Thursday Night Barefoot Bowls kicks off tonight at the Gundagai District Services Club, starting at 6:00 pm. It is $15 per head with sausage sizzle included, and the sports bar will be open.
The competition is open to anyone looking for a game. Organiser Matt Armstrong explained what people can expect from the evening.
“The Thursday night Barefoot Bowls had basically started even before I joined the Gundagai Bowling Club three years ago. It was just a very friendly social thing,” he said.
“This year, we are looking to go away from say a standard triples and pairs format, and we were going to go do something similar to the Jack Attack, where you have two or three players in the same team against another team. You’re all down the same end, you play three sets of five ends or six, depending on time permitting.
“Once per set, you can nominate to play for double points. You still score the same as you would in a normal lawn bowls match, but this way there’s no skips down the other end; everyone’s down the same end. It’s meant to be quick, fun and friendly, a very social sort of thing.
“We are looking to try that this year, so we’re kicking off tonight, starting at six with a bit of a sausage sizzle and then we’ll give it a trial and see how we go. We’re just trying to encourage different people to come and try the game out and win this Jack Attack. It’s a lot friendlier, and hopefully, they might join up.
“It’s a bit more of a laid-back, casual kind of thing. That’s the vibe we are going for, so no pressure. Come down, bring your friends, family, cousins, brothers, sisters, everyone, no experience required, you can be a complete newbie, or you can be an experienced bower, it doesn’t matter. It’s basically made for a few beverages, a bit of banter, and you can kick the shoes off.
“When I took it up a couple of years ago, we were averaging around about in the early to mid 30s for numbers, which is pretty good for us at Gundagai.
“Things have dwindled a little bit, and that could be due to a raft of reasons. It could be the cost of living; people have fairly tight schedules now. Mum and Dad work more, or they’re taking the kids around to sports. People are just a little bit time-poor. We’re trying to reintroduce it and maybe slowly gain some interest back, but for the moment, people do enjoy it. It is something different, and word of mouth usually travels the fastest.
“Bowls is very good for mental health, so come out and try something different. I had that perception a few years back that it was an old person’s game; I don’t want to try this. I went down one Thursday night, and I had an absolute ball. I’ve been on the greens ever since. It’s not too strenuous, exercise-wise. It’s a little bit of being out in the fresh air, a little bit of exercise, very good for mental health, you can belong to something, feel a part of something. That’s what we’re going for. If you’re keen to try something different, just come down, check it out.”
– Jack Murray
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.