Trevor Nichols found out in a hurry last week that lawn bowling is a social sport, but offers more than enough for the competitive-minded. Nichols participated in a match at the Osoyoos Lawn Bowling Club, which is trying hard to recruit new players like Nichols to the sport. (Photo supplied)
I’m not sure if it was just flattery, but when Eleanore Dempster told me I was a “natural” lawn bowler, I couldn’t help but smile.
Dempster had asked me to come and try the sport to celebrate the start of The Osoyoos Lawn Bowling Club’s season – which officially begins May 2.
After I made a decent shot on one of my first-ever bowls, she immediately began trying to recruit me.
“We’re signing him up Naga: he’s going to the provincials this year,” she yelled over to Naga Terada, past president of the club and one of my opponents in a friendly pairs match the club had organized to familiarize me with the sport.
The club, down from a high-point of 40 members to 28 last year, is making a push for fresh blood by offering a series of programs aimed at signing up new and younger players.
This year, the club is hosting several events and programs, including an open house May 7. Also planned is an introduction to events aimed at kids and families, a student program in conjunction with the school, a family night and team challenges.
“The intent of all the outreach programs is to introduce the sport of bowls to as many people as possible with the ultimate goal of increasing membership. We are also trying to change the public’s perception that one must be old to play the game,” Dempster said.
For my introduction to the sport, my partner Delores McKnee and I played four rounds against Dempster and Terada.
McNee is a talented and fairly competitive bowler, and since I had already messed up by wearing heeled shoes onto the green, I was determined not to be the weak link.
Lawn bowling is a lot like curling on grass. The bowls themselves are weighted on one side, which makes them curl at the end of their momentum much like curling stones.
A round starts when the lead throws the “jack” – a small white ball the size of a pool cue ball – down the green.
The object is to get your bowls as close to the jack as possible, while keeping the opposing team’s bowls as far away as possible.
Since the jack can be hit and moved on any shot, completely changing the layout and potential score of the game, and often negating particularly good shots, lawn bowling is actually quite fluid and exciting.
It’s just as satisfying to knock the jack away from your opponent’s good position as it is excruciating to have your well-placed shots swept out from under you.
After a few less-than-perfect shots, I was less confident of my status as a “natural” and I could feel my competitive nature taking over.
Lawn bowling is somewhat unique in that players of almost any age and gender compete against each other, even at the highest level. This might be part of why being a good sport and not trash talking are written directly into the official rulebook.
More than once, I had to check myself and hold back as Dempster and Terada started making good shots. McNee bailed out our team a few times, but we lost in the final end after a series of bad shots by me left us in a bad position.
Dempster said that the mandated good sportsmanship makes the game a lot of fun to play for everyone, but pointed out the sport still holds plenty for the competitive-minded.
That made sense to me. There is certainly a lot of skill and a surprising amount of strategy involved in the game – more than enough to get the competitive juices flowing.
But there’s also a large social element to the game, which means you can have fun regardless.
Dempster repeatedly reminded me that the club is offering free drop-in for anyone interested during the first month of the season and I would recommend giving it a try.
Even despite our crushing defeat I still had fun and that’s saying something for a rookie.
TREVOR NICHOLS
Regional Reporter
