Lawn Bowls 6s - the new game sweeping the nation

Ages ago, when I was habitually rabbiting on about lawn bowls, I mentioned that there should be a cut-down version to enable people who work for a living to take up competitive bowls in the evening.

I suggested a "Thirteen13" version in response to the idea of lawn bowls equivalent of Twenty20 cricket, but I've since thought better of it.

I want to propose a game called "Lawn Bowls 6s." (Or "Lawn Bowls Sixes", if you think the use of numbers instead of words is too gauche).

How does it work? I'm so glad you asked.

There are two teams in a game. Each team has 6 bowls, and each game has 6 ends. It doesn't matter how many people are playing - each team simply has six bowls per end, and they can divvy them up amongst the team members however they like.

The teams will alternate for each bowl, rather than the players. So the first team (let's call them Team A) will bowl once, then Team B will have a turn, and then it's back to Team A again. And so forth and so on. It doesn't matter if you're first, second, skip or whatever.

In theory, this means any team could play any other team, as it really doesn't matter who bowls what, as long as the teams bowl alternately and every member of the team bowls at least once. A team consisting of 2 people could face off against a team of 6, if that's the way the draw works. There can be an element of tactics to this as well, as a team can give their best bowler some extra bowls. "Pinch hitting" will be entirely possible.

The team with the most points at the end of the sixth end wins the game.

A match will consist of four teams playing against each other. Initially, a random draw decides which teams will face off against each other first. The winners of the first games will play against each other for the second game of the match, and the losers of the first game will play against each other. Each team is awarded a point for the number of games they have won.

This means that each match results in one team winning 2 points, two teams winning 1 point and one team winning no points. The points will tally towards a league table.

A local 6s League Season will operate for a number of weeks (let's say 12, just because it's a multiple of 6), and then the teams at the top of the table will battle it out for a premiership pendant (lawn bowls is all about the bling, after all).

The top two teams from each local league (based on points) will go on to compete in a postseason elimination round to find the best four teams in the country, who will then compete for the national titles. I may have stolen this bit from Major League Baseball, but baseball is awesome, so that's okay.

What makes this idea worth taking up is that:

1. People who work full time and can't make it to games during the day (which is currently when most clubs - at least in regional towns - hold competitions) will be able to go to a bowls club at night and be able to play a couple of games that actually mean something (nice and satisfying).
2. By being more suitable for the young(ish) and busy, it will provide a gateway for a new generation of bowlers to take up the sport. As things stand (at least where I live), lawn bowls seems to be this strange cult where current members lie in wait for retirees and try to recruit them. That's great for the retirees, but not so good for making sure the clubs remain viable. Which leads me to:
3. The league format opens up options for having more people using the clubs and the facilities. A club could easily have a Tuesday Night League and a Thursday Night League, which means people who can't make it on Tuesday might come on Thursday. This means more people will be coming through the doors, buying memberships and purchasing beverages and food. This can only be a good thing for clubs that are struggling to make the facilities pay their way.

Now all I need to do is find some bowls clubs who are willing to take a punt and start the first league(s). That's the part where my plan falls down a bit, frankly.

Twenty20 Lawn Bowls? Can I suggest Thirteen13?

"Bowls&Kitty" by Mattinbgn - Own work.
Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons - 

I recently read this article about a "new", "fast pace" version of lawn bowls that's supposed to make it all, like hip with the kids and stuff, so that the youngsters don't get bored playing the game.

It's supposed to do for lawn bowls what the Twenty20 format supposedly did for cricket (i.e. make it interesting).  Now, I haven't been able to sit though a Twenty20 cricket match, so I can't say the format actually works.  It turns out that cricket is just boring and there's nothing you can do about it.

However, I agree that lawn bowls could do with a shorter version - just because it makes sense to be able to play more than one "game" on that space and with that equipment.  And because 25 ends is way too long for anyone from Generation X or younger to comfortably fit into their lives.

