I started playing dodgeball 8 years ago when I was invited to a ‘bring a friend’ session at Wessex Wolves Dodgeball Club. In my first session I took a cloth dodgeball to the head and realised I was hooked.
Over the years I began to get more confident, really working on my throw and my tactical awareness on court. In 2020, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which challenged me both on and off the court and affected me physically and mentally.
That, coupled with the pandemic, meant that everything ground to a halt. My usual routines of going to the gym or running were non-existent, and I had to re-learn what my limits were and how to take care of myself. When we were able to begin training again, I saw dodgeball as my outlet and threw myself into it.
I began adapting exercises and working with physiotherapists to determine how to keep my body safe while being able to have the mental outlet I found I had in dodgeball. The positive energy and the support I had from my teammates spurred me on, with many of them recognising my limits and helping me either push past them, or reminding me to rest myself when it was needed.
More recently, this was a number of teammates convincing me to trial for England Foam, even when I was a little hesitant and doubting my ability. I’ve always been a big advocate of big positive talk and energy as a form of encouragement, so it meant a lot to have the support of those around me.
Some of my closest friendships have come from dodgeball, including my fiancé Marc. About a year and a half ago we started a junior dodgeball club as a branch of Wessex Wolves to start getting the children in our local community involved. It has continued to grow in popularity, with another older section on the agenda for this year as well as a new adult foam dodgeball session.
