Blog: 'Bowls is tremendously accessible and great fun!'
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.
August's theme is our Active Summer Fun campaign. This week, Paul Humphreys, Development Manager at Bowls Development Alliance, discusses the many virtues of his sport and the aims of Disability Bowls August.
Paul's blog:
As Development Manager for the Bowls Development Alliance (BDA), it’s my job to try and get more people, disabled and non-disabled, playing bowls.
So, with that in mind, you’ll be expecting me to now go on and tell you what a great sport bowls is and how you should most definitely find your local club and give it a try.
This presents a problem for me, because even though I don’t want to come across as predictable so early in my blog, that’s exactly what I’m going to go on to do. Not because I have to, or because I ought to, but because it’s the truth.
Take myself as an example. I started playing bowls at the age of seven and twenty-something years later I’m still taking part. I started playing because I got bored too easily of sitting and watching my dad and, like all sons, thought I could do better - I could, as it turned out.
But I stay in the sport because of the strong sense of community that bowls has, and because it’s an easy game to become competent at, although it can take years to master.
There’s no better place to be than on the bowling green in the warm summer sun, or hiding away from the miserable wintry weather on the indoor carpets.
The strong social side is genuinely great fun to be a part of, and I get to participate alongside such a diverse range of people.
Over the last 20 years I’ve been in clubs and teams with people 70 years senior to me, people from different cultural and religious backgrounds, disabled and non-disabled people and, on more than one occasion, I’ve been part of a team that included my dad and granddad.
How many other sports or activities can offer those kinds of experiences? Not many.
Bowls is tremendously accessible - there are over 3,000 affiliated clubs in England, the start-up equipment is relatively cheap to buy and there is a strong network of coaches and volunteers eagerly awaiting the opportunity to welcome new people to the sport.
"Disability Bowls August features key initiative launches, case studies and inspirational players and clubs"
All of this makes my job relatively easy… although don’t tell anyone! At the BDA we have the simple task of selling the sport to the wider public and, as I’ve hopefully demonstrated already, it’s an easy sell.
The trick is to raise the awareness of the sport and remind people it’s not an activity purely for elderly people but a sport that’s truly for everyone.
That’s why the BDA launched Disability Bowls August, a month-long promotion of the sport featuring some key initiative launches but also case studies of inspirational players and clubs who are leading the way when it comes to disabled participation and player recruitment.
The campaign is also about promoting the wider benefits of playing bowls.
Competition isn’t what we, or Disability Bowls August, is about. It’s about encouraging people to take up the sport so that they can enjoy all the things that I’ve been lucky to enjoy for the past two decades.
For more information regarding your nearest club and/or Disability Bowls August visit the website.
