The Christmas break approaches in our second season of dodgeball since returning to play from the Covid-19 Pandemic and national lockdown. Despite the 18month break from the sport and a few teams and players taking a step back from dodgeball, British Dodgeball and its community has never been better.

The first British Dodgeball English National League took place in 2017, where there were 4 Men’s Leagues with 38 teams competing and 2 Women’s Leagues with 18 teams competing. This season (22/23) there are 5 Men’s Leagues with 46 teams competing and now 20 women’s teams. There are a total of 29 different dodgeball clubs participating in the English National Leagues, which is the largest engagement yet. New women’s teams such as Canterbury Crocodiles & Leeds Owls have been wonderful additions to the league. Due to an excess of teams/clubs wanting to compete, for the first time ever, we have expanded the English National Leagues (ENLs) outside of St. George’s Park and formed the new Men’s League 4 (Coventry Xcel Centre)! This new expansion is an amazing step for the sport, accentuating the national growth of recent years, welcoming new clubs such as Essex Swords, Chippenham Chargers and Brayford Beasts to our National Leagues.

We have been especially amazed by the growth over this and last season, following the Covid-19 pandemic, as it has highlighted just how much the members of our community love this sport and how quickly new people are diving into dodgeball every day. To match this growth, dodgeball has also expanded online as we livestream the ENLs to our youtube channel to thousands of people every round; the profile of dodgeball is increasing all the time and through hard work from volunteers, new audiences and prospective players are introduced to dodgeball every week!

From the scale of the Schools Championships, to the countless new University Clubs competing in BUCS this season and the thousands of people becoming coaching qualified across the UK, dodgeball is growing at an ever rapid pace and we can’t wait to see what happens next. As dodgeball continues to grow, we look forward to expanding our leagues even further.

 

#ComeJoinIn Festivals!

This season we’re delighted to be able to introduce our new Come Join In Junior Festival

events. These events have been designed to provide new dodgeball clubs with the opportunity to take part in competitive match play against other clubs within their region.

Our Come Join In events are open to all dodgeball teams including school teams, youth groups, community clubs e.g. Scout groups, Brownie/Guide groups, after school club teams.

There are 3 festivals coming up: North East – 14th January, South East – 4th February & North West – 4th February. More events to follow across the UK!

The Come Join In Junior Festivals will be FREE to enter as we utilise our Come Join In Funding streams, driven by membership revenue, to target this exciting new project.

 

Dodgeball in Scotland!

Looking back, the Scottish Open took place on the 26th November with 10 teams from 5 clubs displaying Scotland’s highest levels of dodgeball. Reigning Scottish League Champions, Granite City Guerrillas, took home the gold, with the event being held in fantastic spirit; Head Coach of the Buchan Sharks, Jay Stephen, told us more about the day, “I am very proud of how all our players performed. It was great to see all the Scottish Clubs embracing the mixed ability approach to team entry, as it leads to some very close matches! It has us looking forward to the League even more now!”.

Looking ahead, we too are excited for the return of the Scottish National League in the new year, as this season’s league is set to be the largest in dodgeball history (for now)! The adult league will see 9 teams from 5 clubs competing with the junior league also recording record numbers across 2 age groups in 2023; Jay Stephens simplifies this quite nicely, “Regarding Scottish Dodgeball as a whole, it’s in the best place it has ever been.”.

You can view the League Table & Fixtures here.

 

The Dodgeball Zone

Watch our latest video: What to Expect: Playing in a Dodgeball Primary Schools Championship

Help us improve the standard of refereeing at our events by completing our Referee Feedback Form. This will be available to all teams to complete after any event & we encourage everyone to give as much feedback as possible so we can provide tailored support to our referees.

School Competitions are well underway and we are always eager to have members of dodgeball clubs volunteer at these events to help promote & develop your club. Email alice@britishdodgeball.com for more information.

FREE Safeguarding in Sport online course. Sign-up here.

Got something you want to shout out to the dodgeball community in the next newsletter? Let me know by dropping me an email at alex.media@britishdodgeball.com.