History Sports Lawn Bowls Contents A history A Paralympic sport Rules Governing bodies Regional clubs Lawn bowls, a history It is generally accepted that lawn bowls originated in a way from the ancient Egyptians in a game where they would throw skittles around stones, various forms of this original game spread around the world. In Britain, the game of bowls apparently developed between 12th and 13th centuries. The oldest site that is still played on is in Southampton, where records show the game was played since 1299. There is evidence that King Henry VIII was a lawn bowler; and that he wished to keep this sport as an elite entity – not to be enjoyed by the working class. King James I effectively banned the sport in “The Book of Sports” – however in 1845 this changed and the game of bowls was to be played once more. Lawn bowls has gone from a sport that was exclusive and only for the upper classes, to actually being banned in public places – apparently it was associated with a drinking culture and so had an undesirable image. In the 19th century it became recognised as a legitimate sport/activity and was allowed to be played in public once more. Some sources credit the game’s existence to the Scots – W.W. Mitchell drew up a standard set of rules for the game after a meeting of over 200 people from many different clubs (who all followed varying rules for the game). 1892 saw The Scottish Bowling Association being formed. Later (1903) The English Bowling Association was established. Lawn bowls, a competitive sport The nature of lawn bowls is that it doesn’t require a strong level of fitness, so it has always been a very popular sport with older participants. The game, because of its very accessible nature, was ideal for people with visual or physical impairments. It was even used as part of the patients’ rehabilitation process by Ludwig Guttmann. However, while physical strength is not required to play, lawn bowls is a game that requires strong concentration and can take players years to become champions. Lawn bowls, a Paralympic sport For the Paralympics the sport was initially divided into sections based on singles/pairs and men/women. Later, it was categorised according to visual impairments or physical disability – hence the later games have multiple sections such as LB7/8 or A2/4. The sport has been discontinued – it hasn’t been played at the games since 1996. Lawn bowls at the Paralympic Summer Games 1968 Tel Aviv, Israel - 4 events (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles & women’s doubles), 8 countries and 31 athletes participated. 1972 Heidelberg, Germany - 4 events (as above), 7 countries and 20 athletes participated. 1976 Toronto, Canada - 16 events, 13 countries and 80 athletes participated. 1980 Arnhem, Netherlands - 19 events, 13 countries and 69 athletes participated. 1984 New York, USA – 11 events, 8 countries and 52 athletes participated. 1988 Seoul, South Korea – 6 events, 10 countries and 55 athletes participated. 1996 Atlanta, USA – 8 events, 11 countries and 64 athletes participated. British lawn bowls medal winners 1968 Tel Aviv, Israel Easton & G. Monoghan - gold in Men’s PairsGwen Buck - gold in Women’s SinglesGwen Buck & J. Laughton - gold in Women’s PairsBritton - silver in Men’s Singles 1972 Heidelberg, GermanyGwen Buck & F. Nowak - gold in Women’s PairsT. Ure - silver in Men’s SinglesTom Guthrie & T. Ure - silver in Men’s PairsF. Nowak - silver in Women’s SinglesBarnard – bronze in Women’s Singles 1976 Toronto, CanadaPeter Pienerosa - gold in Men’s Singles DMichael Shelton - gold in Men’s Singles WhJ. Anderson & R. Miller – gold in Men’s Pairs CK. Bonnet - gold in Women’s Singles BWilliam McLeod - silver in Men’s Singles AG. Morgan - silver in Men’s Singles BJ. Gladman & Peter Pienerosa - silver in Men’s Pairs DG. Matthews - silver in Women’s Singles WhI. Baker & K. Bonnet - silver in Women’s Pairs BMargaret Maughan & F. Nowak - silver in Women’s Pairs WhR. Miller - bronze in Men’s Singles CMcCreadie – bronze in Men’s Singles WhD. Avis & McCreadie – bronze in Men’s Pairs WhI. Baker - bronze in Women’s Singles BGwen Buck – bronze in Women’s Singles Wh Gwen Buck & G. Matthews – bronze in Women’s Pairs Wh 1980 Arnhem, NetherlandsD. Cale - gold in Men’s Singles 1A-1BWilliam McLeod - gold in Men’s Singles AJ. Hughes - gold in Men’s Singles BR. Newton - gold in Men’s Singles DKen Bridgeman - gold in Men’s Singles 2-5D. Cale & T. Taylor - gold in Men’s Pairs 1A-1BJ. Gladman & R. Newton - gold in Men’s Pairs DKen Bridgeman & Brian Faulkner - gold in Men’s Pairs 2-5M. McLellan - gold in Women’s Singles 1A-1BK. Bonnet - gold in Women’s Singles AJane Blackburn & M. McLellan - gold in Women’s Pairs 1A-1BMargaret Maughan & R. Thompson - gold in Women’s Pairs 2-5R. Miller - silver in Men’s Singles CJ. Gladman - silver in Men’s Singles DMichael Byrne - silver in Men’s Singles FR. Miller & Neil Shaw - silver in Men’s Pairs CJane Blackburn - silver in Women’s Singles 1A-1BYvonne Hawtin – silver in Women’s Singles 2-5Yvonne Hawtin & G. Matthews - silver in Women’s Pairs 2-5T. Taylor - bronze in Men’s Singles 1A-1BNeil Shaw - bronze in Men’s Singles CP. Silva - bronze in Men’s Singles 2-5John Gronow & P. Silva - bronze in Men’s Pairs 2-5R. Thompson - bronze in Women’s Singles 2-5 1984 New York, USARichard Coates - gold in Men’s Singles A6/8K. Ellison - gold in Men’s Singles TetraplegicRichard