Scottish Bowls Coaching, a Registered Body with CRBS, looks after the coaching needs for indoor and outdoor bowls in Scotland
regardless if the group is male, female, deaf, blind or disabled.The Blind Bowlers Buddies initiative is one of our latest
projects.
Ronnie Scott of Mackays, the Bowls Maker in Edinburgh, and Edinburgh’s Scottish Bowling legend David McGill, have
designed small wooden bowls suitable for children’s hands, helping to improve access to the sport by the younger generation.
Eric Miller, one of our sighted bowlers, thought this could benefit the youngsters at the Royal School for the Blind. With
help from Scottish Bowls Coaches at Craigmillar Park Bowling Club, youngsters were actively bowling with these small bowls
in the summer, and asked if it could be continued in the winter.
"Not my bowl, can you not feel it?"
A completely blind girl bowler
talking to her sighted 'buddie'
who had just handed her a bowl to play
This was arranged at Edinburgh Leisure's Indoor Stadium, Portobello. To help the blind youngsters with travel, change and
playing the game, a squad of sighted young bowlers, known as "Blind Bowlers Buddies", was organised, and now regularly play
and help their blind friends in bowling.
Ronnie Scott considered the fact that no bowl should have anything on its surface other than one identifying sticker. This
meant that a blind bowler would have to rely on a sighted 'buddy' to pass each bowl to them. He created specially designed
bowls that had "reverse Braille" on each bowl’s marker, allowing the blind youngsters to identify their own bowls and
easily identify the bias to play. This has helped them to achieve a greater sense of independence.
This was a rewarding and successful project that put the needs of the child first. Well done to all those concerned!
For more information, contact:
Ben Clunie, Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Officer
Scottish
Bowls Coaching
Email: windrose@craigdbhu.freeserve.co.uk
