Lawn Bowling Turns into Crime Prevention in Tauranga

One of the most common criticisms about lawn bowling is that it could use some more excitement and spicing up. But those who were at the Tauranga South Bowling Club in New Zealand last week for the Twilight Business House Bowls know better, and once those critics hear this story, they will too.

It was well into the tournament when spectators heard shouting and yelling and looked up to see what the commotion was about. Seeing a man running across the field, they thought that a ball had gone horribly awry, and that the man was trying to run after it to catch it. While that  undoubtedly would have been excitement enough for the tourney, things turned even more intense when those same spectators and players realized that it in fact, wasn’t an enthusiastic participant, but instead a criminal trying to escape from the police. While he startled one woman, who literally fell back into her seat when the man ran past her (and later found the man’s cap with what “looked to be marijuana” in it,) it was another player in the tournament that really got involved.

That was a young man who left the game to chase after the man onto 11th Avenue. It was on that street, near the Mad Butcher, that the heroic bowler stepped in front of the criminal to stop him from going any further. It didn’t take much effort, and the young man was never in danger, as the man seemed to have lost interest in trying to escape and police cruisers showed up onto the scene moments later, when the man gave himself up.

Just goes to show that there’s more to lawn bowlers than just a good aim; and there’s more to a tournament than just a good game.

Is Lawn Bowling Not Sufficient Entertainment?

There’s a big problem brewing at the Sun City Center in Florida that has got a lot of lawn bowlers pretty upset. The Center needs to be expanded in order to include an entertainment building that would fit the needs of the community and others who use the centre for purposes other than lawn bowling. While this sounds like a great project at first, the expansion also means that one of the three greens the Sun City lawn bowlers are now using would need to be destroyed – so that the entertainment building could be built right over top of it. This news has the 1,500 bowlers that use that green pretty upset. But what might be even more upsetting is that no one was consulted about the new project.

John Bailiff, president of the lawn bowling club said that there are two big problems with the centre’s new project. The first is that the lawn bowling club uses all three of its greens when outdoor tournaments are held – a regular occurrence in sunny Florida. And the second problem is that by taking away one of the greens, bowlers will need to rely only on the other two, greatly adding to the wear and tear and soon rendering the two remaining greens useless, as it won’t take long for them to become destroyed simply from overuse.

But the director of the board, Al Alderman has other arguments. He says that the committee who made the decision did in fact consider all other options before deciding to use the green. And the fact is, there’s no where else to put the new entertainment building. Placing it on the property, away from the third green that’s now in danger, would take up valuable parking space and would soon create a parking shortage. And that would be a huge problem. Alderman has also said that the committee considered putting the building off-site at a nearby intersection, but in fact, that proposed site isn’t so nearby after all; it would leave members walking almost an eighth of a mile.

But the site alone isn’t the only problem Bailiff has with it. One of the biggest problems is that the lawn bowling club was never consulted or asked about the move. Bailiff says, “We were called and told this is happening. That was it.” But that might not be it. Bailiff, along with others at the Centre, have now created their own committee to petition against the new entertainment building and try to stop it from ever crowding out their greens.

Spain Wins European Bowls Championship – by a landslide!

When it came time for countries to place their bids for the European Bowls Championship, one of the most prestigious bowls event there is, and an event that only comes once every two years, Spain was one of many that threw their hats into the ring. Germany, Holland, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, Switzerland, and Portugal were just some of the countries that placed a bid to be named host of this year’s event. After a great presentation, backed by professionals and experts in the sport, and facilities that are up to the task, Spain won it by a landslide. In fact, they won it before it was even announced!

John Muldoon, National Director of Lawn Bowls Spain outlined the initial bid, and the reasons why Spain was the perfect choice to host the event. Sr. Jose Luis Boto, the President of Federacion Espanola de Bolos, then went to Madrid to make the presentation, based on Muldoon’s bid, and while there, also enthusiastically backed the bid. Bob Donnelly, Regional Delegate to the Federacion de Bolos de la Comunidad Valenciana, then outlined the facilities that would be used during the event, and showed how they were more than capable of handling the event.

In addition to showing that Spain was able to host the event, they also showed how it would help the local economy. The value of Spain’s bid, and the way it outlined everything that Spain had to offer, was so appealing and powerful that the other countries withdrew their bids, giving Spain the event.

With so much momentum already building towards such an elite event, Spain has people talking about it this year now more than ever!

Bowls for a Cure!

In Cabramatta, they care about their bowlers! Taking note of the fact that breast cancer is the leading disease among women lawn bowlers, the Cabramatta Bowls Club is hosting an event to raise awareness – and money – for breast cancer research and of course, in the hopes that one day there will finally be a cure.

