Eskmills BC Club Story
Try Bowls Club, Eskmills Bowling Club, in Musselburgh have kickstarted their mission to attract a new generation of bowlers by creating a partnership with Active Schools Musselburgh. The partnership started when East Lothian Development Officer, Billy Mellors, contacted the club to discuss the opportunity of collaborating with Active Schools after he seen great potential from the club coaches after they successfully completed the latest Bowls Scotland coaching courses.
Eskmills BC were keen to develop and bring in younger members so began to run session specifically for local children. The club were forward thinking and decided to host the sessions on a Saturday morning to make them more accessible for everyone.
The coaching session were a great success with more than 15 children joining in and developing their skills each week. From here, many parents also began bowling with their kids on the green, which attracted eight new adult members for the club.
Eskmills Bowling Club has added:
“These sessions wouldn't have happened without the coaches giving up their Saturday mornings on a voluntary basis. So, thanks to Grant MacHardie, Scott Young, Lewis Robinson and Stuart Irvine. A particular thank you has to go to Laura White, who has coached, organised and coordinated the sessions. We want to keep links in the schools to continue this next year and we have contacted the East Lothian Indoor Bowling Club to try and keep the children's interest over the winter.”
As well as the clubs commitment to bringing in the local kids to the sport, they also ran coaching courses for their new adult members. In order to create more confident bowlers Eskmills have seen the successful running of their adult coaching sessions for the last two years. Coach, Stuart Irvine, took a group of four new female bowlers through sessions which seen them gain a bronze award for their skills, this amazing initiative was rounded off with a graduation for their bowlers to celebrate their commitment and success!
Thank you to Laura at Eskmills Bowling Club for giving us an insight into the wonderful coaching and recruitment efforts at the club. Bowls Scotland wish the club every success as it continues to engage with the local community and expand its membership in the future.
If your club would like to follow the success of Eskmills BC, contact your National Development Officer or click here for more information on coaching opportunities. https://www.bowlsscotland.com/club-development/coaching
