Big Apple Sports Classic dodgeball tournament set for Brooklyn on October 3

Big Apple Recreational Sports will bring the 2026 Big Apple Sports Classic dodgeball tournament to the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center in Crown Heights on Saturday, October 3, with a WTNB+ division at 9:00 a.m. and Mixed play at 1:00 p.m. Players can enter with a bring-your-own-team format or try to land in the free-agent pool, giving both established squads and lone entrants a route into the bracket.

The setup matters because BARS is not treating this as a one-off gym night. Its broader Big Apple Sports Classic is listed as a October 1-4 charity tournament centered on LGBTQ+ participants, and BARS has already stacked other events into that same weekend, including bowling on October 1 and kickball on October 3-4. In other words, the dodgeball slate is part of a larger multi-sport calendar built to keep players moving across several days rather than funneling everyone into a single event.

The dodgeball format is familiar to anyone who has played BARS ball before. The Mixed Division will use no-sting balls, a six-ball setup and eight players on court, with BARS’ rules page saying eight players start at the back of each court and six are on the floor. An earlier fall registration post laid out the scale clearly: 48 spots to form six teams of eight, again with six on the court. That is a tight roster model that keeps games fast and forces clean throws, sharp dodges and efficient substitutions.

BARS has built that structure around an explicit identity. The league describes itself as a non-profit, community-minded sports organization for LGBTQIA+ members and allies, and its Sports Classic landing page says the event is about building a vibrant, welcoming community for those players and allies. The WTNB+ division underlines that the tournament is trying to do more than just fill a bracket. It is making room for gender-inclusive competition inside a format that still rewards serious team play.

The venue adds another layer. The Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center sits at 1561 Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, NY 11225, and city and facility listings describe it as a Crown Heights hub with three basketball courts, a turf field, a swimming pool and a fitness center. EDC NYC says the center offers affordable housing, recreational opportunities and nonprofit space for the neighborhood. For dodgeball, that means the October 3 tournament lands in a facility built for large-scale community sports, not a temporary pop-up.

BARS says registration proper usually opens about 20 to 40 days before the first day of play, and the organization announced registration dates for the 2026 Sports Classic in July. After saying in March 2025 that it was outlining its largest dodgeball season ever, BARS is now pushing the sport deeper into a format that can pull in full teams and free agents alike.