The Taylor Bowls Corporate Celebrity Bowls Day will take place at the Cabramatta Bowls Club on November 22, at which time there will be a 16-game tournament to declare a winner. Proceeds from the event will be going to support the McGrath Foundation, an organization built by Jane and Glenn McGrath after Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sadly, Jane lost her fight in June 2008, but the name of the foundation is now one that’s common around households in Australia, as it’s done incredible work in helping with the fight against breast cancer. Hosting events like the one at Cabramatta is just one example of the work that the McGrath Foundation has done. And the event’s not just all for a good cause, there’s some real star power behind it too!

A celebrity skipper will lead every team and names such as Craig Lowndes, V8 supercar driver; Kevin Sheedy, AFL Coach; and of course, world champion bowler, Steve Glasson. If you want to be one of the lucky players who gets to compete alongside one of these big names, it costs $2500 to register and you can do so by contacting Taylor Bowls Australia general manager, Tim Howard, at tim.howard@taylorbowls.com before November 15.

Kelvingrove Park Preparing for Commonwealth Games

Ever since Glasgow won the bid for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 Kelvingrove Park, the park that will be hosting the bowls competition and will undoubtedly have some of the best step onto its field, has been busy preparing for the event. And recently they’ve gotten the stamp of approval from Gary Smith, World Bowls chief executive himself, when he visited the field to see what preparations had been done .

“Seeing how advanced Glasgow 2014 are in their planning and preparation, we are confident the city will stage the best lawn bowls competition the Commonwealth has seen,” Smith said after visiting the field. So far the greens have just finished their construction phase, and new turf has recently been put down over those top-notch greens. Over the next three years building up to the Games, there is still more work that will be done and Smith said that he’s excited to see what those changes will be. The City Councillor’s executive member for the Commonwealth Games, Archie Graham, concurred with the chief, saying that “very pleased with the progress being made at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre.”

Smith also said that he thought Kelvingrove Park was just what was needed in order to bring the international lawn bowling community together. He’s also looking forward to showcasing Scotland, where World Bowls is based, with some of Scotland’s most famous and most beautiful landmarks thrown in as a backdrop to the field to boot!

2011 United States Lawn Bowling Championships Currently On

Players from all over the United States have gathered in Seattle, Washington to compete against other players in the 2011 United States Lawn Bowling Championships. And while it’s just the second day of the four-day tourney, this one has already had its fair share of excitement and promises to see much more as a winner is crowned this Sunday.

This year the championships are being held at Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club in Seattle and some of the biggest names to compete include Diane Denton, Charlene Harmon, Maxwell Cavender, and Earl Shaner, to name just a few. Opening ceremonies were held yesterday and included a parade of the division championships along with a moving rendition of the national anthem by the choir “Men with Big Bowls.”

Today round robins are being held to determine which teams and singles will compete against each other. The following two days will comprise of tournament play as determined by the round robin, with the playoffs  and closing ceremonies taking place on Sunday.

The 24 men and 24 women that are competing in the national championship have been partaking avidly in their own sub-divisional clubs in order to qualify for the nationals. The tournament is one that not only competitors, but also spectators and lawn bowling fans all across the country look forward to every single year.

Bowling Often Comes at a Cost

There’s nothing but bad news for New South Wales lawn bowling clubs, and many of them are up in arms about it. The RNSWBA, Royal New South Wales Bowling Association, made the announcement this week that all clubs in the region will need to pay a $5,000 fee in order to be able to host state pennant finals. $5,000 may not seem like a lot of money, especially when you’re talking about lawn bowling clubs that get monthly or yearly revenue from their members. But when you consider that the fee for hosting the finals used to be $500, you can easily see why so many club organizers are irate over the substantially increased fee. So why the spike in price, and is it really as unfair as the clubs are claiming?

The hike in the finals fee is ultimately to benefit all members, according to the RNSWBA. This money will be placed into a pool so that other clubs, as well as the hosting club, can withdraw from it whenever their club needs it, such as when they need to travel and cover expenses for it. With current travel expenses for one club being $7,000, one can see why a better solution is necessary. But because of the enormous cost already, will a pool of $5,000 really be enough to solve the problem; especially when that price alone isn’t enough to cover the costs of one club’s travel expenses?

The other side of it, says the RNSWBA, is that smaller clubs need not worry about being able to pay the new price of $5,000. It’s the smaller clubs, especially those in Zone 8, that are especially worried about not being able to meet the new fees. But, the association comes back at those remarks saying that small clubs would never be able to put on that kind of tournament anyway. With state pennant finals so huge and encompassing so many different players, the association says that smaller clubs wouldn’t be able to afford it, with our without the hefty cost just to host it. But, that’s also not the case, says arguers against the increase. Small clubs did in fact host these finals before, and there’s no reason they should be cut out from hosting eligibility because of ridiculous costs.

