The nation’s best dodge ball players are set to descend upon Chicago.
The USA Dodgeball National Championships will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Wintrust Sports Complex in Bedford Park, just south of Midway Airport.
The event is free for spectators to come check out, and there’s a bar at the facility (not free).
More than 500 players will compete in categories across gender and ball type.
There are three different types of balls, each about seven inches in diameter, making them slightly smaller than the red rubber balls popularly used in grade school gym class.
Friday will feature no-sting balls (a mini version of that familiar red rubber ball).
Saturday will feature foam balls (made out of a light weight memory foam).
Sunday will feature cloth balls (similar in feel to a volleyball).
Top teams use foam balls that travel at speeds exceeding 80 m.p.h.
“Dodgeball at this level is like a chess game,” said Dustin Harwood, who’s on the leadership team of USA Dodgeball, a nonprofit. “It’s very strategic. It’s not like in gym class growing up where there’s one guy who played baseball or one girl who played softball who can eliminate everybody.”
The tournament runs each day from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will feature simultaneous games on multiple courts, some of which will be live streamed on the YouTube channel dodgeball.live with volunteer commentators.
The sports top talent uses foam balls.
The reigning national champs in foam are the Outsiders, a team that draws players mainly from Dallas, but includes a members from other parts of the country, including Chicago resident Bo Tillmon, 36.
“One of our main strategies is to utilize our athleticism, wait for our opponents to throw, then sprint after them as they’re retreating and hit them,” said Tillmon, who works at Salesforce and lives in Ukrainian Village.
People generally react with incredulity when Tillmon tells them about his hobby (and it is just a hobby; top players have day jobs and do not earn a living playing dodgeball).
“People are like ‘What?'” said Tillmon. “I usually don’t like to talk about it a lot in public because then you have to explain the whole thing, and show a video, but then people are like ‘Oh’ and they see it’s a legitimate sport and not what we played as kids.”
USA Dodgeball formed in 2017 and has about 12,000 players in member organizations around the country, with about 1,000 playing at an elite level and traveling to compete in tournaments around the country.
The vast majority play recreationally to meet people and socialize after games.
Matt De La Cruz, 33, heads up Chicago Dodgeball, which plays at the Lake View YMCA and is a member organization of USA Dodgeball.
“The dodgeball community prides itself on being an inclusive community, and I love introducing people to it,” said De La Cruz, a medical-device engineer who lives in Roscoe Village and is competing this weekend.
“There’s a variety of experience. I used to play rugby, but people can join us with any sort of experience. It’s just fun,” he said. “I’d encourage people to come check us out. We have a Facebook page.”
Find the complete schedule at dodgeballhub.com.