Ranji Issac jumps, dips and ducks, his tennis shoes squeaking on the gym floor, as he dodges a barrage of rapid-fired red, green, yellow and purple rubber balls.

TOM FOX/DMN

Bobby Taylor of Mesquite, the remaining player on his team, protects himself from a barrage of balls during a pickup game of dodgeball at the Dunford Community Center in Mesquite. He was battling three opponents.  (Click photo to enlarge)

The 8-inch-diameter balls smack the concrete wall behind him. The 16-year-old is safe, but not for long. He takes a wrenching wallop in the stomach from another ball, and he's out.

The last time the North Mesquite High School student played dodgeball was in sixth grade. Now, he's rediscovering the game, and he's hooked.

TOM FOX/DMN

From left: Will Tyra, Ben Chandy, Tom Wakefield, Alex Wakefield, Bobby Taylor and Ranji Issac race to the center line at the beginning of their! dodgeball game. Tom Wakefield organized the games, which will resume on Sundays in January. (Click photo to enlarge)

"I wasn't sure I was going to make it out alive," he says, rubbing the burning red skin on his face where he was hit earlier. "It's cool. I'm just warming up now."

Ranji, who had come to the Dunford Recreation Center in Mesquite to shoot some hoops on a recent lazy Saturday afternoon, was lured to the other side of the gym by the ear-splitting whack of the dodgeballs.

Every three weeks since July, a group of mostly adult dodgeball enthusiasts has gathered at the center to play recreational dodgeball.

The organizer is Tom Wakefield of Mesquite, a 39-year-old mail carrier and Web site designer.

"I haven't had this much fun since grade school," says Mr. Wakefield, his T-shirt drenched in sweat as he twists and bends, holding a ball in front of him to deflect incoming balls.

His interest in the game was resurrected by the Ben Stiller movie Dodgeball: A TRUE Underdog Story, which was recently released on DVD.

No, Mr. Wakefield's players don't practice with wrenches, as the players did in the movie -- they don't practice at all. Mr. Wakefield just thought it would be fun to revisit a sport he loved so much as a kid.

"The movie got me thinking, 'We've got to do that,' so I posted a notice on the Internet, and people just started showing up," he says. "It's been amazing."

He developed a Web site called dallasdodgeball.com. As many as two dozen players have shown up at a time, some from as far away as Arlington and Stephenville, he says.

The cost to play is minimal, $5 a year for Mesquite residents, $10 for nonresidents. The recreation center provides some balls, but Mr. Wakefield, who usually foots the $30 cost of renting the gym for two hours, brings lots of extras.

The players, who used to meet on weeknights, changed to Saturday in December to accommodate the winter basketball schedule. Games will resume in January, with the date and time to be posted on the Web site soon.

Tony Cisneros, the city's director of parks and recreation, is happy the city can provide a venue for the games by dividing the gym in half with a ceiling-to-floor curtain. The other half of the court is reserved for shooting basketballs.

"There are other activities that promote good recreation besides basketball and volleyball, and we try to have the facilities available for different kinds of indoor recreation," Mr. Cisneros says.

On this recent Saturday, Mr. Wakefield's son, Alex Wakefield, 18, and stepson, Jonathan Harper, 16, are among the players.

"It's a great fun cardio workout with Dad, and it gets pretty physical, too" says Alex, catching his breath after dodging a fast ball between his feet and before catching another one.

Bobby Taylor, a 25-year-old pharmacy technician who helps advertise the games, hurls a ball so hard it ricochets off the wall and temporarily scatters a cluster of spectators in the metal bleachers.

"Last time, we busted three balls," Mr. Wakefield says, urging the players on.

It's 16-year-old Ben Chandy's first time to play. The West Mesquite High School student is another convert cajoled from the basketball court by the pounding ball slams echoing through the gym.

"This is pretty wild," he says, crouching low in his shiny basketball pants, ready to dodge the next attack. "All the balls are coming at you at the same time. You've gotta be quick."

Dodgeball may be physical, but the rules are simple. Rubber balls are placed on a center line. Usually six balls are used at one time, but Mr. Wakefield uses as many as he can find. On a signal, the players, divided into two sides, rush forward to grab the balls and play begins.

A player is out when struck by a ball or when an opposing player catches his throw before it hits the ground.

Some school districts, including Plano, ban dodgeball from physical education classes because of safety concerns.

Although Mr. Wakefield advertises his game for players ages 14 and older, he says he has had some 9-year-olds come out.

"We try to take it easy on them, but they can be just as brutal," he says.

Mr. Wakefield says he plays varying versions of the game, and has at times introduced bowling pins into play -- a team must guard its own pins from hurled balls while trying to knock down the opposing team's pins.

More structured dodgeball league play with teams and schedules can be found elsewhere. But Mr. Wakefield says he doesn't even keep score at his games.

"I'm just an average Joe who's hoping to attract average people who just want to have some competitive and friendly fun," he says.

Annette Nevins is a Plano-based freelance writer.