So who’s right? It’s really hard to say. It is hard to argue that lawn bowlers don’t need help with traveling expenses when they clearly do. But should smaller clubs really be the ones to pay the price? Is $5,000 really a reasonable price to expect clubs to pay, when it’s so much more costly than it once was? It doesn’t really seem so.

As Baby Boomers Begin to Age in the USA, Bowls Begin to Blossom

As more and more baby boomers start to hit retirement age, with 2006 being the year to see the first of the Boomers to hit the age of 60, the U.S. Lawn Bowls Association is starting to see a golden opportunity with those entering their golden years. Now is the time, says USLBA, for lawn bowls to be promoted throughout the United States! And now more than ever!

The USLBA realizes that not only are the Boomers the largest group ever to hit retirement within just a few years of each other, 76 million in fact, they are also the wealthiest group of people to ever hit retirement age. These are people who did not struggle to feed their families during the Great Depression, nor were the majority of them toiling in fields to make ends meet. These were people with opportunity, a group who grew up with more growth and development than perhaps any other generation before them. And because of that, now when they’re becoming retirees, they have more money than retirees have had before, and they have a lot more time.

So of course the USLBA sees now as the perfect time to start promoting lawn bowls and making it even more accessible across the United States than ever before! To do that, they association has now started looking for sponsors to invest in the marketing necessary to get the word out and promote to the Boomers the USLBA is looking to market to. Those interested in becoming a sponsor can fill out an application on the 8List, PostYourRFP, and AribaDiscovery websites.

But don’t start thinking that USLBA has just now started to ramp up their involvement in lawn bowls. They actually host 95 clubs across the country and they host huge tournaments such as the U.S. National Championships, the U.S. Open, the M.A.P. International Challenge, and the North American Challenge. Still, USLBA realizes that lawn bowling has a long way to go in a country where football and baseball reign supreme. And so the push for sponsors to start getting the many, many Baby Boomers involved.

Bowls May Soon Come to Jamaica!

In the movies it was bobsledding that shocked the nation of Jamaica. But now the winter sports can move over because a sport that’s more suited to the country’s climate may be the new face on the sports scene – lawn bowling! With all the lush greenery to be found everywhere and the hot, sunny climate, you’d think that lawn bowling has popped up all over Jamaica. But currently, there’s not one club to be found. Not yet anyway;  If Andrew Newell, a born and raised Jamaican himself has his way, there will be one very soon.

Newell fell in love with the sport of lawn bowling after seeing several live matches take place on the many fields scattered throughout London, England. This, coupled with watching any match he could tune into on television, fueled Newell’s love of the game and inspired him enough to get out on the green and start lawn bowling himself. With no club in his homeland though, he had to move across the pond and join the Warlingham club. Now though, Newell wants to represent his home country, in an international setting; and he wants others to do the same. That’s why he feels that now is the time to start getting serious about lawn bowling in Jamaica.

The first stepping stone on his journey to get a lawn bowling club in Jamaica is his visit to his home country, which will take place from July 24 until August 10. Newell is hoping that during this time he will be able to meet with others who are interested in starting a Jamaican lawn bowling club, and searching out areas that would be best suited to the idea of the club.

If you live in Jamaica and are interested in helping Andrew Newell start up a bona fide Jamaican lawn bowling club, he asks you to contact him at mrbrownbeard@aol.com.

Deb Waddell Represents Australia in International Disabled Bowls Competition

We all know that lawn bowling is great fun, and that it can also be serious competition. But, can it help when you have a disability? According to Deb Waddell, it can do wonders and get you back in touch with the outdoors, and the people and things around you. That’s a big deal for Waddell, who is partially blind and headed to Petoria, South Africa to compete in The International Bowls for the Disabled.

Lawn bowling is nothing new to Waddell, or her husand, Frank, who is also her director out on the green; Frank also happens to be the President of Disabled Bowls Australia. Since losing her eyesight seven years ago, Deb quickly found that lawn bowls was a great way to relieve stress and put her energy into something that felt great. She quickly took it to the competitive level, and has won the Australian championship five times.

Deb and Frank Waddell are two of 97 lawn bowlers headed to Petoria to take part in the competition, which includes participants from over 20 other countries and has a total of 7 different categories of disabled bowlers. The Waddells and the rest of the Australian team flew out to Petoria on April 27 and they’ll return on May 17.

And the hopeful win of the crown isn’t the only thing that Deb and Frank are looking forward to on this trip; and there’s sure to be another reason why Deb will return to Australia feeling refreshed and rejuvenated – the couple are also squeezing in a vacation to visit Sun City and Pretoria National Park.

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