As some ISU students might say, “If you can dodge class, you can dodge a ball.”

ISU Recreation Services recently opened intramural dodgeball registration, which will be open on its Web site, www.recservices.iastate.edu, until Oct. 11.

This is the second year dodgeball has been offered as an intramural sport, and ISU students have nothing but good things to say about it.

“It was really fun,” said Brianne Knutzen, junior in health and human performance. “We were just out there to have a good time. I think we lost in the second round, but it wasn’t a big deal because we were just having fun.”

Last year, more than 1,000 students participated on 240 teams. Five players take the court for each team during each game, but teams aren’t limited to a certain number of participants. During the games, participants throw soft foam balls at the opposing team in an attempt to knock them “out” of the game. Play ends when one team knocks out the entire opposing team.

This year’s dodgeball games are scheduled to take place from 6 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday nights. Preliminary games begin on Oct. 16. All games will be held on the basketball courts of State Gym.

All teams that register will be separated into one of four different divisions: women’s, residence-men’s, greek-men’s,

and independent men’s.

Garry Greenlee, associate director of Rec services, said one of the biggest challenges has been getting each team an equal amount of playing time.

“A dodgeball game takes about two to three minutes and it’s over,” he said. “We have a five-minute maximum. So instead of having a team come and play two or three games and be done in 10 minutes, I bring them in in groups of eight.”

Each group of eight teams is scheduled for an hour of playing time. The teams rotate around and play each other to give everyone “quite a bit of playing time,” Greenlee said.

Noah Schmelzer, junior in pre-journalism and mass communication, said his dodgeball games were exactly like the ones he played in high school with only minor exceptions.

“It was pretty much the same except the teams are a lot better,” he said. “You don’t have all of those kids who are really bad hiding in the back.”

Schmelzer added he was sometimes surprised at the skill level of the teams he played.

“You had the sleeper guys who don’t really look like anything, but when you throw the ball at them they catch it every time. Our team was knocked out by one guy who wouldn’t drop the ball, no matter how hard we threw it at him,” he said.

Many teams further lighten the mood of intramural dodgeball by

creating comedic team names. Last year some of the team names included: “Bill O’Reilly ate my freedom,” “Grandpa’s Undies,” “Gay Turtle Rights Activists” and “Cigar Aficionados.”

“It kind of becomes a contest between the students to see who can come up with the funniest name,” Greenlee said.

Some students may be concerned about injuries that could stem from dodgeball. Greenlee said there have been no injuries from the balls hitting someone. Rec services uses soft foam balls covered in stretchy plastic. No rubber balls, like the ones featured in the film “Dodgeball,” are used for intramural games.

Students who played last year may notice a slight difference in the balls used in this year’s games. These new dodgeballs have been designed to withstand greater wear and tear during games. Many of the old balls quickly ripped from students gripping their skin too tight. The new dodgeballs feature a stronger skin to prevent rips.

Knutzen encourages students to give intramural sports a try.

“It’s a good time, you get to meet new people, and it’s always fun to try and win a T-shirt,” she said.