Dodgeball was originally played in Africa over two hundred years ago, but instead of the fun, jocular game that it is today, it was in fact a deadly game. Instead of using soft, rubber balls, the game was actually played with large rocks or putrefied matter, and it was used as an intense work out for the tribes, where each competitor would attempt to hit their opponent with the rock to injury or incapacitate them. In 1884, St. Mary’s College played host to a number of their colleagues from Yale University. Included within that party was Phillip Ferguson. Philip Ferguson is generally regarded as the person most responsible for taking dodgeball over to America and popularizing it. He saw the boys of St. Mary’s College playing and he hit upon an idea for the game that would make it quicker and faster. He brought in the idea of playing within a set area, with teams on either side of the pitch. Once the sport made it back across the pond to America, it was there that the details of the sport we know today were fleshed out. 1905 saw the first official rules drawn up, which included the rules regarding players coming in after a catch and being hit once and you were out. With the colleges across America playing each other, it enabled the sport to spread like wildfire. News of this emerging sport made its way back to England, and the American popularized rules became the norm for which all dodgeball matches were played. Schools up and down the country would play for fun, but it was the film of the sport in 2004 that brought the whole world’s attention to the sport. The only place that the original sport is played is St. Marys College, when they host their Yale brethren for a match, every 4 years, to honor the founding fathers of the sport, and the African innovators.