The history of bowls is quite fascinating.
It appears that it was played in some form by the ancient Egyptians and even many centuries before them. In the Roman Empire the game was known as ‘Bocce’. By the 13th century variations of the game had spread to France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Germany. It took root in Scotland and England where the oldest club in the world that is still active today was established in 1299 in Southampton, England.
It eventually hit the USA where it apparently developed into tenpin bowling and was originally played outdoors on greens similar to those used by bowling clubs today. I have my doubts about the truth behind the tenpin bowling story; I think it is more likely that it came from a combination of the game of skittles (also known as ninepin bowling) and bowls. Anyway, about 2 700 registered bowlers play lawn bowls in the USA today. By the way, yours truly has actually played a game against American bowlers …
However, when going deeper into the story of skittles, Wikipedia proved to be quite an eye opener! This is, word for word, some of what it says, “Skittles is a historical lawn game and target sport of European origin, from which the modern sport of bowling is descended”.
So now, as usual, I am as confused as a chameleon in box of Smarties …
Moving on. In the greater scheme of things, no matter their shape, size and materials used in their construction, balls have been kicked, thrown, tossed, bounced, hit, propelled, rolled and lobbed for thousands of years. Archaeology has unearthed stone balls of over 7 000 years old that were clearly rolled to reach a set target, making bowls perhaps the oldest organised game ever played! So bearing that in mind I am in favour of the Afrikaans name for bowls, ‘rolbal’ (literally ‘roll ball’), because it is the most accurate description of the game.
But what really intrigued me during my research was the fact that at one time bowls was banned by law in both England and France! Why? Well, it had become so popular that those countries’ soldiers were apparently spending more time playing the game than they spent honing their archery skills; skills which were necessary for defending their countries that were at war with each other at that time! Amazing!
In the South African context the first bowling green was opened in Port Elizabeth in 1882. The first Natal club was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 1902, the first in the then Transvaal in 1905, and in 1906 a club was established in East London.
South Africa’s bowls controlling body, Bowls South Africa (BSA), came into being in 1966 when the female association (established in 1935) merged with the male association (established in 1904). Some 30 000+ players are currently registered with BSA. Compared to Australia our membership numbers are a mere drop in the ocean; that country has 250 000 registered bowlers with an estimated half a million people (which include non-registered bowlers) playing the game! These numbers are largely attributable to Australia’s government’s philosophy of encouraging and supporting all sports … so perhaps our government should wake up and take note of this?
Perhaps our country’s most memorable achievement in the international bowling arena was when our men won every gold medal on offer at the World Bowls tournament played at the Zoo Lake Club in Johannesburg in 1976. This feat was totally unprecedented in a tournament of this status. Anecdotal evidence also indicates that at that time bowls was even the most watched sport on television in South Africa, but of course we must remember that TV had only arrived in South Africa in that year! It remains a great pity that it isn’t covered to any great extent (if at all) by our television services any more.
Now, just for the fun of it, let’s take a brief look at what cynics have had to say about the game. First off: “Lawn bowls is the ideal sport. It’s basically three hours of drinking beer occasionally interrupted by six seconds of exercise.” Oh my, how I wish that were indeed true! More accurately however: “Bowls is a mysterious and ancient game played by people old enough to know better, using balls carefully designed to go in the wrong direction.” Hah! The cynics got that one right!
If you need any further information, or should you want to start or re-start playing bowls (our greens are open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoon from 13:30), please contact Randfontein Town Bowling Club’s president, Vera Pretorius on 082 779 5177 or secretary, Bobby McNeill on 082 926 4895.
