History
There are two main origin stories for dodgeball, one coming from Africa and one from Asia, but no one knows for sure which one is true. What we know for sure is that Dodge Ball was played in Africa over two hundred years ago. The African game was played much differently then modern dodge ball and was used as training for battles, but still had the basic principals of the game. In the early african game they would play with rocks and once they hit their competitor they would keep hitting the competitor until they finished him off. It was the fallen competitors teammates job to protect him and defend him by throwing their own rocks at the other team. A missionary, by the name of Dr. James H. Carlisle saw them playing this game and was very intrigued by the whole game. Dr. Carlisle returned to teach at St. Mary's College in Norfolk, and it was there he transformed the African training into a game. The game used a leather ball, an open field, and a player was only out after being knocked down after continuous blows. In 1884 St.Mary's College had a few of their colleagues from yale university over to Norfolk. Phillip Ferguson from yale saw dodgeball in play and immediately thought of it in a quicker and faster pace like modern dodgeball. In 1905, back in America, Phillip Ferguson wrote up the first official rules which included many of the modern rules we have today. American colleges started playing each other and the sport grew rapidly into what we now call dodgeball. (History of Dodgeball)