Durbanville bowlers back on green

This article was first published by the TygerBurger and is republished with their permission.

For female bowlers from all over Cape Town it was back to business on the bowling greens when the first event after lockdown was presented at the Durbanville Bowling Club.

As a result of lockdown due to Covid-19 bowling clubs have also been under financial pressure.

Our facilities still needed to be maintained and our staff paid, but clubs were not getting any income from any source,” says Louise Engelbrecht, secretary of Durbanville Bowling Club.

Although permission was granted for bowlers to return to their sport on 18 July, strict protocols were in place, such as social distancing, sanitizing, wearing of face masks and a limited number of players per green.

Under normal circumstances up to 48 bowlers could be playing on a green at any one time, but for most clubs during level three only 16 players were able to play per green.

A number of the smaller clubs countrywide have been forced to close down or are under severe pressure,” she says.

With this in mind, Taz Bright, membership and marketing manager of Western Province Bowls, organised an event to celebrate Women’s Day and raise funds for one of the clubs in the northern suburbs.

Durbanville Bowling Club made their facilities available and with all the necessary protocols in place, women from all over the city supported the event on Monday 10 August.

The event was held in two sessions with 48 women playing in each session.

The event not only gave them the opportunity to get out onto the bowling greens again and see some of their bowling friends that they have not seen in months, but all the entry fees and donations received could be paid over to the club needing assistance,” Engelbrecht says.

Bowls is a safe non-contact sport and we encourage people to give it a try.

Many people have been restricted to their homes, experienced loss of fitness and are now also looking for a safer sporting option. For many people bowls could now be a safe and affordable option.

“Bowls is a wonderful sport for people across the entire age spectrum,” says Engelbrecht.

Visit Western Province Bowling at www.wpbowls.co.za/WP-Clubs to find your nearest club or contact Lou Engelbrecht on 063 682 5636 with enquiries about Durbanville Bowling Club.