National Development Officer 2025 Season Highlights. Alan McDonald - North of Scotland
Bowls Scotland’s National Development Officers (NDO’s) are responsible for working with clubs to develop quality environments that provide increased, quality opportunities for people to participate at all levels. Our three NDO’s work to support our member clubs year-round via both Try Bowls and BowlsMark, as well as other Bowls Scotland national programmes and projects.
Alan joined the Bowls Scotland team in 2023, based in Dundee and a member of Balgay Bowling Club, Alan offers support to clubs in the North of Scotland covering Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Perth & Kinross, Shetland and the Western Isles. Alan acts as the strategic lead for Bowls Scotland’s BowlsMark accreditation scheme.
Key highlights from the 2025 season in the North:
- 28 clubs visited
- 18 Try Bowls events supported
- 5 school sessions supported
- 7 Club Development Forums hosted (92 attendees from 59 clubs)
- 15 BowlsMark awards
- 37 BowlsMark Clubs now in the North
- 157 Try Bowls Clubs now in the North (88% of clubs in the North)
Alan told us a few of his personal highlights and stories from the North region over the season…
“In April, we delivered a number of coaching courses in the highlands and islands, these rural clubs were able to access funding through our coaching subsidy, making the courses more affordable and accessible to remote clubs. It was great to be able to facilitate the delivery of a Level 1 Bowls Coaching Award up at Lerwick Bowling Club, on Shetland. The course was very well received and attended, and I am looking forward to hearing the progress which Lerwick BC can make in bringing in more of the Shetland community to their lovely club.
“I was also excited to arrange my first BowlsMark Internationalist visit – it was a privilege for me to be able to bring a Scottish Internationalist to one of our BowlsMark Silver Clubs, The Inverness BC. I hope that, into 2026, the Development Team are able to bring this amazing benefit to more of our Silver and Gold clubs, to celebrate their achievements and hard work.”
Despite the outdoor bowling season coming to a close, our National Development Officers remain on hand to support our member clubs. Alan told us what he is looking forward to working on over the winter months:
“Over the closed season I’m looking forward to working with clubs in the North on their BowlsMark progress. Many clubs will already have some of the Bronze criteria in place, so the process of achieving the first level of accreditation could be straightforward. These clubs can then reap the rewards of having a nationally recognised certification as they move into the 2026 outdoor season, something we know from other clubs can be really useful for funding applications, sponsorships and so on.”
Clubs in the North of Scotland can reach out to Alan for support with BowlsMark, Try Bowls and more via alanmcdonald@bowlsscotland.com or 07821 118774. Our NDO’s also send out monthly communications to their clubs with updates and regional news, if you are interested in being added to the mailing list for this newsletter, just speak to our friendly team.