The combatants face each other on opposite sides of the field. Cold determination is in their eyes as they stare each other down. They line themselves up, their knees bent in a sprinter’s position, ready to make a mad charge for the center of the field as soon as the signal comes. The piercing sound of the whistle fills the air and they are off, running at each other, screaming war cries and hurling balls at each other’s heads.

This is not some medieval battle. This is dodgeball, the game that many people grew up playing in their elementary school’s physical education class. Only it is now being played by SF State and other Bay Area college students.

The games, held at the Pacelli Event Center on Lake Merced Boulevard, just down the street from SF State, are the brainchild of David Zetzer, a former SF State student. Zetzer, who graduated from State last semester, is the Assistant Recreation Program Coordinator for Daly City. He was inspired to bring organized dodgeball to the Bay Area after the viewing the Web site of the National Amateur Dodgeball Association and remembering the fun times he had playing it as a kid.

“I really like playing it,” says Zetzer. “It’s a great stress reliever.”

The game has caught on with college students and now boasts a roster of 215 registered players. About 20 to 40 people show up regularly for the games on Tuesday nights, but during the summer, when school is out, as many as 60 players have shown up.

“At first I thought it would be a little kid’s game, but it’s pretty fun,” says Oscar Cortez, a student at City College who started playing the game three weeks ago.

The game follows National Amateur Dodgeball Association rules, and pits two teams against each other. The teams try to whittle the opposing side’s numbers down by pegging them with foam balls. The rubber balls most people remember playing with have been banned because they are too dangerous. When a player is tagged with a ball, he must sit out the game until another teammate manages to catch a ball in midair. The game is over when all the players on a team are eliminated.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” says Rick Antonio, a Skyline College student who has been playing the game since the program was started four months ago. “It’s like fighting.”

Most players agree that the fast pace of the game and the ability to throw balls at other players attracts them to the game.

“There is not many sports where the object of the game is to hit the other team’s players with balls,” says Chris Rummell, a SF State sociology student. Rummell quickly adds that violence isn’t the only reason he plays the game. “It’s cool to play a game you haven’t been able to since you were little.”

The strategy to dodgeball is simple. Most players advise newcomers to never let their eyes off the other team and to never turn their back.

“You need good peripheral vision,” warns Cortez. “There are five balls at time, and just one of you.”

Dodgeball is held every Tuesday night at 8:30 and is free for people playing their first time. It costs one dollar for returning players.

“It’s not going to break the bank,” says Zetzer about the cost. “But it is going to keep the lights on.”