Dodgeball: the great survivor of games

The Brilé or dodgeball is a traditional game that is still quite practiced and popular in educational centers today, mainly in physical education classes, however, it is rarely played on the streets anymore.

With games like brilé, the aim is for students to learn about those popular games their elders used to play.

In this way, we will try to prevent them from being forgotten and encourage this traditional culture to continue being passed on to new generations (Machín, R., 2013)¹. And above all, not to forget that they have an educational objective.

Undergoing some transformations, in recent years it has gone from being a fun activity to a sport that, precisely due to its rapid growth, has already had a world championship (Redacción BBC Mundo, 2016)².

What is brilé?

The brilé is a game in which two teams play and it consists of hitting the opposing team with the ball. If it bounces on the ground and then hits you on any part of the body, you are not “Brilado,” and if the ball goes directly to your body, you are “Brilado.” There must be a referee and a captain on each team.

Next, we analyze the origin of the term brilé:

French origin

González, N. (2017)³ comments that the term brilé, which is attributed to the French lexeme brulé, leads us to deduce that we are dealing with a possible loan from the French language or a Gallicism.

This author also highlights that the word brilé does not appear in reference dictionaries, although the lexical unit “brilar” does appear in the Basic Dictionary of Canarismos, registered for the islands of Tenerife and La Palma, accompanied by the following definition: “in the game of brilé, to eliminate one of the members of the opposing team after hitting them with the ball.”

Different names it receives

In addition to the term brilé, and especially outside the Canary Islands, other terms are used, such as dodgeball, burned, burned ball, throw ball, death ball, to kill, the mate, I kill and cemetery.

The possible explanations found for this variety of terms are that the lexical unit ball (burned ball, throw ball, death ball), responds to a metonymic process because the game instrument is a ball.

There are also terms that are part of the same semantic field, such as death, kill, mate, I kill, and cemetery. In the case of the designation burned, it may have been taken from the translation of the term brulé, a French word from which it possibly derives, as previously pointed out.

The word prisoner could have been given the value it confers to a person who falls into the hands of the enemy, which in the development of the game would be attributed to the participant who is brilado and who goes to occupy the area designated for it (the cemetery).

Brilé: Preliminary games

The following proposal is based on several authors and works, Machín, R. (2013)¹; Juegos Tafad (2016)⁴; Redacción BBC Mundo (2016)²; Murado, D. (2011)⁵; Baeza7 (2013)⁶; Martínez, D⁷; Introduction to Dodgeball⁹; (WDF)¹¹. They can be used for a session that initiates the learning situation and even used as part of the specific warm-up.

• Throw-receive: in groups, form a circle and practice throws and receptions, varying the type, trajectory.
• Hit-dodge: in groups, form a circle with a student in the middle. Those forming the circle through passes must find the right moment to hit the one in the middle, who will try to avoid it. Important: the dynamic should be cooperative work, more passes, and fewer but more effective throws.
• Blood: a group of students is placed together. One of them stays and throws a ball up while saying the name of a classmate. Everyone must run away until the named one catches the ball and says: “blood,” and everyone must stop. This person can take 3 steps before trying to hit a classmate with the ball. If they manage to hit, they will successively become: wounded, serious, dead, bone, and ash. The named one is the one who will throw next if they manage to hit, otherwise, the same one repeats. Another way I knew this game in my childhood was that each classmate has the name of a country, and the one who stays says “I declare war on (names a country) and throws the ball, and whoever is that country has to go get the ball.
• Dodge: in groups facing each other, pass the ball, dodge high, medium, and low (crouching, lateral, jumping), catch throw.

How to play brilé?

The game consists of throwing the ball against the members of the opposing team, trying to hit them with it and make the ball touch the ground, having to leave the central area and go to the brilados area. The ball can be thrown from the non-brilados to the brilados to try to eliminate the opponents.

Next, we analyze the rules of brilé and certain variants.

Rules of brilé

• Two teams, each has a playing field (half of the volleyball court).
• At the end extremes first, and then laterals, of the volleyball court, the brilados area is located.
• The game starts by throwing the ball into the air (as in the initial basketball serve), the team that manages to catch it is the one that starts the game.
• Foam rubber balls are recommended to avoid painful hits and for some students to avoid participating for fear of injury.
• It is forbidden to hit the head.

• The game consists of throwing the ball against the members of the opposing team, trying to hit them with it and make the ball touch the ground, having to leave the central area and go to the brilados area.
• The ball can be thrown from the non-brilados to the brilados to try to eliminate the opponents.

Variants of brilé

• Having more than one life
• If when throwing the opponent catches your throw, the thrower is eliminated.
• Introducing the figure of the “knight,” one from each team is placed in the opponent’s field and from there can receive passes from teammates, and staying static when receiving the ball can bril.
• Wounded and serious: the brilados have the opportunity to return to their field if they bril someone. If we are brilados again, we go to the brilados area and now we do not have the opportunity to shoot, but if I can pass the ball, it is from my team.
• Protect the king/queen: one from each team is assigned the role of king or queen without the other team knowing. It is about protecting the chosen one because once they are brilados, the game ends.
• Introducing more balls: 2, 3.

Examples of new alternative games based on brilé or dodgeball: datchball and dodgeball

We analyze two variants of brilé:

 Datchball

• It is played with 3 balls.
• The start happens with the 3 balls on the center line and the teams on the baseline of their respective fields.
• When two players grab a ball at the same time, the serve will be null and must be repeated (this time the players will be positioned with their backs, on their knees…).
• You can only hold a ball in possession for 10 seconds. After that time, you must roll that ball to the opposing team’s field.

