World Dodgeball Championships expand to six divisions, add cloth format

The World Dodgeball Federation now crowns champions in six divisions, not one, and that shift has changed what the sport’s highest stage looks like. Women’s Cloth, Women’s Foam, Men’s Cloth, Men’s Foam, Mixed Cloth and Mixed Foam all sit inside the championship structure, a sign that elite dodgeball has moved beyond a single-format event.

That change matters because cloth and foam play differently enough to shape how teams train, recruit and defend a title. Foam rewards quick hands, tight spacing and fast exchanges at the line. Cloth brings a different ball flight and a different rhythm, which changes how teams build attacks and recover on defense. The federation’s rules now explicitly cover both formats, making cloth part of the official game rather than a side variation.

The sport’s biggest showcase had already outgrown its old shape by the time the federation posted its 2022 official results. That edition was described as the largest ever Dodgeball World Championships event, and the scale reflected a competition that had been widening for years. The World Championships began in 2012, and the early world-stage setup was foam-only before cloth was added into the championship system.

That evolution also gives the title “world champion” a more precise meaning. A team can now rule one division without touching another, and the sport recognizes that mixed and gendered competition both matter across both ball types. The championship map is clearer now: who is competing, under which rules, and in which version of the sport.

The next step is already on the calendar. The 11th World Championships will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from December 5-13, 2026, and the federation says the event will feature both cloth and foam formats across the same six divisions. That setup follows a 2025 season in which 54 countries came together across five regional championships, a broader international footprint that matches the sport’s expanded world format.