National Collegiate Dodgeball Association

Proposed by Kevin Bailey

It’s pretty simple: What is the biggest issue with the current NCDA ruleset?  Most people would argue it is often too slow paced, or that there are not enough points scored each game.  People often complain about stall-ball, and I concur that this is a major concern for our league.

There have been many proposed rule changes that are intended to combat this issue, attempting to make games faster and more exciting.  Sure, there are countless ways to go about fixing the slow-paced style that plagues our league right now, but in my opinion, no rule change will be as beneficial as this one.  The throw line (attack line) needs to decrease from 30 ft. to 25 ft. in the rulebook. Continue reading “Proposed Rule Change: Throw Line Distance”

By Tyler Broyles

Fellow Captains, I haven’t formed my personal opinion on the slew of rule proposals that have been offered so far but I feel like I should give at least one potential pitfall that I could see if some of these rules take place. Much of the rules mention increasing the difficulty of the game. This transition in difficulty would be much less painful for the most competitive teams as their roster caliber is much stronger than the bottom tier teams. The upper tier teams will be able to cope with the changed rules. As you descend the ladder the teams this becomes increasingly difficult. One of the few ways Ohio teams can “compete” with Michigan schools is by some of the lee way the rules give us currently. As we tighten the rules and increase the difficulty I fear there will be a further stratification of the league. If Team A has 12 of their 15 that are well rounded enough to adapt then they will probably manage, however, teams like BGSU would have 5-6 players that would make the transition without issue. My biggest fear with increasing the difficulty of our game comes from deepening the already apparent skill gap between teams. As a lower tier team I am not asking for sympathy or special circumstances, but I would like to defend teams of a lesser caliber. I recognize that the rule proposals tend to be dominated by the most active players (which tend to be the best teams captains), and felt that some potential warning should be given.

Proposed Rule Change by Wes Peters

NOTE: This is a proposition to change the same rule that Dylan Fettig has proposed, only slightly different.

Thrown balls are live off an opponent’s blocking ball. However, only the initial target who blocks the ball has the potential to be called out (Besides the original thrower if it is ruled a catch).  Continue reading “Another proposed rule on clean blocking”

Rule Proposal by Zach Bachner

Change the definiton of the Legitimate Attempt Zone (LAZ).

From: “a step and a lunge in any of the 3 dimensions.”

To: “The current catching player’s maximum fullbody reach at the time of the ball’s arrival.” …essentially, a circle around the catching player with a radius of roughly 3 feet.

Reason:

There have been many around the league proposing new rules to speed up the pace of the game. Nothing slows the game down more than when both teams continuously solo throw just to kill the clock. This rule would require stronger and more precise throws or else there would be an opportunity for a catch by the opposing team.

This rule would present more ooportunites for catchers and throwers to shine, resulting in a more enjoyable game to play and watch. There is also a likely possibility that this rule can cause games to have a higher point total on average. We could see exciting games ending in a score of 5-4 rather than 1-0.

Proposed by Dylan Fettig

Thrown balls are live off of an opponent’s blocking ball.

All other rules would remain the same (ie thrown balls only have the potential to eliminate one player, team catches stay the same, etc.)

RATIONALE:

There are many reasons this rule needs to change.

Reffing becomes much easier with this rule. If a player is ever hit with a ball before it hits the ground they are out and traps no longer exist since you can catch with a held ball.

Blocking as a skill becomes more valuable. It takes more concentration to block a ball away from yourself, and other teammates, than it does to just get a piece of the ball.

Speed of the game will be increased. Since a higher skill of blocking is required, more people will will be getting out and games wont be finishing 1-0 like they have been.

Rule Clarification Proposal by David Cook: 3.3.4.4 Shot Clock Violation

As of right now there is not a clear statement as to what the shot clock should be for the team that receives all the balls on a balls over. This year alone I know SVSU has experienced all 3 different situations:

1. The clock has been reset to 0.
2. The clock was rounded down to nearest increment of 5. (0,5, or 10)
3. The shot clock has remained the same for the team with all the balls.

I propose that either of the first two situations should be added into the rule book to eliminate confusion.

Editors Note: This was discussed in the 2015 Captains’ Meeting. It was not voted on last year for a rule change. This should be general practice though. If there is a shot clock violation, both teams’ shot clocks shall be reset to ‘0’. It will be added to the 2017 Rulebook. This will be the practice at Nationals 2016.

Proposed new yearly awards by Dylan Fettig

In addition to the national champion trophy, I propose that the NCDA issues two new yearly trophies. The first to the team who finishes the regular season as the #1 overall ranked team and the second to the team that plays the most games during the season.

Since we do not currently have playoff positions to fight for to get into the national tournament, experience and tournament seeding are the only real things that motivate teams to play more games. I believe these awards will encourage teams to play more games and will produce higher quality games during the season.