Lawn bowling and teenagers? That might not sound like a good match, but a recent Try-It Festival for Grade 7 and 8 students at Almonte District High School proved otherwise. Lawn bowling was one of five sports that the students were introduced to during the festival on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
The event, which was held at Almonte District High School and the Almonte Lawn Bowling Club saw students rotate through lawn bowling, flag football, Australian Rules football, Gaelic football and lacrosse.
For the lawn bowling portion, students were shuttled over to the Almonte Lawn Bowling Club where volunteers taught them the finer points of lawn bowling for 20 minutes and bocce ball for the other 20 minutes. Many of the teachers were surprised with how the students took to the introduction to lawn bowling.
“Taking students to play bocce ball and participate in lawn bowling was such a fantastic experience!” said Ashleigh Snowden, a grade 7 teacher at Almonte DHS. “The students were excited to show off their skills—especially those who had played before with family members. It was wonderful to see them laughing, encouraging each other, and genuinely having a great time."
Twenty volunteers from the club, ranging from 65-91 years old, dragged the lawn bowling green, raked the bocce courts, prepared the equipment, and coached the students.
“We were pleased with both the attitude and the behaviour of the students. They seemed to have a great time and some were even loathe to leave,” said Colleen Skjaveland, who organized the club’s volunteers. “Some asked if they could come again, so that’s terrific.”
Lawn bowling has a reputation as being a sport for seniors and club members are trying to change that perception. Participating in the Try-It Festival was an opportune way to reach out to local teenagers and help them understand the sport.
“In Australia, all ages participated in lawn bowling. It is part of the school curriculum,” said Skjaveland. “We would love to see all ages enjoy these sports here. Lawn bowling is much more challenging than it appears.”
Lawn bowling is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a jack). Unlike the balls in bocce, the bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curved path when being rolled – similar to curling. It is played on a manicured grass green, while bocce can be played on a variety of surfaces.
Outside of lawn bowling, students also spent two hours with Rodney Moors, from the National Capital Amateur Football Association, learning some of the key skills involved in flag football. The rest of the day the students rotated through, Australian Rules football, Gaelic football, and lacrosse.
The Try-It Festival is part of the Upper Canada District School Board’s All-In Sports initiative. The goal of is to give students more opportunities to be physically active during the school year. The festivals try to introduce unique sports because all of the students will be at similar skill levels and it helps even the playing field. More than 200 Almonte DHS students participated in the event that was held on the fields next to the high school.
“Having a variety of choices other than your ‘standard’ sports allowed for students who wouldn’t typically succeed in gym class – blow us away today,” said grade 7 teacher Olivia Quinn.
Coaches from the Nepean Knights Lacrosse Association, the Ottawa Swans Australian Football Club, and the Ottawa Gaels GAA also volunteered their time to share their sports with the students.