Bowls Alliance

Bowls Development Alliance

The ESMBA is working in partnership with other bowling codes to raise the levels of participation in the sport of bowls for all ages. The group is known as the Bowls Development Alliance and as well as the ESMBA includes;

Bowls England

British Crown Green Bowling Association

English Indoor Bowling Association

The Bowls Development Alliance has been successful with a joint funding application to Sport England to enable them to;

Establish a company limited by guarantee for the develoment of bowls
Develop and implement a strategic plan for the development of bowls
Increase participation by working with clubs and county associations across England to deliver local initiatives initially aimed at the 65 plus age group

Funding over the four years (2008-11) of up to £756,000 is available but is very much dependent on our performance each year.

The Bowls Development Alliance is also developing local initiatives for those people under 65 not only focussing on schools but also looking at ways to encourage those in the middle age bracket that have finished playing more active sports such as football and cricket.

To support this initiative the ESMBA has established a development sub-committee under the chairmanship of Simon Willies (ESMBA Vice-Chairman) to consider ways of raising participation in short mat bowls across all ages. This also includes working with other bowling codes in the formation of the Bowls Development Alliance, development of a strategic plan and delivering joint local initiatives. The sub-committee will include non-committee members and it is keen to hear from individuals who want to be involved or are running local initiatives and wish to share their experiences.

Bowls Development Alliance launched to

stimulate sport's growth

In a collaboration stimulated by Sport England, four National Governing Bodies in the sport of Bowls have come together to launch the Bowls Development Alliance (BDA).

The new company is a joint venture between Bowls England (responsible for the flat green outdoor game), the British Crown Green Bowling Association (crown green outdoor), the English Indoor Bowling Association Ltd (flat green indoor), and the English Short Mat Bowling Association (short mat indoor).

Bowls boasts around 400,000 participants in more than 7,500 venues across 38 county associations. The sport was nominated in 2009 as one of 46 sports to help Sport England achieve their national targets of growth in participation in 2009-2013.

Hitherto, only one of the four BDA members (Bowls England) previously received Sport England funding. Now, more than £750,000 over four years has been allocated to the BDA by Sport England for specific development activities.

The primary purpose of BDA is to be the recognised body for the development of Bowls in England. The four members of the BDA agreed that the following areas of development would be its aim and objectives over the next four years:

- Growing and sustaining participation levels
- A Bowls-specific Clubmark scheme
- Coaching - one new unified body; training/recruitment
- Development and refurbishment of Facilities
- Increase funding from National Governing Bodies and outside bodies
- Training & recruitment of Umpires/Referees
- Training & recruitment of Volunteers

Although the BDA is still in its infancy, it has drawn up an outline of its whole sport plan. It is envisaged that, once a full-time employee is recruited, the plan will be fully developed to drive the development of Bowls forward over the forthcoming years.

The BDA will continue the work of the National Governing Bodies to actively encourage all individuals - regardless of age, gender, disability, and ethnic origin - to participate and develop their potential within the sport.

Furthermore, Bowls is a sport that people can take up and enjoy when they can no longer participate in more active team sport, such as football and cricket. It can be enjoyed by people who are already suffering obesity problems, enabling a progressive increase in activity through short, less strenuous, games.

"We are delighted to be able to announce our formation and look forward to developing our activities for the future of the sport of bowls," said representatives of the four BDA members during the launch at Walkers Stadium in Leicester.

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