Motherwell Miners Bowling Club champion Inclusion
As part of sportscotland’s Celebrate LGBTI+ in Sport theme for June, we are proud to be profiling Motherwell Miners Bowling Club in District 18 as an inclusive and welcoming hub at the heart of their local community.
Bowls is one of very few sports in the world that can be played by people of all ages, genders, abilities and backgrounds on equal terms against each other. A unique selling point which Motherwell Miners Bowling Club have been championing amongst their existing members and using to attract new members to the club.
Situated at the heart of residential housing in the north of the town, Motherwell Miners Bowling Club was established in 1927 and has since provided a safe space for the North Lanarkshire community to socialise and enjoy sport with no barriers to participation.
Keen to find out more about the club’s welcoming environment, we spoke to the President of Motherwell Miners Bowling Club, Gerry McNab, to find out more about their inclusive ethos. Find the full Q&A below:
Q1. Describe how Motherwell Miners BC is a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members and visitors?
GM: “Motherwell Miners originated as a club for locals and is a continuum of our surrounding community. Within the club we have members of various cultural and economic backgrounds who all share an interest in bowls.
“Our desire is to make all members feel welcome, enjoy the sport and ensure the continued growth of our club. We support all new members by providing tuition bowls to try and encouragement to enter all competitions as our ethos is very much about taking part rather than winning.”
Q2. Why is being inclusive important to Motherwell Miners BC?
GM: “Inclusivity is important to us for a number of reasons. Firstly, our desire to ensure equal access to bowls irrespective of sexuality, age, race, religion etc. Secondly to ensure we reflect the diversity of the community we belong to. Thirdly to challenge the perception that bowls maybe seen by many as a white, middle-class sport.”
Q3. What difference has this inclusive approach made to the club?"
GM: “As a result of the above approach we now have a number of members who are part of the LGBTQ community, a strong junior section and members from minority ethnic groups. This approach by the club has challenged some of our members with more traditional views, however by sharing an interest in the sport and forming friendships many of these previously decisive views have now been changed to one of equality.”
Q4. As a sport, do you think bowls excels when it comes to inclusivity or are there certain things still holding us back?
GM: “Within Motherwell Miners we made a number of changes to our governance and moved away from some of the previous traditional approaches. These changes included: changes to our constitution removing reference to he/she, mixed competitions including junior members, mixed committee and removed the expectation that only ladies provide ‘teas’. Most importantly we will challenge any member who displays a non-inclusive attitude.
“Our biggest challenge was to make the club one club without a ladies section which had their own President and the gent’s section which was overall President of Motherwell Miners. By doing this we are proud that we will have our first ever lady President in 2026. Michelle Moore Johnston accepted my proposal to be Vice President which will ensure that the club will have its first lady President since the club was established 98 years ago. Motherwell Miners have a committee which is made up of seven gent’s & five ladies, with a committee member who is also part of the LGBTQ community.”
Q5. As a registered Try Bowls club, what work has Motherwell Miners BC undertaken in recent years to help attract new members? Has this work been successful?
GM: “As a club we recognise the need to ensure the continuation of playing bowls. We have encouraged membership of our young community members through visiting schools who then come and join us for four weeks of the year on a Friday afternoon to play and learn about bowls. This has been a massive success with five juniors representing Motherwell Miners at Northfield in the season 2024.
“We have also purchased number of bowling aids to allow our older members to continue to play.”
Q6. Does Motherwell Miners BC have any exciting plans for the 2025 season or beyond?
GM: “As a club we have already invited schools within the Motherwell area to join us on a Friday afternoon to try bowls, and we will encourage these young people to join. If a junior joins our club we provide them with bowls, club polo tops and we have junior coaching days every Friday morning through the school holidays where lunch is also provided. Within these mornings, we don’t just play bowls, we have coaching lessons, teach juniors green ethics, rules of bowling and how to respect other bowlers.”
A huge thank you to Gerry for sharing details on Motherwell Miners Bowling Club’s journey. If you would like to try bowls, find your local bowling club here: https://www.bowlsscotland.com/club-finder