Why Lawn Bowling is in Decline

In the lawn bowling mens’ pairs competition at the Toronto Cricket Club yesterday, I think I was the only novice playing.  I played three matches, losing three. In Canada, unlikely my experience over the winter in Australia, because there are so few tournament players, if you are in a significant tournament you play only against the best and most competitive. Since there are no selectors in Canada, there are no levels, and so there are no gradations of players into different leagues. There is one exception. Canada has a class called novice for people who have only played for five years or less and there are a handful tournaments restricted to novices only.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no problem with this setup. It is an unparalleled opportunity to play against only the best players. What it does do is make the rapid progress of novice players dependent upon having very selfless mentors as partners in these team events. These experienced players give away their chances to score better, so a beginner can improve more quickly. This is probably why the only good young players have a family member that can bowl with them. I think an even stronger statement is possible. There are essentially no young players who do not have close relatives who bowl. The social mobility of our society is what is causing the decline of the lawn bowling population. Granddad can’t conveniently bowl with his grandson or granddaughter because they now typically live far away!

I don’t blame lawn bowlers who want to play only with the best and against the best. It is their time, their recreation and they are entitled to have their fun. But from now on, don’t fuss about what is happening to our sport and rather hold in awe those selfless few who do struggle to maintain or  even resuscitate it.