Youthful Energy

Is this even a thing in Canada?

This picture depicts the evolution of the U18 lawn bowls programme in the UK (they also have a U25 initiative). To quote the Performance Director - Mo Monkton:

"It is an exciting time for us as we roll out our Junior Pathway programme. We are committed to providing opportunities to junior players to realise their potential and progress their game, and these events will allow us as a Performance Team, to seek out even more talented junior players and start their journey on the Junior Pathway Programme. I am excited to see the talent out there at the regional events and help those selected progress through the pathway and achieve success on the international stage.”

Admittedly, I am new to the lawn bowling community in Canada, but there's one thing that strikes me and that is the lack of young people playing the sport. In fact, I have no idea if Canada even has a U18 program.

Ahhh...but they must, just take a look at this image - this is from Bowls Canada website - the national body for lawn bowling in Canada.

This page suggests that the youth championships will be taking place - exciting - but the first disconcerting thing is found in this picture. Zoom in, do you see any youth players?And there's no live stream. No player profiles. Heck there's not even a pitcure of the winner. You can find the results, but only if you look hard and even then the page is incomplete.

But the most striking thing to me, there were only five U21 girls and six U21 boys in the event.

Surely we can do better.

Imagine a lawn bowls scene that has a focus on developing young lawn bowlers. Where the provincial lawn bowling associations take the lead and local clubs are encouraged to provide free access to the greens. Where local youth tournaments take place which culminate in provincial and national opportunties leading to our kids showcasing their talents to the world on a live stream.

Kids might actually want to play! Can you imagine the lift that would provide the sport? Last night I watched a 14 year old young man playing lead in a men's premier league fours match. He had long hair, wore 'Vans' running shoes on the green (no treads on those ;), had the baggy pant thing going on.

And he was brilliant.