Dodgeball

• On the court, there will only be two teams of six people each, facing each other on a court with a middle division.
• The playing field is a rectangle 18 meters long by 9 meters wide. Each team must remain in their half of the field.
• The objective is to try to hit the opponents of the opposing team with six balls arranged for the game to eliminate them from the court. The game is won by the team that manages to remove all the opponents or that at the end of the regulatory time of three minutes, has more players on the court.
• Start of the game: the members of both teams will stand behind their baseline.
• The balls are placed in two groups of 3 at the ends of the center line. You can only go to grab the balls on the right. At the referee’s signal, they must run towards the balls and try to grab them.

 

• Throws: you can throw the ball at any part of the body, except the head.

Eliminated players

• If the ball hits a player and it falls to the ground
• When trying to catch the ball, it slips and falls to the ground
• If the ball hits a player, bounces, and hits a second player and finally falls to the ground (both players eliminated).
• If a player leaves the playing area or crosses the midline, thus occupying the other team’s space.
• When a player is eliminated, they “sit” on their bench in order of elimination waiting to be saved to play again. Meanwhile, they act as ball retrievers.

Assistants

• The role of assistants is essential. In physical education class, they will be the students who are not participating at that moment so that they act as ball retrievers.
• Ball retrievers must not touch any surface, ball, or active player within the playing field limits.
• They can retrieve balls that have left the playing field and are in the half of the field corresponding to their team.
• Ball retrievers can pass balls to active players or other ball retrievers on their team.
• If a player throws at another’s head (when they are turned away), the thrower is eliminated.
• The thrower is eliminated when an opponent catches their throw in the air.

Saved players

• By catching the ball thrown by an opponent before it touches the ground. Balls caught after bouncing off a wall, backboard, or ceiling are also valid, as long as they are caught before they touch the ground.
• The one who catches the ball has the right to save the player from their team who has been eliminated the longest, who is waiting on the bench to be saved.
• The salvation is carried out by passing the ball to the eliminated player who must pass it back to the teammate who intends to save them, for the salvation to be effective the ball cannot fall to the ground in either of the two passes. The passes must be made and received from the position where the ball was caught, and the saved player must touch the baseline to return to the game. Otherwise, they will not be saved.
• Players neither saved nor eliminated:
• If the ball hits a player and another player catches it before it falls to the ground. The game continues without any eliminations or saves.
• If the ball bounces before hitting a player, the game continues, they are not eliminated.

Prohibitions

• Any contact of the feet with the ball (throws, passes…) is prohibited.
• Throwing at the head.
• Holding possession of the ball for more than 5 seconds (upon receiving it, it must be thrown within 5 seconds). When this occurs, the referee will warn the player, if they continue doing it, they will be eliminated.
• Leaving the playing area or crossing the midline, thus occupying the other team’s space. In case the ball leaves the field, the people in charge will retrieve it.
• Defense:
• Players who have a ball in their possession can use it as a shield to deflect other balls.

• In sudden death mode, active players cannot use balls to block live balls (as a shield). If they do, they will be burned.

End of the game

• Set: a set or point is the time it takes to burn all the players of a team from the moment the game starts.
• Match: a match is the set of sets or points in which two opposing teams participate.
• A point is awarded to the winner of each set.
• A match consists of 40 minutes of running time. These 40 minutes are divided into two parts of 20′. In physical education class, we will modify the duration unless the players take turns during the different sets.
• At the end of the time at the end of each half, the game enters sudden death mode if necessary.
• Each team may request a timeout during each half. The referee must signal the start of the timeout at the most opportune moment that does not interfere with the game.
• During the timeout, the clock must be paused for 30 seconds.
• At the end of each half of the game, the teams must switch to the other side of the court.
• The team that wins the most parts wins. The parts will be won by elimination or the team that has the most players on the playing field. In case of a tie, the points will be shared equally between the two teams.

Showdown

• In the case of one player remaining on each team, after 10 seconds a “showdown” occurs, a sudden death, in which the players start with two balls in possession and from their baseline. The center line disappears, and the first to hit the opponent without possession time wins.

Video about dodgeball

For a better understanding of Dodgeball, it is recommended to watch the following video (World Dodgeball Federation, 2014)¹⁰:

Conclusions

The brilé or dodgeball is a resource in physical education classes that, despite generational and socio-educational changes, has remained highly valued.

The game of brilé or dodgeball is known by different names depending on the geographical location and allows for a multitude of variants.

From the basic version of brilé, new alternative games like datchball or dodgeball have emerged.

Below you can download two free ebooks on physical education

References

1. 1. Machín, R. (2013). Development of a session on popular Canarian games: the brilé. Retrieved on 17/10/2018.
   2. Redacción BBC Mundo (2016). The “burned,” the children’s game that has become a high-competition sport. Retrieved on 17/10/2018.
   3. González, N. (2017). Study of the Canarian voices of six traditional children’s games. Retrieved on 19/10/2018.
   4. Juegos Tafad (2016). Brilé. Retrieved on 17/10/2018.
   5. Murado, D. (2011). An adapted game: the Matacesto J.A.B.Y. Retrieved on 17/10/2018.
   6. Baeza7 (2013). Dodgeball regulations. Retrieved on 21/10/2018.
   7. Martínez, D. Dodgeball. Retrieved on 21/10/2018.
   8. Dodgeball (2012). Introduction to Dodgeball. Retrieved on 21/10/2018.
   9. Introduction to Dodgeball (burned). Retrieved on 21/10/2018.
   10. World Dodgeball Federation (2014). 2014 WDBF Men Gold Canada vs USA 2nd Half. Retrieved on 21/10/2018.
   11. Official Regulations. Edition of October 6, 2017. Retrieved on 21/10/2018.