20/07/2009 - Derek Shemmings - All For a Game Of Bowls

Never before in the field of Bowling conflict has so much been written by so few to so many to achieve such confusion.

Over the past three years or so we have seen “Reports”, “Reviews”, “Mission Statements”, several issues of  “The Way Forward”, to say nothing of copious correspondence, some contradictory, from the Officers of the Federation.

The result of all this has tended to divide rather than unite and it is unfortunate for those who worked hard with the belief they could provide more through the Federation. It is also unfortunate that some saw it as a platform upon which they could exercise their ego.

So perhaps before we consider the new “The Way Forward” we should dwell upon the past a while, before we jump into the future.

In the very early 80´s four Clubs had just been formed on the Costa del Sol, most of the Members had just retired and had not bowled before. This group of in-experienced Bowlers with the help of the more experienced, co-operated to establish a League for the Winter months.

This quickly became popular and subsequently many other Competitions were organized, the most important a being the Summer and Winter Championships at the start and the end of the Season.

The new Bowlers learned by watching the others and occasionally received advise from them, the standard of Bowling became very high and very Competitive for those who chose to take part. All the Clubs eventually registered with the Federation and my understanding is Miraflores was the first. Then, as now, there was no obligation for individuals to Affiliate therefore every Bowler had the right to enter any of the events.

During the 80´s the “Lawn Bowls Association of Espańa”  was formed to run Bowls on the coast. The Committee consisted of a member of each Club and volunteers to take up the Executive positions, of which there were many. From time to time some Clubs were over represented as it was not always easy to fill the Executive positions evenly through the volunteer system.

This organization was ideal for the time because the Committee could make decisions regarding Competitions, venues, formats etc. without hindrance as in those days the Clubs had 3 touring sides in a Season and very few of their Own Open events. Unfortunately the L.B.A.E. collapsed largely due to internal conflict until finally an A.G.M. was held with not one of the Executive positions being filled.

In 1993 the Owners/Managers Committee was formed and learning from the problems of the L.B.A.E. decided to restrict their responsibilities to providing a full Bowling programme and synchronizing the events to avoid clashing with dates. The Chairman has no Executive capacity and the Clubs hosting a Competition are responsible for the organization, thereby fulfilling the roles of the Executive positions previously occupied in the L.B.A.E.

Since 1993 this Committee has never had any disputes or problems. Every Member on the Committee is in a position to commit their Club to any decisions made as they are aware of their own Clubs Commitments. It does not involve itself in any disciplinary matters they are reported to the respective Club Presidents for their attention.

Right through the 80´s and 90´s and early 2000 very few Bowlers would have heard of the Federation or even if their club was registered. Most years throughout the 90´s the Spanish National Championships were held, also Bowlers from the Costa del Sol took part in the Ladies and Mens World Championships, the Atlantic Rim and other International Events and acquitted themselves well at that level. My wife and I took part in some of the above events and we were not Affiliated members nor, I believe, were any other Bowlers on the Costa del Sol.

It was not until the year 2003 the Federation became active as far as the Costa del Sol was concerned when it encouraged people, including myself, to join. At that time John Young became Director of Bowls for Spain and approached his position with great energy and enthusiasm. As it happened this coincided with the start up of some of the clubs outside the Costa del Sol and he was able to convince those clubs that all their members should Affiliate which did result in more Bowlers becoming interested in the Federation. John considered the way to recruit Members on the Costa del Sol would be to gently persuade individuals to join and this approach did have an effect

However, he was still not able to convince all the Bowlers on the Costa del Sol to join as many of them could not see the advantage and they knew they had no obligation to join.

Even after many Bowlers joined the Federation the inter club activities continued, being arranged by a Committee of Owners or Managers who met before the “season” to agree which Club would host the competitions on behalf of the Committee. All clubs were already holding “Open Competitions” and they were included in the programme which is now so full there are only 32 days from mid September until the third week of April free of Competitions and that includes the Christmas break!

John Young resigned in 2006 and new Officers were appointed to the Malaga district Federation and they came with a more aggressive approach than John to recruit Members and had the declared ambitions to have all Bowlers Affiliated and to take over the running of all the above Competitions. This was firmly rejected by the Owners/Managers Committee and many Bowlers saw no reason to pay a Federation Fee in order to play in the same events.

Having failed to produce the required results of total Membership they then introduced “Corporate Membership” whereby if all the Members of a club joined, the fee to the Federation would be reduced to 20.€ from 31€ but this of a course resulted in those Members already in the Federation being subsidized by those who had not intended to join.

Having failed again to achieve total Membership it was then suggested if 20 Bowlers of a Club joined they would be regarded as Corporate Members. What the other Sports within the Federation think of this is not known.

Now after extolling the advantages of the Federation for several years, to say nothing of the divisions their action created they now tell us the Federation is not what we require and the advantages are not what they were considered to be. Therefore we are now told we require a new governing body and the CBBA has been proposed as the alternative.

This new proposal holds out the bait that the Fee would only be 10€ with no evidence as to how the figure was reached and no reference with regard to the Federation still requiring a Fee. Further more there is now to be some question over the legality of using the CBBA. One would have thought elementary business acumen would have stopped them suggesting a new organization before ascertaining the new proposal was permissible. Now having told Bowlers the Federation is not for them it will be even more difficult to recruit new Affiliates or even to hold on to those they already have. From the statements made, the ambitions of the proposed new governing body would remain the same as before with their desire to take over all Competitions and restrict entries to Affiliated Members.

Now perhaps the most important part of all. All through this paper you would have seen the word “Bowlers”. In this context they represent between 15% and 20% of the total number of people actually playing the game and the evidence of this is seen when one studies the number of entries in various Competitions. The average Member of a Club is aged a shade under 70 years, retired, and regards Bowling as a nice pastime to meet other people, playing Club Days and compete as and when they wish to do so in the Area in which they have chosen to reside. Also it should be remembered that something close to 50% are only here September until April – the Bowling Season.

It is of course, or should be, the responsibility of the Clubs to provide the majority with their requirements and at the same time cater for the more competitive Bowler. Generally speaking, it is the “Bowlers” who are more vociferous than the others and care is needed to keep the balance.

For those who wish to compete with bowlers outside their district, which we are told requires Affiliation? They already have the opportunity to join the Federation which has the organization and the vehicle to satisfy all their needs, and of course the opportunity to play inter-provincially and Internationally.

I know I shall be accused of living in the past but we should remind ourselves, as mentioned earlier, the age, desires and requirements of the Bowlers in Spain will always be similar to the past due to the Ex-Pat and retirement situation. Although I do recognize there are now a few early retirees.

One thing that has changed since the early days when we played for prizes with a value of handful of Pesetas, now, even with Sponsors providing good prizes and trophies, we sometimes hear that cash prizes are more important. Perhaps some would like “attendance money”. Also in the past a large crowd watched all the Finals, but today so many do not return to the venue following defeat in their round

For those who have had the patience to read all of this, which of course are my personal views, I hope that this short history will be helpful to remember “IT IS JUST A GAME OF BOWLS”

Derek Shemmings, Miraflores Bowls Club, Costa del Sol