Health & Safety

VDL is all about fun, fitness, and spirit. In order to maintain this culture, we need to ensure that our players are healthy and that our playing environment is safe. Here are some key safety points to place the protection of our community at the forefront:

  1. Make sure to sign your waiver so you’re eligible for insurance.
  2. Most of the injuries we come across are due to players playing without warming up and/or having poor playing technique, so please check out some of the online resources we’ve developed to prevent such injuries: 1) How to warm up, 2) How to throw, and 3) How to catch and block.
  3. Go easy on those knees! Get some volleyball knee pads, or better yet, change your game so that you’re not constantly impacting and potentially injuring your knees.
  4. Eye protection: Dodgeball is one of the few sports that has flying projectiles as part of the game, and we want to ensure that any impacts to the face and eyes are minimized. One eye injury is one too many! Contacts are recommended over regular day-to-day glasses. Better yet, sport-specific eyeglasses such as badminton/squash glasses work well, even if you do not normally wear prescription glasses. (Internal note: one of our exec’s optometrist kept on telling him to get some safety glasses; he finally listened when he got whacked in the eye and had to see him because of it!)
  5. Wear athletic/running shoes to provide your feet with the proper support. Court shoes are highly recommended.
  6. Watch out for dangerous items in the gym such as fire extinguishers, fire alarm boxes, and jungle gyms (ropes, ladders). Please let gym execs know so we can remove the obstacle(s) where possible, or reduce the risk.
  7. If you hurt yourself, VDL has First-Aid kits available on hand. Please note that all our executives are volunteers and may or may not have been trained in First-Aid.
  8. Ice packs are available too, so if you sprain something, please let us know. However, if you request an ice pack, your dodgeball session will be over for that particular night. Bring your own ice packs if you want to use them while playing.
  9. Lastly, if you suffer a serious injury, make sure you contact us within 25 days of the injury so we can investigate the incident and file an insurance report for you if needed, assuming you have no other coverage.

We love to see our players return season after season, but in order for this to happen you need to take care of your body. Please make sure you stay safe and take all the necessary precautions, and know when to stop when your body starts hurting. Warm up, stretch, play with the correct technique, and be aware of your surroundings. Dodgeball is all about fun, and there’s no fun in getting hurt and injured.