Résumé
Fringe team sports are less popular, less attended, and have fewer resources than mainstream team sports. However, with Canadian sport participation rates having steadily declined and stagnated, a significant proportion (25%+) of national sport participants (Canadian Heritage, 2013) partaking in fringe sports, and few studies existing on these sports (Mergler & Strachan, 2025), more research is needed to better understand how fringe and mainstream team sport athletes compare. Thus, this study’s purpose was to investigate the participation, competition, and sport histories and developmental trajectories of dodgeball athletes in comparison to those of (indoor) volleyball athletes. Any Canadian adult (aged 18+) whose current or previous main sport (most played/practiced) was either dodgeball or volleyball was eligible to participate in the study. All participants (255 total sample size; 63% completion rate) filled out a modified, sport-specific version of the Developmental History of Athletes Questionnaire (Hopwood, 2013). Both sport samples consisted of individuals in their mid-thirties who were highly educated, multi-sport athletes. However, dodgeball players began playing later into adulthood, spent less time specializing in their main sport, were proportionally less female, were involved in fewer other sports, and progressed across skill levels quicker (i.e., smaller competitive pool) than did volleyball players. Importantly, 18 to 39 and 12 to 29 were the most developmentally salient periods for dodgeball and volleyball players, respectively. Dodgeball organizations should prioritize building youth programs, create more opportunities for adult and female athletes to play and train, and advertise the economical and social nature of the sport.
