Who run the World? (15/03/2022)
Last week, in honour of International Women’s Day, dodgeballers across the country took to social media to talk about the women who inspire them, within the sport and beyond. To continue the theme, this week’s newsletter is going to put a spotlight on the work done within Girls Dodge Too, an initiative designed to increase the involvement of women and girls within dodgeball in the UK, launched in 2021. This was achieved through outreach programs, taster sessions, club-run festivals, and more.
But the project got off to a rocky start, as with most things in the last few years, thanks to a certain common issue we’ve all had lately. “From my point of view, running this during the pandemic and post-pandemic brought along a different set of challenges,” says Alice Bowler, who leads the project. “Sessions getting cancelled, not being able to go into various places to run sessions, demands on peoples time once we were easing in terms of COVID all played a huge part in the project.
“We’ve seen the taster sessions that have been run so far engage a huge amount of women and girls, which is great, but even getting these sessions run was difficult. Over the past few weeks have made so much progress with clubs and individuals really getting behind it which is great!”
Throughout the project, eight ambassadors were appointed across the UK. The aim is to run eight taster sessions per area, in coordination with schools, universities and colleges, as well as sports clubs and community groups such as the Guides – so far, 54 of these sessions have been run, reaching a total of 759 participants. This well exceeds the original scope of the project, which was hoping to engage 320 new women and girls. Despite the challenges the pandemic brought with it, the work done since the return of team sport in the UK has meant that the project has been a tremendous success.
One of the ambassadors who has run these sessions is Lizzie Rodulson. She’s been working in close collaboration with the University of Surrey, whose women’s team are in their debut season of regional league. She’s also been supporting a new club in Bromley and has run sessions with a local girl guiding troupe to help give more young girls the chance to play dodgeball.
“It’s been really good fun being able to work with women across the sport, seeing the huge rise in the recent statistics was amazing,” says Lizzie. In the most recent British Dodgeball club survey, the number of women and girls playing dodgeball in our members schools, colleges, universities and clubs reached over 16,000 individuals. “Just talking to the other GDT ambassadors and seeing there is a real passion to make female dodgeball the best it can be – I think there’s still progress to make, as with most things, but it’s definitely heading in the right direction.”
Though the initial GDT project will come to a close this March, the foundations it has laid will continue to thrive long past it’s end. Plans are already in place to expand the program, and more details on this will be available this summer. Last month saw the launch of the first women’s regional leagues; new women’s university teams are appearing across the country, gearing up for next year’s BUCS league; and the number of girls playing in schools and junior leagues continues to increase exponentially.
The headline is this: with that last club survey, there are more women and girls now involved in organised dodgeball in the UK than ever before. And this is only the beginning.
BUCS Finals Day
Last Saturday saw the hard-fought, nail-biting end to the BUCS season, as teams from thirteen universities came together to find out which university will win the inaugural season of BUCS. Congratulations to the University of Warwick who won the Men’s Championship; Imperial College London, who won the Women’s Championship; and the University of Derby, who won the Men’s Trophy.
Additional congratulations to the Plymouth Krakens, who, alongside Derby, will be promoted into the Men’s BUCS Premier League for the 2022/23 season.
Foamageddon
Over the last two weekends, trials for GB foam dodgeball squad have been getting underway. Foam dodgeball, a variant of the sport more popular in the US and Australia, has been finding its feet in the UK this season thanks to the foam open series. These trials saw over 100 players trying out for their spot on the team.
The Dodgeball World Championships, set to be held this summer in Canada, will be the first championships to feature both cloth and foam dodgeball being played concurrently throughout the tournament, a format that was trialled during the friendly Atlantic Cup in 2019. The home nations are set to compete under the GB flag at the World Championships, while continuing to compete separately in the European Championships in July.
Team GB is Hiring
Great Britain Dodgeball are looking to hire a new Head of Operations. This position will be responsible for supporting off-court activities, as well as being responsible for the team’s budgets, personnel, and professional day-to-day management. This includes managing relationships with key partners, such as kit suppliers.
Applicants do not need to be dodgeball affiliated, so if this position sounds like it would suit someone you know, please share the listing. This is a role that will look fantastic on any CV for people looking into getting into sports management and working behind the scenes for this kind of organisation. For more information, read the job listing and person specification here.
Have something you want shouted out to the dodgeball community in the next newsletter? Let me know by dropping me an email at zoe@britishdodgeball.com.