British Dodgeball offers a range of advice, resources and support in order to help our member clubs to develop dodgeball in the UK.
To become a member club and gain access to bespoke support from our development staff, please apply for British Dodgeball Club Membership.
Any casual clubs (e.g. afterschool clubs, youth clubs, lunchtime sessions, university participation sessions) can obtain Associate Club Membership for free in order to access benefits.
In order to be eligible for club membership, new clubs must meet the following non-negotiable criteria:
- Club email address
- Club constitution
- Club bank account
- Level 2 trained coach
- Hold regular sessions open to at least 1 section of the local community
- Trained safeguarding officer & safeguarding policy
- Ensure access to first aid
- Commitment to developing your organisation towards meeting Developing Club and Sustainable Club criteria after 2 and 4 full seasons of holding club membership respectively. More information can be found in the Club Stages section below.
More information is provided in our Club Development Strategy below:
You can email hello@britishdodgeball.com in order to find out more or start your dodgeball club’s journey!
Welcome to Club Stages. These documents outline how we classify different stages of club on their journey. They provide a development framework which clubs can use to grow in the right areas in order to create a sustainable and safe community dodgeball scene in the UK.
The Development Journey: A Timeline
- New clubs must have the criteria outlined on the Club Eligibility page in order to be eligible for club membership.
- By the time a club has completed its first two full seasons as a British Dodgeball member club, it must meet the Developing Club criteria as specified in our Club Stages document, in order to be able to continue competing in British Dodgeball National Leagues.
- By the time a club has completed its first four full seasons as a British Dodgeball member club, it must meet the Sustainable Club criteria as specified in our Club Stages document, in order to be able to continue competing in British Dodgeball National Leagues.
Further information is available in our Club Development Strategy below:
Dodgeball clubs are amazing. Clubs give a place for people of all ages to play, socialise, develop skills and have fun, they provide opportunities for voluntary and paid work for coaches and empower committee members to build a new community from nothing.
Setting Up a New Club
- Check out the relevant New Club Guide below and prepare to set up your new club.
- Contact us for support – hello@britishdodgeball.com – we may be able to help you access funding or help use our expertise to focus your vision.
- Get club membership (community clubs), university club membership or associate club membership (colleges, schools & youth clubs) and start working towards getting the necessary policies and processes in place to meet our minimum requirements for being recognised as a club.
Clubs can be set up as profit-making or non-profit (we can often offer more support to non-profit clubs due to the nature of funding bid eligibility requirements).
Member clubs are local ambassadors for British Dodgeball. As such, we regularly share regular club support resources to our affiliated clubs in order to help them develop in line with our vision.
Video Resources
Written Resources
Resource Packs & Editable Resources
We have the following editable templates & resources which your club can adopt to help your club to develop and put robust procedures in place. These resources are split into the sections we use in our Club Stages literature to help you find what you’re looking for more easily:
Club Management: Governance & Finances
Engagement: Inclusion, Communication & Membership
Duty of Care: Policies & Safety
Dodgemark is British Dodgeball’s club accreditation scheme!
Dodgemark has been set up in order to provide a kitemark accreditation for dodgeball clubs and to help support the clubs to have the strong procedures and systems in place for safe, engaging dodgeball delivery in their communities. Dodgemark club accreditation can be applied for by any community dodgeball club. Once achieved, this is kept up to date via 1:1 club development meetings.
Dodgemark Clubs:
Dodgemark Benefits:
- Once your club has achieved Dodgemark recognition, your club will be set up with the systems and processes needed for long term sustainability and success. The journey of completing the accreditation process will help you to better your understanding of how to operate a club and improve your club’s systems.
- Your club will be more eligible to receive funding.
- Your club will have more developed coaches and therefore run more engaging sessions which better cater to the needs of all members.
- Your club will have better links to key partners such as Active Partnership, local authorities, leisure trusts and schools – professionalising the club by offering coaching services at paid rates will be far more viable.
- Your club can use the Dodgemark logo, giving parents, new members and potential partner organisations including schools and community organisations confidence they are getting involved with a well-developed club.
For more information about Dodgemark, look at our Club Stages documents. Once you’re ready, email hello@britishdodgeball.com to begin your Dodgemark accreditation journey.
Come Join In Funding
We are delighted to announce the introduction of the British Dodgeball Come Join In Funding Award. The award is part of our long term focus of welcoming more people to the sport through sustainable community dodgeball clubs. You can apply for up to £500* and funding should be used to cover basic start up costs such as qualifications, venue hire and equipment.
*Applications in excess of £500 will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.
