Youngsters from St Michael’s Primary School in Bolton have made it all the way to the national finals in dodgeball.

The team from Year 5/6 at the Green Lane school have progressed through Greater Manchester and Regional Finals and now head to Stoke on July 11 to face the best teams from around the country.

Dodgeball is a particularly well-loved sport at St Michael’s and one that is taken very seriously, with multiple after-school clubs running from Year 3 onwards.

This year the school have competed in 10 different dodgeball tournaments, ranging from inclusive festivals to highly competitive matches to fun glow in the dark events - the majority organised by the dedicated Bolton School Games Organisers who provide sporting opportunities for pupils across Bolton.

The Year 5/6 team this year have competed to an incredibly high standard, winning cluster competitions and those organised across Bolton.

They progressed through to the Greater Manchester Finals where they played 60 games of dodgeball in one day, against 10 different schools. They were unbeaten all the way to the final where they lost four games to two in an incredible match against Cloverlea Primary School, from Trafford.

However, this qualified them for the North of England Regional Finals, where they were again phenomenal throughout. Once more they qualified all the way through to the final - facing Cloverlea for a second time and again, were pipped at the final hurdle

Mr Hulton and Mr Spencer, two teachers at the school who coach the children in dodgeball, commented how ‘particularly brilliant’ the children are, specifically referring to the children’s never give up attitude. They can be down to one player versus six and they would still never count them out of a comeback.