The purpose of this column is to divulge the conversations and rationale which precede decisions made by the SGA. This week, Kaci will dissect recent updates to Dorm Dodgebell rules.
With the commencement of the second semester comes the long-anticipated dorm dodgeball season. Running over the course of four weeks, dorm dodgeball is a grand event among the boarding community. The moment the whistle blows, the line between friends and foes becomes blurred, then comes the running to retrieve the most balls to give to your team, and then the suspense builds as you are on the lookout for a ball flying at you in hopes of dodging it to stay in the game and help your dorm achieve victory.
With that comes the heated competition between dorms and the intense debate over which dorm actually deserves the trophy. Last season, my dorm, Millet House, won the championship game against Robbins House, who were the reigning champions. Now, I am a little biased because as a proud Milleteer, I will attest that we deserved that trophy and we worked hard to ensure we received it. However, other dorms invalidated our win by claiming it was a result of cheating, which I strongly disagree with. Due to this, our boarding monitors, Jacob Matalon ’26 and Jennifer Li ’26, along with the boarding council, worked diligently to create new rules to help combat cheating and make the competition more fair.
A major chance is the designation of a set number of referees—each with a specified role—on the court. When asked why they felt the need to make the switch from two to four refs, Li, who boards in Hallowell, expressed that in the past, when “Hallowell has lost, we have always been blaming refs, and there’s been a lot of commentary regarding people having biases and not observing both sides of the courts equally.” Matalon ’26 also shared the same sentiment: “It’s important to have enough refs so both sides are observed fairly, and with more eyes observing the games, it’s easier to see those people who attempt to sneak back in.” Per the new rules, one referee from each game will specifically observe the “out line.”
Additionally, another new rule stated that a player who “re-enters the game even though a teammate in play did not catch a ball in play” or “uses profanity or verbal/physical aggression used against an opponent or referee” will be “disqualified for the night.” Though it remains improbable that they can eliminate dishonesty and unfairness entirely, the Boarding Council hopes that additional supervision and incentives against cheating will hold merit.
Despite that, the rivalry and competition amongst the dorms are strong. We kicked off the season last Thursday; Forbes played Wolcott, and Robbins played Hallowell. Ultimately, Wolcott and Hallowell won, starting the season off strong! Carly Kahn ‘26, who served as a referee for the Robbins-Hallowell game, expressed that the “new rules make it more fun and easy to ref.” Kahn ’26 continues to state, “I love dorm dodgeball because everyone gets really into it, but the only downside is that it’s annoying playing teams when they cheat. But, I feel like every dorm deals with that when playing, so as annoying as it is, it’s part of the experience”. As unfortunate as the cheating is, it’s sadly embedded in the dodgeball culture, so even though the new rules are there to help reduce it, I hope that they will actually stick and make a difference.
Another prominent rule that the boarding council added was the specification that male identifying students will judge male dorms’ games, and female identifying students will judge female dorms’ games. The council cited this decision in making players and referees feel more comfortable when playing. Li stated that “in previous years, some female referees felt like they could not exert proper authority in boys’ games.” As a spectator, I think having people of the same gender is helpful. There is no space for power imbalance, and some games can get really rowdy; you might be terrified to voice your opinions as there’s a lack of respect.
Even though I hope that this season will herald another victory for Millet House, I simply wish that these new rules allow for a “just” winner, whose title is undisputed and untainted by accusations or cheating. Hopefully, these new rules will nurture respect in all individuals involved: refs and members of the teams. Moreover, with the new addition of the Dorm Cup, the competition will be more fierce and more weighted, helping ramp up the competition even further.