THERE'S no dodging the new sport that is all the rage in primary schools across Blackburn and Darwen.

Dodgeball, the hugely popular American game, has made the successful trans-Atlantic trip to East Lancashire - and youngsters can’t get enough of it.

The sport has already been a big hit in the Burnley area but this time it was the pupils from Blackburn and Darwen to sample the fast, furious and fun game of ‘hit and miss’.

Following training sessions in all of the participating schools, they came together under one roof to take part in a dodgeball festival.

Organ-ised by the Darwen Vale’s PE team, the tour-nament was held at Blackburn Rovers Sports Arena and included A and B teams from St Francis, St Barnabas, Meadowhead and Lower Darwen. Danny Finch, teaching assistant and primary PE teaching release officer at Darwen Vale coordinated the in-school training sessions and also the competition.

He was helped by Vale’s director of sport Steve Broderick and PE teacher Lindsay Blackmore.

Following four weeks of coaching in the schools – St James’s Primary School, Lower Darwen also received training but did not take part in the event – it was on to the festival where teams were split in to two groups.

The aim of the game, as its name suggests, is to dodge balls that are thrown by the opposition team.

There are six players per team, plus a substitute, and the idea of the game is to get opponents out by striking them with a dodgeball below the shoulders – or by catching an opponent’s throw.

Once a player is out, they leave the playing area and can only return only if an opponent’s ball is caught.

In Group A, Lower Darwen A topped the table with St Barnabas B finishing as runners-up. It was the same story in Group B with Lower Darwen and St Barnabas B teams both progressing to the semi finals.

In the first semi final, Lower Darwen A beat St Barnabas A with the scores reversed in the second semi final as St Barnabas B booked their place in the final. And in the final, it was Lower Darwen A who emerged victorious to be crowned champions. St Francis Primary School and Meadowhead Juniors finished third and fourth place respectively.

“Dodgeball is hugely popular in America and all the children really enjoyed themselves,” said Finch. “The festival was the culmination of four weeks of coaching we held in each of the schools.

“The aim of the coaching was to teach the basic skills of the sport then put them in to the test in a competition.

He added: “It was great to see all the pupils benefit from the sessions provided and also see them perform well as part of a team while enjoying the competition.

“Another aspect of the competition was that young sports leaders at Darwen Vale got the chance to help organise the event and run some coaching sessions before the tournament itself.”

The Darwen Vale staff are now planning on running a second primary school tournament later this year while also host the regional finals of the under 14s national dodgeball competition.

As like before, coaching will take place in school followed by a tournament.

“I am hoping to run more festivals in the future and already have primary schools booked in for more coaching sessions,” added Finch. “The aim is to hold a summer play-off final where the winning team from each festival will be invited to participate in a grand final, hopefully in the new Darwen Vale High School sports hall.”

He added: “We are also hosting the regional finals of the national dodgeball competition and hope that lots of schools enter.”

Darwen Vale is working closely with the Matalan Sporting Promise to encourage the participation in sport and also supports the development of young sports leaders through coaching within local primary schools.

Finch said: “As a PE teacher release officer my roles and responsibilities cover a wide range of activities including promoting sport to primary school pupils.”