A recent tournament hosted by the Eden Dodgeball Club involved 30 young players.
Dodgeball is in the top five sports with most participants across primary schools in the country according to Sport England.
The Eden-based club has been running since 2018 and the number of children attending has grown steadily each year.
To celebrate the club’s return to action, a tournament was held at Skelton village hall to give the children an opportunity to play lots of matches against each other and have plenty of fun.
The tournament was just for children who attend Eden Dodgeball Club sessions and it reached its maximum 30 players limit quickly — so organisers are planning to hold another event in the summer.
Trophies and medals were handed out, but the main focus was just on giving the children a chance to play.
The youngsters voted for their players of the day in the under-8s, under-11s and under-13s.
These were Bailey Tinkler, Lexie Hunter and Alex Watson, respectively.
Club leader Ben Hoyle said: “We’ve been delivering club sessions since restrictions were eased on the 12th April and children’s indoor sport could return.
“Throughout the week we have four club sessions at Skelton that involve 50 children and a new girls’ club session at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith, on a Friday that has attracted over 40 girls from years seven and eight.
“This is part of a project we are delivering to encourage more girls to play dodgeball and we’ve been delighted with the uptake so far that sees 60-plus girls playing the game on a weekly basis across all our club sessions.
“It’s great for the children to be able to play sports again but also be able to socialise at the club with their friends. This is something they have all missed and we’re all happy to be able to provide this for them.
“We’re all confident that there won’t be any more restrictions imposed and we can get on with normality at the club now.
“Parents have been really supportive and it shows the importance they are putting on sport with the increase in numbers from before Christmas.
“At the end of 2020 we had 26 children attending our weekly sessions and now, with the numbers attending, we have had to introduce a waiting list.”
