Active Future Leicester launched their weekly dodgeball sessions at Winstanley School in Braunston Town in Leicester in November and has so far seen an amazing response from customers and their parents. Each week, children have been invited to take control of the sessions and be who they are without fear of judgment. Regardless of athletic ability, skill or experience, children are empowered to decide which direction the sessions head in.
Active Future Leicester has taken the opportunity to provide children with a safe environment where players are rewarded based on personal development instead of competitive achievement. The idea is to encourage lifelong participation through sport and physical activity by retaining the fun elements of sport and eliminating the need to be competitive. Players are welcome to be as competitive as they like or just play and have fun for the sake of having fun. It’s a truly amazing experience and the success of these dodgeball sessions has meant Active Future Leicester can launch a new session in Melton Mowbray at John Ferenely College as well as start the development process of inclusive sessions for children with autism and special needs.
Our first session was delivered with a clear structure in mind but we wanted to loosen the rigidity of such a structure so that the sessions are delivered for our players, instead of for the coaches who deliver them. By doing so, Active Future Leicester has broken the mold of traditional sports where, whilst technical skills training is delivered, the players are in
complete control of the direction of the session. Last week, we touched upon basic throwing and catching skills before proceeding into a range of games where players could implement their new skills – the games were selected by the players and one player suggested a game even the coaches had never heard of before; the roles of coach and player reversed and the player taught the group how to play the game which we adapted to include dodgeball skills. Amongst games selected by the players are dodgeball tag, dodgeball bulldog, and dodgeball stick in the mud (which is an amazing hit with the players. Next week, our final session of the week, the players suggested we break out the Nerf guns and who am I to say no? We’re not sure how we’re going to pull it off but we always do. We will start the session with a Nerf shootout before progressing onto a few dodgeball minigames. It’s going to be amazing.
Our sessions restart in January 2022, where we’re going to be delivering even more fantastic content to children, where we will introduce new sessions and, eventually, new sports. This year, as short as it has been with Covid-19, the impact we have had on children’s lives has been amazing.
Active Future Leicester dodgeball sessions are really easy to join and take part in though spaces are limited and waiting lists are growing. To get registered, all you need to do is contact us which you can do via our Contact page or by messaging us via Facebook!
As we leave 2021, I want to say a massive thank you to our players and their parents who made Active Future Leicester a possibility. It’s been amazing and we can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us!