Coates & Anthony Prowse - gold in Men’s Pairs A6/8A. Smith - gold in Women’s Singles A2/4Yvonne Hawtin - gold in Women’s Singles ParaplegicR. Thompson & T. Ure - gold in Mixed Pairs ParaplegicHubball - silver in Men’s Singles ParaplegicBarr - silver in Men’s Singles TetraplegicJ. Gladman & Bernard Wessier - silver in Men’s Pairs A2/A4R. Thompson - silver in Women’s Singles ParaplegicYvonne Hawtin & R. Thompson - silver in Women’s Pairs ParaplegicKen Bridgeman & Yvonne Hawtin - silver in Mixed Pairs ParaplegicJimmy Gibson - bronze in Men’s Singles ParaplegicT. Taylor - bronze in Men’s Singles TetraplegicJohn Gronbow & Hubball - bronze in Men’s Pairs Paraplegic 1988 Seoul, South KoreaRalph Foster - gold in Men’s Singles LB1Neil Shaw & Bernard Wessier - gold in Men’s Pairs LB2Richard Coates - silver in Men’s Singles LB3Ken Bridgeman - silver in Men’s Singles 2-6John Gronow – silver in Men’s Singles 2-6Ken Bridgeman & John Gronow - bronze in Men’s Pairs 2-6Hazel Randall - bronze in Women’s Singles 1996 Atlanta, USAWilliam Curran - gold in Men’s Singles LB2Alan Lyne - gold in Men’s Singles LB7/8Vera Moore - gold in Women’s Singles LB2Samuel Shaw - gold in Men’s Singles LB3-5Irene Cheer - gold in Women’s Singles LB3-5Rosa Crean - gold in Women’s Singles LB7/8David Heddle – silver in Men’s Singles LB3-5George Wright - silver in Men’s Singles LB7/8Penny Tyler - silver in Women’s Singles LB2Keith Brenton - bronze in Men’s Singles LB7/8Mary Elias - bronze in Women’s Singles LB7/8 Disclaimer - Some information from earlier Paralympic Games (i.e. 1960-1988) such as relay and team members are not presented in the IPC source data. Therefore, final results, medal standings and derived statistics may not be complete.Important note on the definition of participants: Only athletes that appear in the official results books in the section of final results are included in the database and counted towards participant statistics. Data for 2014 and 2016 are accurate. Statistics for previous Games are under review by the IPC.Important note on competition partners: Competition partners eligible for medals are included in the combined participant statistics until 2014. Statistics for 2016 and beyond consider athletes with an impairment and their competition partners separately. Rules of lawn bowls To play lawn bowls as a para sport, athletes must have either a visual impairment or a physical disability. Players are then classified based on their disability. There are 8 classifications: B1-B4 are classes for those with visual impairments and B5-B8 are for those with physical disabilities. Lawn bowls is a game of concentration and accuracy involving a target and balls. is played on a green that should measure between 30 & 40 metres each side. The main objective is to land the balls as close as possible to the target – which is called a jack. At the start of the game the jack (which is a small white ball) is thrown/rolled out onto the playing green. It is possible for the jack to move – as the players are allowed to hit and move the jack with their balls. The game is played in sets – there are four balls in each set. Balls in the game are biased – which means they are unsymmetrical and the ball moves in a curved direction – the players should roll the ball at an angle in order to hit the target. After each player rolls their balls, the distance between the balls and the jack is measured. Players are given points according to the position of their ball. Players have to roll four balls for singles or doubles matches, and three balls for triples, two for fours. The game can be played in singles, doubles, or teams and set scoring systems are employed. Governing bodies International Bowls for the Disabled (IBD) is the international body. Although it is not a member of World Bowls, the IBD is among the organisations recognised by them as ‘as being representative of the people they respectively purport to represent’. EnglandBowls England is the National Governing Body for the sporthttps://www.bowlsengland.com/about-us ScotlandBowls Scotland is the NGB for Scotlandhttps://www.bowlsscotland.com/about-us WalesBowls Wales is the National governing bodyhttps://bowlswales.com/ Northern IrelandThe Northern Ireland Bowling Associationhttps://nibabowls.org/ Regional clubs EnglandVisit Bowls England or Disability Bowls England to search for local clubs ScotlandThe Bowls Scotland website provides a useful list of clubs and Scottish Disability Sport lists contacts for further information. WalesClubs can be found on the Disability Sport Wales or Welsh Bowls websites. Northern IrelandFor a list of clubs visit the Irish Bowls Federation or Disability Sport NI. Referenceshttp://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Bowls.htmhttp://www.valebowlingclub.co.uk/bowling_history.htmhttps://www.bowlsengland.com/for-bowlers/disability-bowls-englandhttps://www.paralympic.org/the-ipc/history-of-the-movementhttps://db.ipc-services.org/sdms4/hira/web/medalStandings/tel-aviv-1968/lawn-bowlshttps://www.bowls.org.uk/flat-greenhttps://www.tutorialspoint.com/lawn_bowling/lawn_bowling_quick_guide.htmhttp://www.sports.org.au/lawn-bowls/ Lawn bowls stories Jane Blackburn Jane Blackburn was an all-rounder in the days when athletes competed in multiple sports. In the 1970s, she won medals in Archery, Swimming, Table Tennis and Lawn Bowls. Read more Manage Cookie Preferences