaneously throw at me, and that's how they finally won, but I frustrated everyone for a little while, including my own teammates sitting on the side who just wanted to get another game going
Livid-Ad-6439@reddit
Holy hell, we loved playing that, along with hit the can :)
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
They play it all the time at the schools around me, my kids grew up with it too. Except they are required to play with lame foam balls, so it is zero fun.
hankenator1@reddit
We played dodgeball in gym class and then played “suicide” at recess. Both involve trying to take out players by hitting them with a ball.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_(game)
Goodtimes4Goodpeople@reddit
We played with red playground balls or nerf balls in grade school. I jr high we played with volleyballs and you could take people out with them!! I am certain there were many undiagnosed concussions.
Acceptable-Story3741@reddit
Loved playing dodge ball. The one that really enjoyed too was sideline basketball. Wondering if that was a MN thing or if other parts of the country played it also