World Dodgeball Federation adds 14 new voting member federations

The World Dodgeball Federation added 14 new full, voting member federations at its 2025 Annual General Meeting, extending a governance network that now reaches six continents and more than two dozen countries. The move matters because those voting seats are the sport’s backbone: they pull local clubs into a system that standardizes rules, strengthens officiating, and gives national bodies a route to sanctioned international play.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Edmonton, Canada, the WDBF has built that structure through national federations and continental bodies rather than through isolated tournaments. The European Dodgeball Federation has been a WDBF member since June 2019 and describes itself as the continental governing body for national dodgeball organisations across Europe. The federation network also includes regional bodies such as the African Dodgeball Federation, creating a pathway that connects domestic leagues to continental championships and, ultimately, to the world stage.

The sport’s scale showed up clearly in Graz, Austria, where the 10th WDBF World Championships ran from August 11-17, 2024. The WDBF called that event the biggest in the sport’s history at the time, with 1,400 athletes and officials from 36 countries. By late 2025, the federation said 54 countries had come together across five continental championships, a sign that the international calendar is no longer built around one-off showcases but around a growing competition ladder.

That ladder now points to Bangkok, Thailand, where the 11th WDBF World Championships are scheduled for December 5-13, 2026, with representation expected from all six continents. For dodgeball, the key story is not just expansion on the floor of the court, but expansion in the machinery around it: full voting membership, continental governance, and a shared framework that can keep turning regional play into global competition.