THERE is an easy camaraderie between experienced bowls coach Margaret Durante and junior bowls newcomer Typhoon Le Garde as she teaches him the sport she knows so well.
Beaudesert local Typhoon, 16, is enjoying making the most of Beaudesert Bowls Club’s free Junior Bowls program at his weekly lessons.
“I thought I may as well try it; I don’t think it’s just for old people and if no young people join who will continue the club?” he said.
“I just love being out there, having a go even though I know I’m not the best, doing the exercises, trying to get continuous, finding the line, the technical side of things.”
Margaret, who is an Accredited Bowls Coach with Bowls Queensland, is eager to involve the next generation of bowlers.
“We need to build junior participation in the sport and our long-term hope is to do interschool competitions – I’ve contacted all the local schools,” she said.
“We want to run school holiday junior training, there are 90 to 100 children coming from Jimboomba in September for a barefoot bowls day and I’ve also sent PCYC information.
“We just desperately want to get as many young people as we can.”
Margaret said it was a great sport for youth.
“It’s a non-contact sport, it’s technical. The young people of today are the future of our clubs,” she said.
“Things have changed. I worked in the 1950s with women’s bowls New South Wales and I’ve watched the whole industry change from the ‘White Leghorn’ day where you wore a white dress and white socks and white shoes and white hat, and no earrings and it was very strict. Now they’ve brought colour to the green and that in itself is encouraging younger people.
“The idea is to get them playing different lengths, different courses, making it interesting and fun. I’m excited about how far Typhoon has come and this is only his fourth lesson.”
Junior Bowls is free, there are qualified coaches with active blue cards and bowls are supplied for use at the club.
Fair Play vouchers are available for students and bookings are essential.
For more information phone Margaret on 0412 366 455.
