Sunday Express School Bowls Article

There was a great article in this week’s Sunday Express about the great strides being made to get schoolchildren playing bowls – and there was mention of our partnership with the Bowls Development Alliance in helping to promote bowls to schools. The article is reproduced below.

CHILDREN are playing lawn bowls at school following a drive to attract younger recruits to a sport more often associated with older players.

The link-up between the Youth Sport Trust and the Bowls Development Alliance has seen nearly 3,000 pupils play the game after teachers were shown how to use their existing PE equipment in place of traditional lawn bowls kit.

Jon Hart, of the Bowls Development Alliance, said:
“We have developed a set of Bowls Game Cards for primary and secondary schools. These allow teachers to deliver bowls-style activity using existing equipment such as tennis balls, bean bags and cones, removing barriers around cost and access, making it easy to get started.”

The sport has also pushed a “Bowls Bash” format in schools which acts as a quicker, high scoring one-hour version of a standard three-hour game.

Mr Hart said: “It is a quicker, more dynamic version of the sport, with varied scoring and a format that can be delivered within a one-hour session, making it well suited to the school environment.”

Now a partnership has been agreed with Bowls Buddies to bring soft bowls equipment to schools which allows them to move from general PE kit to a more accurate version of the game. Mr Hart said: “The bowls replicate the behaviour of traditional bowls but can be safely used on hard indoor surfaces such as school halls and leisure centres, as well as at clubs.”

The national push across all formats of the game is already being mirrored on the ground. Beacon Academy, in the West Midlands, became the first school in the country to set up its own bowling green in 2023, with the Beacon Bowling Club. More than 500 of its pupils have since used the facility, along with children from other schools across the Lighthouse Multi Academy Trust. The club is now affiliated with the British Crown Green Bowling Association and has registered a team to compete in a local league against clubs across the region.

Edward, who is in Year 6, said: “I absolutely love it.” Fellow pupil Roman, also in Year 6, added: “I now play crown green bowls and I am a registered player.” Jay Holdcroft, the Lighthouse Trust subject expert for PE, said: “We are extremely proud of how the scheme has developed. Beacon Bowling Club stands as a shining example of how the sport’s school drive is not only boosting participation numbers nationally but also bringing together schools, families and the wider community.”