Bowling club welcomes all rollers

WITH the aim of increasing participation and providing an opportunity to try something different, a local bowling club has found an original way for everyone to play the game.

Using plastic tubes, members of the Eaglehawk Bowling Club are running an all-abilities program each Monday for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Known as ‘cannons’, the tubes are essential as half of the players use wheelchairs for mobility.

Club member Stephen Carn helps out with the sessions and said the innovation was a solution to a problem.

“We tried wheelchairs on the green and it wasn’t working,” he said.

“What they have now, is a set of large plastic pipes with holes cut out of the tops, making chutes from which players roll the bowling balls.

“We didn’t have these pipes initially, and we were looking at ways to make it easier because they were trying to bowl properly and it wasn’t working.

“We asked somebody else within the bowls community and they sent us a photo of the tubes without the cutting, and it just went from there.

“Some of them will have carers that will put the bowl in. The player just has to put their hand on and lift it up. Plonk it in there and away it goes.”

About 40 people participants and their carers attend each session and participant Sam Beasley said she has been coming along to play for about a year-and-a-half.

“It’s a bit competitive but it’s also a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s enjoyment.”