The school sport no longer just for a rainy day

For many of us growing up, a rainy playtime at school meant games in the school hall, games like dodgeball.

But the sport has become so popular, that some teachers say it has overtaken football as the activity of choice for 10 and 11-year-olds.

In June, more than 100 children competed in the south-west regional finals of the English Primary Schools Championships in Bristol.

Luke Jones, PE lead at St White's Primary School in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean, said he aims to get children playing as much sport as possible, and bringing dodgeball into the curriculum has helped achieve that.

"It's really inclusive. When you play in school you can adapt the game really easily for all the children, no matter their ability," he said.

At St Mary's Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School in Bridgwater, Somerset, 50 out of 61 of its Year 6 children signed up for dodgeball tournaments this year, compared to 40 for football.

Ashley Trudgeon, PE lead, said: "We realised there's a lot more of a sports element to it rather than just a ball throwing exercise in the hall, so we decided to look at entering a team."

"It's all very new to us but they absolutely love it, and I think they enjoy it more than most sports. There's a lot more teamwork, a lot more strategy. They're learning so much more about sports," he added.

British Dodgeball said it now has over 35 county competitions for primary schools which feed into the regional finals, and the sport is growing in every county.

The top five in each region qualify for the national finals in Stoke-on-Trent in July.

Previously the sport was mainly played in universities, but British Dodgeball said it has become popular in after-school clubs, leading to community clubs, secondary schools and colleges looking for more tournaments to compete in.

James Robinson, south-west regional co-ordinator for British Dodgeball, said: "Traditionally it's been 'Oh it's raining outside so we can't play football, we can't play hockey' or whatever it might be.

"But what we're seeing now is that element turned into a really structured game where they're using the official rules, they're using the correct equipment. They're playing adaptations of the sport so more people can be active."

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