Ellon BC Club Story
This year, our development team are encouraging clubs who are focussing on membership growth for 2022 to register as a Try Bowls Club. With a focus on recruiting new members and introducing newcomers to the sport, last weekend, Ellon Bowling Club in District 3, hosted a successful Try Bowls event. Led by President Peter Mackie, Vice President Shirley Christie and other Ellon BC members, between 40-50 members of the public came to Ellon to try their hand at the sport.
Bowls Scotland spoke to Ellon BC coach Grant Campbell who gave us an overview of this Try Bowls Club’s first community event for 2022…
“As you can see from the pictures, the day was an inclusive event for everyone as people from all ages and across all abilities had a go at the bowls. There was a lot of fun and laughter had by all with activities including knocking over skittles, hitting cones, ringing bells, going through hoops and also some standard, traditional coaching.
“The day seemed to be well received by all and was benefited by the excellent sunny weather and support from club members and volunteers. We are delighted to announce that off the back of this year's Try Bowls initiative that we have picked up five new members and had another five people away with forms.”
Grant and 3 other club members attended an Introduction to Bowls Coaching Award (IBCA) course this year as well as a social media online workshop which included some tips on promoting events and creating eye-catching content. The club had been actively promoting their community event via social media in the run up to the day and Grant believes this was key in spreading the word and getting footfall to the club on the day. The IBCA course gave lots of ideas for fun activities and games to introduce people of all ages to bowls.
“There were also several people thinking of coming along to our coaching sessions which will hopefully help them before they formally join. We could not have done this without the support of our Facebook page, members of the community and Ellon BC members so thanks to all for your support."
Ellon BC are running regular coaching sessions throughout the 2022 season for their new and existing members. All groups are welcome to visit Ellon BC and all coaches now possess the necessary PVG Certification.
Stuart Bell, National Development Officer for Districts 1 to 10 presented the club with their Bronze BowlsMark certificate on opening day and is delighted to see the club benefit from a successful recruitment event early on in the bowling season. He said: “I was proud to present President Peter Mackie and the members of Ellon BC with their Bronze BowlsMark certificate. The club are taking steps to modernise and engage with the local community to ensure the continued success and stability of the club. As a Try Bowls Club, Ellon have seen the rewards of hosting a successful, inclusive Try Bowls event. It’s great to see clubs at the heart of their communities and the photos from Ellon really demonstrate that Bowls is a sport for all. Myself and Bowls Scotland wish the club a very successful season.”
