Monthly Members Blog – August 2020
I hope everyone is keeping well and enjoying some sort of summer break. In a normal year August represents a bit of downtime at British Dodgeball with staff able to take well deserved leave and come back refreshed and ready for the next season with the majority of planning for the forthcoming season usually taking place around March-May. This summer however is a bit different as we now work hard to get everything ready for our return to dodgeball, clubs appear to be cautious but with a growing appetite from players to get started again in a safe way.
I’m delighted that things are starting to move though and not only do we have the sport returning in England and Wales this month but it looks very much like dodgeball in Northern Ireland and Scotland will be returning soon too. Our new social media manager Alex will be popping along to some club training over the next couple of weeks to record some footage of what clubs are getting up to under the new restrictions. Which we hope will help other clubs feel more comfortable about getting back to training.
I’m extremely proud that the organisation has not suffered any job losses during the pandemic which is unlike many others in the industry, back in March and April it wasn’t looking too promising. We start September with 4 full time and 4 part time members of staff at British Dodgeball which is a real testament to our growth over our first 3 years of operation. September is going to start with coaching in schools, coach education and project work in Cumbria, Burton, Staffordshire, Glasgow and Wales as well as ongoing planning for our events at all age groups returning in October.
As promised in our recent end of season report* I’m keen to get more member engagement with the work we do at British Dodgeball and show how you as members can shape the future of the sport. New for the 2020/21 season, we are inviting all our members to vote on how they would like us to invest £10,000 into the development of dodgeball through one of the initiatives below. The project that receives the most member votes will be put into action during the season with regular updates provided to members. Members will also be given the opportunity to get involved in the project where possible, as we welcome your involvement in our work. We would of course love to be in a position to deliver on all the projects, but as a growing organisation and with hopefully a growing membership it will be possible soon.
BAME Community Development
A project aimed at providing more participation opportunities for BAME communities in the U.K. The project will partner with local groups to provide training and coaching in up to 8 urban areas of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Disability Dodgeball Development
A project that will develop resources and opportunities for people to play wheelchair dodgeball. Working with specific groups across the U.K. to gain insight that will develop a specific wheelchair dodgeball ruleset to grow a new format of the sport.
Crime Prevention
A project aimed at working with key stakeholders to provide new opportunities for participation and training for youth offenders. Using dodgeball as a tool to tackle crime in urban areas of the U.K.
College Dodgeball
A project aimed at providing new opportunities for participation, competition and training for college students to increase health benefits and improve employment prospects. Providing an alternative option for young people aged 16+ who have been turned off by more mainstream sports to get involved in something new.
Once the winning project is determined our team will go about fully developing the project using insight and working with key partners. It will be at this point that we advertise to you as members the full details of the project, where it is going to take place, how we are going to go about it, what targets we are going to set for the project and over what time period.
As a British Dodgeball member you can vote for your favourite project via the link here. Voting closes on the 30th September 2020.
*If you didn’t manage yet to view our 2019/20 End of Season report you can do so here.
