Our Story

The Vancouver Dodgeball League – a fusion of fun and spirit for the community to partake in. Run by volunteers who love the sport and are passionate to share it, we seek to foster new teams and friendships while promoting recreational and high-level competition.

VDL is one of the largest non-profit dodgeball leagues in the world, boasting over 270 teams with 2000+ players at its peak. We bring to the community a variety of activities including league play, tournaments, skills clinics, and pub nights, on top of participating in and sponsoring various charitable endeavours. By building an atmosphere that’s based on fun, fitness, service, and spirit, we hope to advance dodgeball in Vancouver and the rest of the world.

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Bao, VDL began by hosting miscellaneous drop-in nights and tournaments. 12 players attended the first drop-in night, and a few months later, that number swelled up to 120 players playing in tournaments. Joined by a founding team including Amy Chin, Eddie Lee, Jason Chow, Keith Bao, and Truong Cao—affectionately known as the Original 6 or OG6 for short—VDL began offering league play in Spring 2006, which became Season 1 and a permanent home for avid dodgeball fans. The league has grown immensely in the past years, played across 4 nights a week including subsidiary leagues in Coquitlam (CDL) and Chilliwack (The Wack). VDL’s beloved logo, and its family of logo marks, were professionally designed for us by the super talented Graeme Jack.

At VDL, we firmly believe in the power of dodgeball to do good. Community building is an integral part of our mission, and we give back through direct charitable donations to worthy organizations, organize charitable dodgeball tournaments and donate the proceeds, and/or sponsor those of others with equipment and prizes.

As of January 2023, we’ve helped donate over $62,400 total through dodgeball. Through VDL organized tournaments and direct giving, we’ve raised over $42,000 for organizations such as: Big Brothers Association of Greater Vancouver, The BC Cancer Foundation, The Canadian Red Cross, The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The local high schools that the founders attended, and still rent gyms from, hold a special place in our hearts, and since 2012 to present day, VDL sponsors high school bursaries to community-building graduating student leaders at David Thompson, Gladstone and Vancouver Technical Secondary Schools, amounting to $20,400 total as of 2022. Indirectly, we’ve helped other volunteers and organizations raise $21,000 for organizations such as: BC Childrens Hospital, The Canadian Red Cross – Sub-Sahara Africa HIV program, Kids Help Phone and Ronald McDonald House BC. We’ve also sponsored high school students’ dodgeball tournaments, intramurals and charitable initiatives, including at MacNeil, Cambie, and Palmer Secondary Schools in Richmond, and donate used balls and supplies to local secondary schools.

VDL’s excited to have even more impact in the community and the more dodgeball is used for good, the more we all benefit. If you’re looking for your Community project to be sponsored, please contact our Marketing department at marketing (at) vdldodgeball.ca with details. We’re looking forward to supporting you!

Next to Service, Spirit is paramount in VDL. The integrity of dodgeball depends on each player’s responsibility to have a positive attitude and great sportsmanship, individually and as part of a team. However, that doesn’t mean VDL discourages high levels of competition. VDL celebrates excellence in sports, but it should never be at the expense of the mutual respect amongst players, adherence to the agreed upon rules of the game, or the basic joy of play. Actions such as taunting opposing players, dangerous aggression, arguing with referees, not congratulating the other team after a hard fought match, or other “win-at-all-costs” behavior are contrary to dodgeball’s spirit and must be avoided.

The fabulous thing about spirit is that it is contagious – the more people that embrace it, the easier it is for others to catch. Thus, on top of prizes for the winning teams each season, we also reward the teams whose spirit shines through, including awards such as “Most Creative Team Photo,” “Best Dressed,” and “Hootie the Spirit Owl.”

Today, VDL continues staying true to its mission to advance the sport of dodgeball, and build a community based on fun, fitness, service, and spirit. By being a non-profit organization, the league prides itself on giving back to its players and to the greater community. VDL looks forward to maintaining and expanding its continuous service for years to come.