This Twenty20-like version of the game they mention in the ABC article doesn't float my boat.  There's a bit more detail in this article from the Messenger.  I'm sure it would be great if you actually saw it in action, but it seems slightly complicated.

Two sets of five ends?  I don't get it.  Why not just have ten ends?

Petanque and bocce are traditionally played until someone hits 13.  It would make a nice symmetry across the boules sports if the shorter version of lawn bowls was played as a Thirteen13 kind of thing.

Whoever gets to 13 first, or whoever has the highest score after 13 ends, wins.

Done, easy.  No fussing about.  If you play singles with four bowls a piece or doubles or triples with three balls a piece makes no difference - you get to one 13 or another and then the game is over.

But, could we steer away from the repetitive numerical nomenclature?  T20 is a silly name for a sport, and T13 is just as silly.  What about:  "Thirteens"?  It sounds more elegant - more like something you'd do on a bowling green.

"I'm heading to the King's Park Bowls Club for a game of Thirteens.  Care to join me?"

Still obsessing about lawn bowls

I know, I know, I should just shut up and join a club or something.

But...

...They're vaguely intimidating, and I feel like I'm both sought after and undesirable and the same time - which is a really weird feeling.

It's something about the way they seem desperately grateful to have new people, but don't particularly want to change things to make it possible for new people to ease in.

It's still very much the domain of people who are free during office hours (as opposed to people who work and/or study) - and still very much the domain of people who want to take bowling seriously (as opposed to people who just want to give it a go and see if it takes).

I've recently discovered one of the oldest clubs in town is desperate for members, and I have a vague desire to infiltrate their club and use it to conduct strange experiments regarding the future of lawn bowls in this town.

I want to install petanque/bocce courts beside the green and open the place up to families looking for a fun activity on a weekend (offering petanque, bocce, lawn bowls and table bowls - heck, maybe we could even rustle up enough indoor space to include carpet bowls).

I want to alter their opening hours so that they have mixed competition "days" after 6pm (they can still keep their mens and ladies things for their retirees during the day, if they want) to give workers an avenue into the competition side of the sport.

I want to open the joint up on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm for "casual" games that can start and finish at any time during that period.  No one has to get their names in, they just have to turn up with someone to play with.  As long as there's space to play, they can play.

I want to throw in a regular barefoot bowls night that will allow people without playing partners to come along and join in.

I want to turn the kitchen into a kiosk, selling icecreams and cold drinks all day on the weekends, and offering toasted sandwiches at lunchtime on Saturdays and Sundays (and maybe also on the club days when the ladies and men are playing).

I want to have them open for "dinner" on Saturday and Sunday nights - a BBQ on Saturdays, and a Roast on Sundays.

I want to alter the membership schedule so that there are three different kinds of membership:

• Casual (gets you a membership card for the weekend, with all the discounts, and includes one "free" game), 
• Social (gives you all the member discounts for the year and invitations to members-only social events) and 
• Full (gives you the right to compete for the club, free entry to competition days and all the stuff the Social membership has).

There will be two prices for everything - food, drinks, games, merchandise:  everything - one for "members" and one for "walk-ins".  When members can get 15% off beer and icecream, I suspect a number of "walk-ins" will decide a Casual membership for the weekend might not be a bad idea.

Oh, and we'll get rid of that whole "nominated and seconded" by thing required for membership that I've seen at most bowls clubs.  If you want to join, we won't put hurdles in your way.

I want to sell merchandise during opening hours:  generic lawn bowls crap, generic Townsville crap, and specific "playing lawn bowls at this particular club in Townsville" crap.  Hats, T-shirts, mugs, that sort of thing.

And I want to create some sort of communication plan, where things like opening hours and membership options are made available to the general public.  Something like, I don't know, a functioning website.  Perhaps even an email address, which was really easy to find, where one can send emails and have questions answered.

That's what I'd do, if I could infiltrate this club and bend it to my wishes.  Then, maybe, I'd feel comfortable about turning up to the club to play.

There may be a flaw in my plan, though...