World Bowls – A History
by: Guest
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Bowls is a sport that is played and followed by
millions throughout the world. It is a
game of skill and precision rather than physical fitness and has therefore
often been associated as a game for the older generation. However, many of the upcoming champions are
becoming increasingly younger and the sport has spent recent years making its
competitions quicker and more colourful to encourage followers.
Bowls can be played indoors or outdoors, and the
rules are the same for both. Put
simply, the aim of the game is to get your bowls as close as possible to a
small white ball called the 'jack'.
In the singles competition, one of the two opponents
flips a coin and begins a segment of the competition by placing the mat and
rolling the jack to the other end of the green to serve as a target. Once it
has come to rest, the jack is aligned to the canter of the rink and the players
take turns to roll their bowls from the mat towards the jack.
When all the bowls have been played, a competitor or
team gets one point for each of their bowls that is closer to the jack than the
opponent's closest bowl.
After all the bowls have been played, the direction
is reversed which signals the end of an end.
In group games, the team captain always plays last
and has a key role in directing the team's shots and tactics.
Although it sounds easy, the fact that the bowls are
not completely round and do not therefore travel in a straight line, means
there is a great level of skill and tactics involved to win a match.
The game of Bowls has a distinctive history, dating
all the way back to the Egyptians.
Based on artefacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C, it appears
that the Egyptians used to enjoy playing a version of skittles using round
stones.
Different versions of this form of game then spread
throughout the world and can be seen in the many types of bowls games played
today. In Italy the game Bocce
developed, which is a precision sport closely related to bowls with a common
ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. In France the famous game of Boules arose
from Bowls. This is a game that is
played using metal balls, often on unusual and challenging terrain such as
sand. The aim of the game is to get your large, heavy balls as close as
possible to the small, white 'jack'.
The traditional game of bowls, also known as lawn
bowls or lawn bowling, has particularly developed popularity throughout
England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and more recently, Denmark. The oldest recorded bowls green is in
Southampton, England, which dates back to 1299.
There are also many famous bowling fans throughout
English history. Perhaps one of the
most infamous in bowls folklore is Sir Francis Drake who, according to legend,
insisted on completing his game of bowls in Plymouth before setting sail to
confront the Spanish Armada in 1588.
King Henry VIII and King James I were also said to be
keen lawn bowlers and even introduced bowling legislation for their subjects!
In 1903, the English Bowling Association was
officially founded and began to organise and direct clubs and
competitions. Previously competitions
had always taken place but for the first time an extensive league and organised
contests sprang up.
Indoor variations of the bowls game also appeared,
largely due to the problem of the English winter stopping outdoor play. Indoor Bowls is simply the indoor version of
Lawn Bowls, which is played on strips of artificial green a similar length to
Lawn Bowls rinks.
All versions of the sport have now grown enormously
and there is a wealth of leagues, clubs, amateur and professional bowling
leagues and competitions throughout the world.
World Bowls grew out of the Commonwealth
Games when it was first held 70 years ago (then known as the Empire
Games). It was originally intended that
only athletics would form part of the games but bowlers successfully convinced
the organisers to have bowling included and it has been played at the games
ever since. Top stars from both indoor
and outdoor formats now come together to play lawn bowls at the Commonwealth
Games.
One of the largest bowling event organisers today, is
the World Bowls Tour (WBT) - a limited company formed in September 1996 by the
Professional Bowls Association, and the two major governing bodies for world
flat green bowls, World Bowls Ltd and the World Indoor Bowls Council (WIBC).
The primary object of WBT is to set up a series of
premier bowls events at which the top players in the world can play.
One of the most exciting competitions in the UK World
Bowls Tour calendar is the World Indoor Bowls Championships that take place at
Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton, Norfolk.
The event has been hosted at Potters for the last eight years (since
1999) and 2007 will see the event take place there once again for the ninth
year running.
As on other previous years, 2007 will see professional players come together from throughout the world, to take part in televised matches including singles, pairs and mixed pairs.
The World Indoor Bowls championships take place at Potters Leisure Resort (more details can be found at pottersholidays.com)
About the Author
Author: Peter Joyner who regularly writes for http://www.pottersholidays.com
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