With thousands of professionals already on the bowling circuit there is much support for bowling but more is going to be needed before this label can be fully removed.
Zara Giles, the UK’s top female player, said: “Bowling is a very popular recreational activity, but we have difficulty getting the general public to perceive it as a sport. The profile of tenpin bowling has increased considerably over the past few years since Barry Hearn became involved in producing the televised shows in the UK. Other than having more TV shows though the best way to promote the sport would be with the proprietors (owners of bowling centres).”
This is something that Zara herself has become actively involved with over the past few years. With football, rugby and recently cricket dominating school syllabuses up and down the country, smaller sports like tenpin bowling never get a look in. Working alongside the proprietors Zara has made significant strides to pin bowling back into the minds of our children.
“I work with the proprietors association and have been involved with setting up a national schools program. We have got bowling back on the syllabus so that teachers can take classes bowling as part of their PE schedule. This we hope should be the first step towards getting more children bowling.”
One factor that would certainly help boost the profile of bowling would be an injection of money to help create more bowling centres and more support for potential future stars. During a time when billions of money is being pumped into sport to get more people participating and active before 2012, is tenpin bowling being supported or just left in the outside lane?
Zara said: “I am not sure if bowling receives any funding to be completely honest. When we go away representing England the British Tenpin Bowling Association pay for our travel expenses but I do not know where their funding comes from.”
This is a claim confirmed by Bernice Bass, Secretary of the British Tenpin Bowling Association who is faced with the difficult challenge of trying to get bowling acknowledged as a sport with absolutely no money to play with.
“The Governing Body regrettably receives no direct funding at all which just makes an uphill task even harder. Some of our Youth Bowling Clubs obtain financial assistance from various local channels but it is still considerably less than most sports. We would, of course highly value and appreciate more funding if it became available.”
The most striking example of the predicament facing bowling was revealed by Zara: “Last year we went to the World Championships without a coach as the Association couldn't afford to send anyone with us.”
Can you imagine England going to South Africa this summer with no Fabio Capello, the thought is just unfathomable, yet this is the stark reality that our country’s top bowlers are faced with.
With this in mind what do Zara and the British Bowling Association believe the future is for the sport and will it ever be able to shrug of its non-sport tag?
“Being on TV has helped but if the proprietors worked a little harder to convert recreational bowlers into league bowlers their business would be far stronger which in turn would increase the strength of the sport.”
This is something Bernice agrees with: “We are working on promotion which is ongoing at local level. We are constantly looking for ways to improve promotion and increase youth participation so that hopefully bowling will become the sport of the future.”
Whether it will roll alongside the big sports or just roll into the gutter lane of obscurity in the future will remain to be seen!
