Hello

It was March of 2024, and having just moved to Victoria, my wife Amber and I were out for a walk around our new neighbourhood. We love Victoria, both my folks live here and my sister and brother-in-law have called Victoria home for decades, but actually walking the neighbourhood is the only true way to discover a new city. So there we were leisurely walking through Beacon Hill Park when we saw the Victoria Bowls and Croquet Club (established in 1909 btw), in fact we had no idea there was a lawn bowling club tucked away in Beacon Hill Park. As we walked past the open gate, the grounds keeper at the time Chris was leaving, but noticing our glance toward the vast lush 'green' he asked whether we'd be interested in coming in to try it out. My first internal reaction was a hard NO, my wife on the other hand was more gracious and took Chris up on his offer. 

 

Before I knew it, I was lawn bowling. And much to my surprise...I really really liked it.

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Now, lets back up a minute and be honest. My initial reaction to this sport was probably similar to yours - it's for old people! And I fancy myself as a very young 60 year old that would not be caught dead playing an old persons sport. So how on earth did I end up here?

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The reality of lawn bowling at the moment is that the average age of a player in Canada is 62,  participation has declined (to less than 34,000 nationwide) and there is a distinct lack of youthful participation. This is not the case elsewhere in the world where places like Australia have professional leagues, Jackaroo development systems to develop younger players and participation over 250,000 (Sport Medicine Australia).

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​Well, I think this sport deserves better! And I hope that in a small way I can help introduce people to this great game one at a time and help our local lawn bowling clubs not only survive but thrive.