Details of Come Join In Funding, including requirements, can be found here.
Funding – Other Sources
Funding is available in some areas of the U.K. for new projects. This could be:
- Setting up a completely new community dodgeball club.
- Setting up a junior, or women’s section at an existing community club.
- Setting up a satellite club (a new session at a new venue ran by an existing club) in order to give more people the opportunity to play.
Outlined below are some of the funding pots which British Dodgeball may be able to help you access. To request bid-writing help from British Dodgeball, please email hello@britishdodgeball.com outlining details around your proposed new club and the work you have done so far (e.g. sourced a venue, found two more people willing to help run the club etc.).
Awards for all (All Regions):
The National Lottery Awards For All scheme offers between £300 and £10,000 of support to community groups who want to set up a club in order to ‘bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities’ or ‘help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage’. If this sounds like it links well with your proposed new club’s goals, then we can apply for funding for training new coaches, new equipment, venue hire for a certain number of months, leadership courses to raise self-esteem, competition entry and marketing.
Satellite Clubs funding (England-only):
Satellite Clubs funding is available to groups looking to create new opportunities for people aged 14-19 to participate in physical activity. As the funding is regionalised, each Active Partnership has a different priority; they may focus on certain groups such as ethnic minorities, females or economically disadvantaged. If you want to run a session which includes people of this age group, we can apply for funding for training new coaches, new equipment, venue hire for a certain number of months, leadership courses to raise self-esteem, competition entry and marketing.
Small Grants Scheme (England-only):
The Small Grants Scheme offers up to £10,000 to ‘support projects that help everyone to take part in physical activity, whether this is formal sport or informal activity aiming to help people lead more active lifestyles’. The funding’s main aims are: ‘Getting inactive people to become more active’, ‘Developing lasting sporting habits’, and ‘Developing more positive attitudes among young people’. In terms of demographics, they want to fund projects which focus on people on lower incomes, supporting inactive people to become more active, women and black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, and fund projects for a range of ages including children as young as 5 years old.
Community Chest (Wales-only):
Community Chest funding offers up to £1,500 to community groups who want to create new opportunities for people to participate in physical activity. If you want to set up a new dodgeball session in Wales, we can apply for funding for training new coaches, new equipment, venue hire for a certain number of months, leadership courses to raise self-esteem, competition entry and marketing.
Local Funding (All Regions):
Each county and city varies in what local pots of funding are available. There may be something relevant for your new club by searching locally which could cover some start-up costs. As each opportunity is individual, amounts and what can be funded varies and must be explore on a case-by-case basis.
Email hello@britishdodgeball.com if you would like more information on these funding pots, or have an exciting project idea and want to secure funding in order to help you develop dodgeball in your area!
British Dodgeball has worked with a range of organisations to create and secure funding for worthwhile projects which develop the sport of dodgeball in addition to increasing participation in physical activity. Some examples of a range of projects are below:
Satellite Club Funding: Stafford Dodgeball Club
In 2020, Stafford Dodgeball Club received satellite club funding to support the set up of a women’s team. This covered marketing, new equipment costs, session costs, hall hire and coach education costs. The club has a women’s section and is working to recruit even more local women and girls to Come Join In as part of their Dodgemark accreditation goals.
Small Grants Funding: Norwich Nighthawks Dodgeball Club
Norwich Nighthawks approached us with the goal of setting up a new junior section, to make sure their club would always have young players moving through their pathway. In 2020, we secured funding to train 3 new coaches, send a coach into schools to provide taster sessions and to run the sessions at no cost for 20 weeks, meaning the club could save session subs in order to become more sustainable.
Sport Wales Community Chest: Rhondda Dragons Dodgeball Club
In order to set up a junior sections, Rhondda Dragons secured Sport Wales Community Chest funding in 2022 which paid for club promotion, hall hire for the initial months, coach education and equipment. This meant the club could launch in a sustainable way.
British Dodgeball Come Join In Funding Award: Kelvin Rapids
A group based in Glasgow wanted to set up a new dodgeball club in the area and offer sessions to the community in 2021. As part of our Come Join Funding initiative, we funded coach education, venue hire for the first few weeks of play and free club membership in order to help the club get off the ground.
Local Funding: Eden Dodgeball (Eden District Council Sports Development Grant)
In some areas, local funding streams are available to support your club. Eden Dodgeball worked with British Dodgeball to gain a small grant which paid for equipment and taster sessions to be delivered in local primary schools with the aim of raising awareness about the club. As a result, Eden Dodgeball’s participation numbers have grown from 8-12 members to over 50.