The Winning Mindset – Our DodgeAttack Competition Winner

In October, we launched a competition for schools, universities and leisure centres to win one of our DodgeAttack target systems. Currently installed in trampoline parks and indoor play centres, DodgeAttack is an interactive target game that promotes teamwork, attack, defence and hand-eye coordination, and is a great way to make traditional dodgeball more accessible and fun for everyone.

But we felt DodgeAttack could provide much more than this for sport and leisure centres…  Interactive targets, flashing lights and exciting sounds – these are surely all perfect ingredients to enthuse kids in a huge range of different sports activities.

So why the competition?

We wanted to see creativity. So we asked entrants to come up with their best and most imaginative ideas for how they would use a DodgeAttack system in their sports centre - with a key focus to be put on user groups who had limited or reduced opportunity to be physically active.

To promote the idea of inclusive exercise and, in particular, of finding creative ways to encourage more children to get active, we requested that the winner makes a donation to the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. The Anna Freud Centre is a charity that supports disadvantaged children. At their Family School, London, they do outstanding work teaching resilience and other coping skills to children who’ve had challenging starts to their lives. The school makes active use of Rugged Interactive’s equipment (CardioWalls and TrailBlazer Climbing Wall) in their therapy, and plans to use a DodgeAttack system to develop teamwork, decision making and communication amongst pupils.

So, with the example of Anna Freud in mind, competition entrants should plan sports activities that are fun, engaging and accessible to all, using the DodgeAttack target system.

Entries came in thick and fast and we were bowled over by all the amazing responses. From glow in the dark DodgeAttack to competitive leagues with other local clubs, entrants certainly got their thinking caps on!

…but there could only be one winner

The John Pounds Centre in Portsmouth plans to use their new DodgeAttack target system for:

• Rehabilitation Groups - creating opportunities for teamwork, trust, competition and challenge

• Local Youth Groups - providing fun and challenging exercise to combat childhood obesity

• Disability and Mobility Impaired Groups - providing a new opportunity to practice cardio and hand-eye coordination activities

• Healthy Living Referral Schemes - integrated into modified circuit classes to improve health, fitness and overall well-being

• Plus more - birthday parties, away-day programmes and for trampoline and gymnastic clubs

Their exciting plans for promoting exercise to such a wide range of user groups really captured what this competition was all about.

John Pounds Centre will have their new DodgeAttack target system installed in January 2019 and we look forward to visiting the team there to see how they’ve incorporated it into fitness classes, PE lessons and parties.

by Lucy Manley