´óÏó´«Ã½

I spent the morning at Jaguar Cars Sports & Social Bowling Club, a warm and friendly bowls club with a pristine bowling green. As I sauntered towards the club, enjoying the sunshine, I didn’t quite know what to expect. As far as I knew, bowls was a game primarily for the elderly and hardly suited for a highly-tuned young athlete such as myself (ahem). However, as I met Mal Raper, the club chairman, his enthusiasm and love for the game appeared infectious and a little while later I found myself on the green concentrating hard on getting the right speed and accuracy as I rolled my bowl towards the jack.

This is how it's meant to be done

Bowls is similar to ten-pin bowling in that the main objective of the game is to roll a ball towards a target. Although, unlike the ten-pin version, bowls is traditionally played in the glorious sunshine and the players from both teams roll the bowl, which is designed to curve, with the aim of hitting the jack, a small white ball which is rolled at the beginning.

The key point about bowls that kept being reinforced whilst I was at the club was the open and friendly atmosphere created by the people. Mal has been playing for 15 years and plays almost every day, but there was no snobbery or sense of exclusiveness from him or any of the other club members. Within minutes of meeting me he offered to take me out to the green and let me have a go at the game. After claiming that I was ‘a natural’, he invited me to have tea and toast with the other members.

Upon asking the members about where this warm and welcoming attitude surrounding bowls and the players comes from, they told me it was down to two things: "It’s partly to do with being of a senior age, but mainly it’s the values that bowls is built around, which makes it an extremely sociable sport", said Brian Wolfe, a club member who’s been playing for 36 years.

My best efforts - so close...

Although the oldest club member is in his nineties, there is no reason, that young people can’t take part, and, as a 20-year-old, I thoroughly enjoyed spending the morning at the club. I’ve definitely been won over and can’t wait to play again.

I urge anyone who wants a sport that provides a great way of meeting people, a fun, relaxed atmosphere and an alternative from the overcrowded tennis courts and football pitches to try bowls. Now, where can I sign up for club membership?