Elaine Hall-Freeman on why lawn bowls is a sport for all

*Elaine Hall-Freeman with some of her family and fellow Selborne Bowls Club members*

Having moved to Southgate in 1990, my husband and I often walked along the alleyway that joined Norman Way to High Street and heard the click of bowls from behind the high wall that ran alongside – but for a long time we had no idea where to find the entrance!

Although Selborne Bowling Club had been founded as long ago as 1912 by Bert Plumb, landlord of the Cherry Tree Inn, it seems to be one of Southgate’s best-kept secrets. It took 19 years for my husband and I to notice an ‘open day’ sign, welcoming visitors into the grounds to try out the game on a sunny Southgate spring afternoon. “Will we? Won’t we?” we asked, until eventually we plucked up the courage and ventured down to have a go.

People tend to think of lawn bowls as a bit of an old folks’ game, but it’s one of the most inclusive sports you can find and can be played and enjoyed by anyone, no matter their age or ability. Whether you want to play the sport socially or at a higher, more competitive level, the choice is yours. Not everyone is a fitness fanatic and at senior school; I well remember being the one who was never chosen to be in the team. I hated rough games such as hockey, where I would jump over the ball to avoid it hitting my ankles, and I could never run fast enough to return a tennis ball.

I would do anything to get out of PE lessons, but bowls is something else. It takes a lot more than just brute strength to succeed. It develops your hand-eye coordination, your analytical and tactical thinking, your balance and coordination, your ability to work as a team but, most of all, it’s a great game and I guarantee you’ll really enjoy it once you try.

At Selborne, the club prides itself in its friendly welcome and is keen to encourage new members from all sectors of our community. In recent times, Bowls England, the sport’s governing body, has seen the need to develop and modernise the sport to protect its future. A look at the national finals, which take place in Royal Leamington Spa each year, will show that bowls is moving with the times and fast becoming popular with younger players.

Being part of Selborne, like many bowls clubs, means being part of a strong bowling family, where you can make friends for life and enjoy not just bowls but other social events and holidays throughout the year, whether you are on your own, in a couple or with a family. Later this year, I’m off to spend a couple of weeks volunteering at the Commonwealth Games bowls events at Victoria Park in Leamington as an athlete services team member, something I would never have dreamed of doing had it not been for Selborne Bowling Club. Out of around 41,000 applications, I’ll be one of the lucky 14,000 volunteers, who will help make the games so special.

Find out more about Selborne Bowling Club:
Visit selbornebc.co.uk

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.