The Complete Book About Dodgeball
by
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If you saw the movie Dodgeball; A True Underdog Story I hope that you do not think that the Chinese were the first to invent dodgeball by throwing human heads at one another. There is no basis in fact for that theory. Then again, if you did think that was real you probably missed the whole point of the movie anyway. I have done research into the true history of dodgeball and have come up with nothing. Seems no one has bothered to put down on paper when people first started throwing objects at one another for sport.
So if I have nothing in print to relate to then I will have to rely on what history tells us regarding humans and sport. Sport and competition have been around as long as the human race. The first sport for the earliest humans was merely to survive against the elements and nature. That would lead to battles over food, shelter, mates and territory. If one person or group had food then undoubtedly another would try to take it and a wrestling or boxing match would ensue. After a bit of time humans became more sophisticated in there approach to hunting by utilizing tools like spears, clubs, arrows and various methods of stone throwing. Today we still encourage these skills but only for sporting reasons-back then it was a matter of survival. But knowing human nature, it would not be surprising if perhaps a few hunters would get together and see who was a more accurate shot with a stone or arrow. Taking it a step further, it is no surprise that these same tools for providing food or leisure activities became tools for murder.
So how does dodgeball fit into this? Well suppose you had a group of hunters just sitting around one day with not much to do. Someone picks up a small stone, and out of boredom, throws it jokingly at his friend. His friend picks that same stone up and throws it back. Then another hunter throws one and another. Soon two teams form and they each find some shelter behind some trees or rocks and the first make shift dodgeball game is born. It was even better in the winter because the snow would not necessarily hurt as much as a stone would.
Why do children of today do the same thing? If you are a teacher then you will have seen this very scenario on a playground during recess. If you are a parent you will have
seen it also, especially in the winter with snow. What child, at some point in their young lives, has not picked up snow, packed it into a ball shape and heaved it at someone or something. Older siblings will pick up toys and chuck them at younger brothers and sister for play and a means to say “back-off”. Ironically, my daughter loves to throw her older brothers toys at him just to get him to chase her (one of her favorite games). Am I to assume that my daughter is doing this out of anger or spite, or rather a way to entice her brother into playing a game with her? I have to go with the game option here. I would have to say in most cases when dodgeball games organize on a playground or in a backyard they are for fun only with no intentions of hurting friends.
I am sure there is a psychologist somewhere who would argue against that point, but I have seldom met a psychologist who says one thing and another who will say the exact opposite to make a buck.
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About the Book
If you picked up this book then you are one of two types of people. You are either a fan of dodgeball and are curious to learn more or you hate dodgeball and can not believe that anyone would actually write a book about it. Which ever type you are you will find useful information in the rest of the book to support your position.
I am a Physical Education and Health teacher in
As you read this book you will find some history and theory related to dodgeball theory and a whole lot of different games. I will state up front that what is written in this book is nothing more than my opinion (shared by my fellow teaching partners) and should be viewed as such. I tried to set the book up so that it would an easy format to follow and humorous to read. I hope that you find the book enjoyable and useful in your pursuit to find games and activities that kids will actively participate in.
If you are an anti-dodgeball person you will still find plenty of good fuel for your fire within this book. Then again I might just make you a believer.
About the Author
I recieved a teaching degree in Health and Physical Education from
I have spent the better part of my life learning and teaching about how to best be safe and maintain a safe environment for everyone’s enjoyment. Whether that is in a classroom, a gym or at a pool, safety is my first priority. I took a great amount of time to write this book so that I would purposefully not include anything that I personally felt was an unsafe or would be an unsafe situation for students. Not only have I developed a lot of the games, with the help of my fellow teaching staff, I have played every game within this book with my students to see for myself how it played out. If I felt that any game listed in this book was unsafe to be a part of I would not have included it. It is the teacher that makes a game safe or unsafe-not the students/ players.
I myself am nothing more than a student learning from my students. I have watched and listened to them very intently to create games and movement units that they will not only enjoy but gain needed health benefits from. The students love the game of Dodgeball and I have seen how hard they work at playing the game.
I hope you enjoy the book and have as much success with Dodgeball as I have.