A local bowls club is inspiring a new generation to take up the sport by working with local schools and hosting weekly sessions throughout the summer.
Frome Selwood Bowls Club is working with local schools – Avanti Park, Selwood and Oakfield Academies, and Frome College – where students will experience the game during their PE lessons and after school.
Following a Frome Town Council grant, the club was able to purchase specialised Bowls Buddies equipment which includes specially designed bowls, target mats, target wedges, cones and hurdles, all designed to make learning and playing bowls easier and more engaging, particularly for children.
“At club level, bowls is perceived as being an older person’s game but at county and national level this is not the case,” explained the club’s president, Mike Geake. “With our initiative we are attempting to break this myth and inform the younger people of Frome what is on offer locally.
“We believe everybody should realise the joy and benefit of playing sport and there are so many reasons why bowls is ideally placed to unlock these fantastic advantages. Bowls is a sport that is easy to take up. The rules of the game are relatively simple, the basic technique is not complex and you don’t need lots of new kit.”
Over the summer, the club is also launching Bowls Buddies mornings every Saturday at the Mary Baily Playing Field from 10am to 11am at the bowling green.
The session are open to ages 11 and over, accompanied by an adult, and runs every Saturday from 3rd May to 30th August at a cost of £1 a week.
The club says there are many benefits to the sport which more young people should take part in.
“Whatever your physique, bowls is a sport for everybody and it will help improve your fitness levels and mental wellbeing,” says Mike. “To get going, you don’t need lots of new kit and clubs put on taster sessions for free. Even when you get the bug, a set of bowls and joining a club are fairly inexpensive. With so many places to play, it’ll take no time at all to get to a bowls club close to your home.
“It is also a perfect sport to spend time and enjoy a bit of friendly competition with your family and bowls is a great way to relax, make new friends and feel part of your local community.”
England International Ruby Hill, 25, recounts her first experience of bowls, “I started when I was nine years old. The man I played against was 90 and I have remembered it ever since purely because there are not many other sports where that can happen!”
