British Isles Championships 2024- Behind the Scenes of Windygates and Durievale BC
In our final preview, we had the pleasure of speaking with the man behind the curtain at Windygates and Durievale BC, club president Bruce McCall. In our chat, Bruce was able to detail the exponential trajectory that the club has found itself on, and how he, as president has been able to support his teams.
When asked about the club’s development plan, Bruce talked about the strong committee that he leads, along with the hard-working volunteers at the club, who always go the extra mile. Lots of teams contribute to the success of the club, where volunteers work hard in the food, maintenance, green-keeping and events departments, which allows the committee to run as smooth as possible. Bruce said that the volunteers’ hard work sometimes goes unseen by members and visitors, but he thanked them for the number of hours they put in to keep Windygates ticking.
A recent makeover has allowed the club to profit hugely too, with many more outside events, and bookings, which is fantastic for the club’s economic position.
Membership at Windygates has seen a steady growth over recent years, which Bruce believes is crucial to keeping the club afloat through the challenging winter months. He pins the uptake in members on the success that the club has seen in recent years.
In the short term, Bruce hopes that Windygates can encourage a junior programme at the club, as it is an area in which Windygates are struggling in at the moment, with just three junior members. On top of this, Bruce hopes that the social side of the club can continue to grow, as the entertainment aspect of the club continues to increase slowly. Bruce states that should Windygates continue on their trajectory, they will see a steady flow of income to the club, along with a steady rise in social members.
We also asked Bruce about the success on a bowling front at Windygates in 2023. Bruce went on to describe the historic year in depth, highlighting plenty of success in the national finals.
Bruce said that this run started at the beginning of the week, when Lynn Stein secured a silver medal in the over 55 singles, in an enthralling game played in high spirits. After Lynn, saw Mark Fleming go on to lift gold with Wallyford’s Alex Paterson, in the para open pairs. Since victory in Ayr, Mark has gone on to represent Scotland on numerous occasions and is enjoying his bowls more than ever before!
Bruce then talked about the incredible eight, who made history at Northfield, being the first club to win both the gents and ladies fours in the same year. As is touched on in their individual previews, Bruce discussed the trials and tribulations that the teams faced prior to lifting gold.
We asked Bruce how the club were able to help the players, and here is what the president had to say:
“As a committee we were delighted to help in any little way, whether that be a small donation to help with expenses, support throughout the week or dealing with any press responses, award nominations or social media requests.
Our motto of “Build it and they will come” was based loosely around membership numbers and we could never have dreamed of achieving so many medals in such a short space of time, so thanks to the players and anyone else who helped make this dream happen”.