Latest news with #lawnbowls
BBC News
18-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Family of bakers on a roll as they take four Island Games medals
The family of bakers have been on a roll, taking four medals at the lawn bowls during the 20th International Island Games in of the Rendall family secured two gold and two silver medals across all five events, taking Orkney to the top of the medals table for the bowls and dad Ruth and George Rendall and son and daughter in-law Greg and Isla Rendall all scooped described the result as a "pleasant surprise" and said it was an "honour" to play alongside his family. On Tuesday for the men's pairs Mark Causer and George Rendall won gold. Isla Rendall went home with silver from the women's singles while Ruth Rendall and her first cousin Lizzie McConnachie won silver in the women's pressure was then on Greg Rendall when he competed in the men's triples with Barrie Bruce and Kevin Watters, but he rose to the occasion. "I suppose there is a titch of relief there. I mean overall, I'm just chuffed for everybody, for the whole club," he said. The family regularly play together but often as said: "It's always very good to play with the family. It's always been a bit of rivalry between Isla and Greg and me and Ruth with lunch games and stuff. "But it's an honour to all be playing and it's an even bigger honour to come away with a medal today."Both Isla and her father in-law, George, say the crowds motivated them with about 500 spectators visiting the green every day. They hope a boost to the sport's popularity will be a legacy of the games. "A lot of them didn't know where the bowling green was, so hopefully we will see a few more of them on it once the games is by," said said: "Being at the bowling green compared to what we are used to, it was like centre court at Wimbledon or something. "The shouts and the cheers, it certainly did me a lot of good anyway knowing you have the home crowd behind you. It's just something you can't describe."
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
The volunteers making the 2025 Orkney Island Games
Norrie Johnstone dipped his toe into volunteering at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in enjoyed it so much he went on to donate his time to as many big sports events as he 11 years after he first lifted the big sponge finger, he is greeting visitors to his furthest event 74-year-old is one of the friendly faces of the Island Games in Orkney, and he says helping out at the lawn bowls events has been "fantastic". "I'd never been to Orkney and I decided I would apply as a volunteer for the Island Games," he said."It was an opportunity to come to Orkney and meet new people. Everybody is so friendly." The Island Games have taken over Orkney this week, with thousands of people visiting from around the sporting events have been taking place across mainland Orkney, with 24 competing island groups, 2,000 competitors and more than 900 say that without people like Norrie, the Games just could not Norrie, meeting new people is why he does has volunteered for the big international events in cycling, athletics, multi-sport championships as well as European football many descending on Orkney, he struggled to find that didn't stop him. He converted his van into a living space."My van is a people carrier which I've ripped the seats out of and put a mattress in. It serves the purpose."It's something completely different to a bed and breakfast or a hotel." Norrie is originally from the Borders but lives in Kilmacolm, Inverclyde. At his Island Games events, he has even been handing out Kilmacolm Bowling Club Badges to the has turned volunteering into a hobby and a way to see places he has never seen before, so he always looks for interesting events to apply weekend, he planned to help out at the Tall Ships Races in Aberdeen, but going from one big event to the other proved a bit too much."It costs you money, so you've really got to be keen to go there," he said."A lot of events in Scotland couldn't exist (without volunteers). It would be too costly to employ people. "But Scotland has been really good at getting major events."As for the return of the Commonwealth Games next year, Norrie has already put his name down."More people should get involved in volunteering. If you want to meet people, go new places and see things. You're giving something back." 'I get a sense of purpose' Anne McOmish is another volunteer at the games who has loved every is one of the admin leads in the information office for the Island Games."To get up every morning, knowing you've got something to do that day, it just gives you a great sense of purpose," she said."It's such a good feeling and the atmosphere is amazing."The weather for a start. And local businesses have gone above and beyond to make this work."She said it was important to involve the local community in these large events."There may be people out there who might not be too happy about the Island Games," she added. "But I think when you've got so many volunteers on your side, it's just fantastic."Anne believes the Games would be very different without the help of volunteers."What you would need to do is hire lots of staff if you didn't have the volunteers, then they wouldn't be able to participate or go and see any of the games or go do anything. "People like to get involved in events like this. They've got a wealth of knowledge about the area."
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Rive wins Island Games bowls gold for Jersey
Jersey's Michael Rive has won lawn bowls gold for Jersey at the 2025 Island topped the men's singles round-robin group in Orkney, having beaten all six of his dropped just one set - in a 2-1 win over Bermuda's David Leach - during the entire competition as he upgraded the bronze medal he won two years ago in who competed at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, returned to the sport in 2019 after some time off and took home a silver from the European Championships three years ago. He has a chance for a second medal when he begins his campaign in the men's triples later on Tuesday."It feels great. I came here to get gold and I managed to pull it off," he told BBC Radio Jersey."There's been some really good opposition - the Orkney guy that got silver was a really hard game and I managed to just scrape that one and lost just one game against Bermuda in a tie-breaker."
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Bowls bosses hope Luke Littler of the lawn emerges as sport looks to the future
Long painted as the preserve of pensioners and pipe-smokers, lawn bowls is launching an overhaul that it hopes will roll it closer to Olympic recognition – and hopefully unearth the sport's own version of darts star Luke Littler in the process. Over 800 clubs will throw open their rinks over the upcoming Bank Holiday for the fifth edition of the Bowls Big Weekend, in which visitors are invited to try their hand at the sport for the first time. Bowls makes no bones about its need to bolster its younger demographic. Acutely aware of the need to change with the times, the lawn bowls event at next summer's drastically truncated Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will be held indoors for the first time, and features a shorter and snappier format. Jon Cockcroft, the chief executive of Bowls England, told the PA news agency: 'From a broadcast perspective, from the advent of Sky TV and the like, some sports were winners and some were losers, and I think bowls has probably been slower than others in recognising the need to modify one's product to become more TV-friendly. 'The bowls at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will be shorter games, indoor, with more jeopardy, and I think we will see that same level of excitement that is being captured in other sports with shorter forms, like Twenty20 cricket. 'The sport has been in generational decline since Covid but we are starting to grow again, to reduce the average age of our player base. What we are fundamentally doing is taking our sport on a fairly transformative journey. 'We are trying to change perceptions by presenting our sport in a more modern light, and we have got some incredibly talented youngsters coming through. We have got our own versions of Luke Littlers who ultimately aspire to play in the Commonwealth Games with the senior team.' Bowls has been a permanent part of the Commonwealth Games programme since its inception, and made the headlines in Birmingham in 2022 when Scotland's George Miller became the oldest Games medallist at the age of 75. While the column inches were doubtless welcome, they did little to alter the age-old perception of a sport that attracts both powerhouses like Australia and the home nations, and teams from far-flung Pacific atolls. With the 2032 Olympics heading for Brisbane, Cockcroft sees no reason why a newly invigorated version of the sport once presided over by the likes of David Bryant, and sponsored by funeral homes and cruise liners, cannot take the ultimate step towards global recognition. 'I think it (the Olympics) is certainly an aspiration, and the Games in Australia provide a definite opportunity in the way the Olympic programme has developed, where host cities have the opportunity to pick some of their own sports. 'If there is a nation like Australia, where bowls has a significant presence, it could be a great opportunity for us.'
