48 BOWLS INTERNATIONAL November 2017 http://www.bowlsinternational.comheavy, too short, too narrow, too wide,"
comments that we hear so often on our
greens.
No - what I kept on hearing was, "Good
effort! Well done, buddy! Brilliant! Great
line buddy! What a cracker! You've got
the jack!" And once, "Fantastic! - you've
mastered it now, haven't you?" The kids
gave 100 per cent - and loved every
minute.
Jess Sims, who had travelled down
from Llandrindod Wells to attend this
session, said "I think it's marvellous.
It was quite an eye-opener. This sort
of thing is just what we need to attract
youngsters to bowls. You could tell they
were enjoying every minute, and it was a
pleasure to watch Richard and Jamie, and
their helpers in action."
Nia Butler, the recently appointed CEO
of Bowls Wales, enjoyed it, too, and
was full of praise for Richard and the
Abertillery club. "I believe that bowls is
a great sport for everyone, and it deserves
recognition," she said.
"This sort of project shows how vibrant
the sport can be, and I am determined
to generate the sort of recognition that it
deserves. Our top bowlers bring prestige
to Wales, and they are all so friendly,"
she added. "Just look at the way so many
of them turned up tonight, and threw
their weight behind what Jamie and his
colleagues are doing. It was brilliant!"FUTURE OF BOWLS
Afterwards, in the warm clubhouse, the
club's ladies laid on a buffet, and every
young participant received a certificate to
record his or her achievements during the
summer months. Hazel Wilson presented
Richard Cook with a Welsh international
shirt signed by the 11 stars who were
present.
In response, Richard promised that the
shirt would be framed and put up on the
wall of the clubhouse - alongside a very
special 2014 Scottish Commonwealth
Games shirt that had been signed by the
likes of Tattie Marshall, Paul Foster and
Darren Burnett.
A group of long-standing members
confirmed what these Friday night
sessions are doing for a club that wasexperiencing the sort of membership
problems that so many clubs are facing -
not just in Wales, but all over the world.
"The club has been reinvigorated," one
told me. "So often, boys and girls take
up bowls because their parents play, but
we are beginning to find that parents of
these youngsters are applying to join,
and we are definitely on the up." He then
told me what had happened the previous
weekend, when the club was short of
players for their Monmouthshire Bowling
Association Division One league match
with the strong Machen club.
"We fielded two of Richard's young
protegees, Ioan Cook and Corey
Seymour," he smiled. "Just think of that- two nine-year-olds in a first Division
league match. And they played well. We
lost the match, but the rinks on which
they played both drew, and I think that
says it all!"
Richard says he is grateful for the
support he gets from all the Abertillery
club members, but is particularly
indebted to Jamie - and the two certainly
work well together. "Then there's a whole
group who come to help," he says. "Josh
Wilshire, who was runner up in the
Welsh men's Under 25 singles this year,
turns up regularly, and there are others
like Robbie Griffiths, JJ Jones Coles,
Lewis King and Cameron Miller. What
they do is invaluable."
He hopes that a lot of regular
youngsters will grow into the game, and
move on to become helpers.
"We have created a pathway that just
wasn't there before." he told me. "I think
what we have done is to make sure the
future of bowls in Abertillery is assured.
"I'm very proud of what we have
achieved already, and it is very gratifying
to see we are now being recognised at
national level."
As for Jamie Brown, his ambitions go
beyond what he and Richard Cook have
achieved in Abertillery. He is now a
member of Bowls Wales communication
team and hopes to use his position,
in conjunction with Richard, to help
develop the game - and especially the
concept of for bowls for kids - at clubs
all over Wales.
CLUB FOCUS|By David Rhys JonesBy David Rhys Jones
Abertillery
Achievements
● The Abertillery club is recognised as the best side
in Wales for junior bowls development. Richard
claims they are the Academy of Bowls in Wales.
● He and Jamie have established a clear 'player
pathway', enabling juniors to progress from Kids
Bowls to friendly games, to league bowls, and then
to Championship bowls, county selection, and
potentially national honours. Josh Wilshire was
runner up in the Welsh Under 25 singles this year.
● Over 1,500 children participated at Abertillery's
Kids Bowls events during 2017.
● Turning a concrete maze into a street bowls
venue, they were proud to deliver bowls at the
Welsh National Street Games Festival at the
Principality Stadium - the home of Welsh Rugby.
● They coached over 450 children from Abertillery
3-16 Learning Community on a 3G surface!
● In 2012, the playBowls junior programme was
introduced to our club in 2012 to promote bowls
and give children the opportunity to play the
game!
● In 2015, the playBowls scheme was rebranded as
KidsBowls. The BDA now use the slogan, Play Bowls.
● In January, 2017
Abertillery Bowls
Club was named
‘Blaenau Gwent
Sports Club of The
Year’ at Aneurin
Leisure Sports
Awards.
● In 2013, Abertillery Bowls Club was promoted to
MBA Division 1.
● In April, 2017, ownership of the clubhouse and
green was transferred to the club bythe local
authority.
● In 2017, two junior players, both aged nine, made
their senior teams debuts in our MBA Division 1
championship side – a first for Wales!
● In 2017, eight junior players made their debuts
for the club. Six players under 12 played in one
match!
● In 2017, Josh Wilshire was runner up in the WBA
Under 25 singles championship, and Lewis King
reached the quarter finals of the national Under 18
singles.
● In 2017, Abertillery Bowls staged its first Under
14 Tournament - 30 kids (male and female) took
part.Internationals show their support to young players on the green46-48_BI_ABERTILLERY_Nov17_cc.indd 48 12/10/2017 14:40