Back row: Stephanie O’Connell; Peter O’Connell; Tim O’Connell; Jen Hennessy-O’Connell; Doreen Hennessy; Rose Granger; Morice Hennessy
Front row: Vince Roper; Fin O’Connell; Lorcan O’Connell; Brodie Granger
Like many bowling clubs around the country, the Stoke Bowling Club in Nelson had eyed setting up a bowls programme for school kids. And like bowling clubs around the country with limited resources and competing priorities, had put it in the ‘too hard basket’.
Until a couple of stars aligned.
Firstly, the club was lucky enough to have on board Vince Roper, Bowls New Zealand’s Coach of the Year 2024 (and coach of Tayla Bruce), who put up his hand to run a schools programme.
And secondly, Sports Tasman came up with the funding for 12 sets of bowls which pre-teen kids would be able to handle.
“We settled on a 16 week programme for intermediate-aged kids,” explains Vince. “We’d hold it every week on Wednesday after school … before and after the Christmas holidays.”
“We got over a dozen kids interested.”
“Being able to sustain interest over 16 weeks is a challenge for this age bracket,” comments Vince. “For a number of reasons. Kids may be more socially awkward … have low self-esteem … lack confidence … and have varying degrees of coordination. They can be easily bored, easily frustrated and impatient when bowls turns out to be harder than it looks. The balancing of fun stimulating learning along with meeting individual needs is an on-going focus,”
“On top of this, kids (and their parents), have a lot on … so they can’t easily commit to turning up every week. Or even some weeks.”
“But despite all this, the kids that became involved in the programme all made amazing progress. Two kids in particular, Lorcan and Fin O’Connell, really embraced bowls.”
Lorcan and Fin’s dad, Tim, a Communication officer with the Tasman District Council, loved what the programme offered he and his wife Jen’s two kids.
“Both Lorcan and Fin have tried a few sports but hadn’t really found one that sticks as yet ,” says Tim. “But they were willing to give bowls a go. You know what kids are like … they can be hot and cold about these sorts of things. But Vince was great … he passed on his energy and he had them both fizzing. They became more and more engaged.”
“He had all sorts of skills exercises to keep them stimulated,” adds Tim. “It wasn’t just playing bowls. Vince had them playing ‘super shot’ games. And on the last week of the programme, Fin was absolutely chuffed when he put the bowl right beside the jack on a corner-to-corner!”
For those of us who have dabbled with corner-to-corner (all of us!), we all know how remarkable that is.
But even more remarkable was the fact that Lorcan and Fin dragged along a supporting entourage. Their grandparents, their aunty, their mum (and dad, once the working day was done) were on the side-lines every week. That mightn’t sound a big deal, but their mum Jen, has neurofibromatosis type 2, which has catastrophic consequences to her nervous system.
“Jen and I have been together for 23 years,” says Tim. “As a result of the NF2, she lost her hearing back in 2009. And last year, she lost her sight. We were able to tell her how the kids were doing at the bowls programme by signing in her palm.”
“The club has been hugely supportive,” says Tim. “We’ve loved the atmosphere at the club and the inclusivity of it. And the boys can’t wait for another programme to start next season, so they can take their bowls further.”
For Lorcan that might mean participating in a secondary schools bowls team … both boys are currently at Broadgreen Intermediate with Fin still another year out from high school.
“We’ll be here offering some sort of programme again,” says Vince. “They may even choose to become involved in the regular club bowls.”
“But whatever they do, they’ve laid down a great foundation for them to take their bowls to wherever they want to go.”
If this story piqued your interest and you would like to learn more,
please visit our Youth Bowls page or contact Cole Drinnan at Bowls New Zealand on 021 143 4075