Short mat Bowls in School gym over Curling surface
Surrey, BC – Dales Bowls Canada is pleased to announce a new Short Mat Bowls initiative targeting new and young potential players in high schools and curling clubs. This initiative is born out of the fact that to succeed as a sport, bowls needs to break out of its stereotype as a sport that MUST to be played on lawn bowling greens along with retired folks in white uniforms. “Our proposition”
This idea intends to capitalize on social, fitness and economic issues currently facing schools and families. For example, studies recommend returning to traditional fitness programs for schools, others suggest the development of holistic activities that keep students engaged, interested and competitive. Parents lament the lack of sports opportunities beyond main steam sports and/or the cost of sports equipment.
Indoor Short Mat Bowling is a great alternative and a potential springboard with which to develop, in students, an understanding and appreciation of bowls as a recreational and competitive pursuit. This unique lifetime sport FOR ALL encourages interactive team work, cooperation between players and fosters good sportsmanship. It also allows personal development through both social and physical activity.
Idea – Not So Far Fetched!
The link to Curling is a natural one. The play is similar. Curling is immensely popular among the youth. Curling has a well developed youth program. The sport is well organized and beautifully marketed, thus attracting sponsorship, TV coverage and growing mass appeal. Curling clubs can take advantage of the similarities between the two sports by introducing Short Mat Bowls in their rinks for play during the off-season, when the Curling rinks are idle most of the time.
Win-Win! Another interesting aspect of this idea is that Curling clubs could share the equipment with nearby high schools that play Short Mat. In fact, one can imagine the development of Short Mat in tandem between the schools and the Curling club, independently from lawn bowling clubs. The Curling club could own the Short Mat carpets and loan them to neighborhood high schools (or vice versa) during the curling season – a true win-win!
Logistics
Short Mat carpets are only 45ft X 6ft. They easily fit in either direction on the curling rinks. The curling rink surface is hard, smooth and level, ideal for the well-padded Short Mat carpets. The carpets are also portable and can be deployed quickly and easily by two persons, thus providing flexibility for the Curling clubs to utilize their facilities for other occasional activities. He same reasoning applies to school gyms, where the 4 carpets required to accommodate a class of 32 can fit in half a gym, thus leaving room for another activity. Complete teaching tools are available.
Low entry level
The low entry level cost of this idea makes it all possible. For example, a complete set-up to service one classroom of 32 individuals, when playing in teams of four, would include: a set of 4 playing carpets, a 4-carpet handling unit, 4-accressory kits and 16 sets of narrow-bias lawn bowling bowls, which can all be purchased for approximately $10,000. This is a sum that can easily be raised through lottery funding, service clubs or through commercial sponsorships. Revenues will depend on the School or the Curling Club’s market conditions and marketing acumen.
Bonus Benefit
According to Battista, a former school teacher and corporate trainer, “Once shown how to run the program, kids can run with it on their own, with minimal involvement from a teacher. They already know marketing. They’ll get on Utube and other social Internet networks and share their experiences with their friends and invite other schools to compete in this clean and healthy sport.” Battista hopes to hear from “keeners” who wish to partake in this Bowls renaissance by starting clubs in their own area. Teaching tools, marketing ideas and funding contacts are already made available on the company website at www.dalesbowlscanada.ca . A Short Mat Video can also be viewed and downloaded from the home page or by searching “Dales short mat video” on Google videos or simply click below.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
