Learning from a Protea

John Wolff and the staff of Wolff Autohaus, a provider of used commercial vehicles, enlisted the help of Protea bowler, Morgan Muvhango, to give the group a few pointers on the game of bowls.

Wolff, owner of Wolff Autohaus, avid bowler and member of the Ruimsig Country Club has initiated bowling evenings as a team-building exercise for his staff. Every second Tuesday evening for a number of months, the staff has gone to the greens where a competitive nature has taken hold of the team.

“I took the opportunity to see Morgan Muvhango in action at Ruimsig Country Clubs Bowling Green recently. After being introduced by John Wolff, Morgan patiently showed small groups of four bowlers how to gently deliver bowls in order to obtain perfect positioning near the ‘jack’. It was wonderful to see how everyone gained new skills from the short tutorial by Morgan,” said Neriva Raschel, financial manager of Wolff Autohaus.

Muvhango, who hails from the Discovery club in Roodepoort won the National Men’s Singles Title in 2014, being the first black player to do so. He has subsequently represented South Africa in Australia, Namibia and Zambia. He only started playing bowls in 2005 when he was a groundskeeper for national coach, Theuns Fraser.

Fraser would encourage Muvhango to play the game with him, but Muvhango, who loved soccer, was not very interested. After much persistence, Muvhango began to play and enjoy bowls, and eventually became a champion.

When asked what the challenges are facing bowls in South Africa, Muvhango stresses that there are still not enough black players and there is still the old perception that it’s an older person’s sport. However, Wolff and his staff from Wolff Autohaus will continue to enjoy evening bowls at the club.

Details: Wolff Autohaus, 011 662 2828.

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