In the words of Shel Silverstein, they’re BYU-Idaho’s version of the twistable, turnable, squeezable, pullable, stretchable, foldable man. They dart, dash, dip and dodge. These elastic students are they who play dodgeball.

Put into play in Winter 2003, extreme dodgeball has become one of the most popular intramural sports on BYU-I campus. In fact, it ranks third in number of participants, behind only basketball and football.

“The students love it,” said Brandon Evanson, a senior from Malad City, Idaho, and recreational sports student director. Evanson commented that the name extreme dodgeball was chosen “in an effort to help market it as exciting.”

Teams consist of four women and four men. Two 20-minute halves are played, and the team that wins the most combined matches in the time limit is the winner, according to the dodgeball rules. Matches last until all players on one team are in jail.

Five balls are in play at all times. A jail is set behind the opposing team, from which players are allowed to throw balls at their adversaries.

If a teammate throws a ball to a fellow teammate in jail and he or she catches is, that person is then free to return to regular play.

“I love dodgeball, it’s a blast,” said Seth Fryar, a sophomore from Clifton, Idaho. “It’s my favorite sport. It’s just cool — something I’ve never gotten to do before.”

This semester there are 108 dodgeball teams, compared with 59 in Winter 2005 and a mere 28 in Winter 2004. In comparison , there are 116 basketball teams.

“I live for dodgeball,” said Kevin Baird, a freshman from Beaverton, Ore. “I lose every game, but I have a ton of fun.”

“It’s extremely intense,” said Lizzie Marchant, a freshman from West Bloomfield, Mich. “On a scale of one to ten, it’s a ten.”

“There have been games that have seen tempers rise well above what we would like to see,” said Evanson. “But most students are very good sports.”

“It’s all about intimidation,” said Jacob Jones, a junior from Rexburg.