Throughout 2024, we have been working in partnership with 4 of our community clubs to develop an idea: highly accessible evening dodgeball leagues, otherwise known as Rec Leagues. We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in receiving financial support from the Sport England Movement fund to cover the costs of setting up and promoting these leagues. The leagues will run in the following locations and be hosted by the following clubs:
- Manchester – Manchester Bees Dodgeball Club
- Derby – Derby Phantoms Dodgeball Club
- London (Bromley/Bexley) – PB Dodgeball Club
- Reading – Berkshire Royals Dodgeball Club
These clubs now have the ability to benefit from having an additional offer to the local community, leading to more income and more potential new players.
What does the funding mean for clubs?
Our joint application has funding to cover much of what each of our partner clubs need in order to be able to run the first iterations of their Rec leagues, including:
- Some hall hire
- Some club refereeing costs
- Some club marketing costs
- Some league administration costs
- Equipment (dodgeballs & tape)
- Promotional videos
- Coach training
- Referee training
- Some medal and trophy costs
Ross McGuigan, Manchester Bees Development Officer, says, “We are delighted to have been supported by British Dodgeball; firstly by providing us with the spark of an idea that our committee rolled with, all the way through to securing the funding needed to make this new league happen. We particularly want to welcome adults of different backgrounds and cultures into our club, and will be working hard to ensure the league is successful. We are well on with our plans, and will start the first league in September. We’re building our Rec League webpage right now and can’t wait to share the signup details soon!”.
Josh Fuller, PB president says, “Thanks to support from British Dodgeball, PB Dodgeball is excited to launch a Rec League in Bromley! This league aims to give new players a place to join in the thrill of dodgeball in a supportive environment, helping them train, develop, and foster friendships. Ultimately, we believe growing entry-level offerings is a fantastic way to help the sport thrive!”
Building a Pathway
We think that Rec Leagues have the potential to be amazing, providing residents with a hyperlocal regular dodgeball competition to get them hooked, and from there they can start to attend club training sessions before representing a club in Regional leagues and even National leagues. Clubs will ultimately run the leagues themselves, but we’ve given them some ideas of rules adaptations that could be made in order to make each league as accessible as possible. Take a peek at this below:
London Saints: A Club Formed Via Rec League
London Saints was founded in late 2019 after 3 of their eventual leaders played together in a social Go Mammoth dodgeball league in Angel, London. All of Saints’ players in their first meet were from this league. Jordan Willis, one of the club’s founders, says, “Competition always pushes people further, but more importantly, it gives you belief in your abilities. So many coaches have said, “You’ll feel the thrill once you step on the court” – so if you can replicate that early on, I believe you’ll build a deeper love for the game. On the other side of the coin, the competition is at a casual enough level that a lot of players who are less interested in competition are still satisfied with their weekly Rec League.” If it wasn’t for the casual league, then many players including Jordan would not be part of our wonderful community today. Giving more individuals these opportunities to play in more locations, and seeing players and clubs grow from them is exactly what this new project is about.
Final Words
Aden Woodall, British Dodgeball Development Manager, says, “It is really fulfilling to work on this project since its inception, but now the hard work starts: our Media officer Matthew is busy making promotional content for the leagues, I’ll be handling monitoring & evaluation in addition to managing the training of officials, league administrators and new coaches, and our partner club leads will be confirming plans, booking venues, setting up payment systems and league rules before they begin promoting their leagues. Lots still to do before the first ball is thrown! This is a year-long project, and we’ll be busy supporting the clubs with this project all year round. If the leagues prove to be successful, then we’re hoping that other clubs see the value and benefits and replicate this model in order to grow dodgeball in other areas of the UK. If you’d like to see what a Rec League is all about then I encourage you to follow the clubs above, and enter a team!”
