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Lawn bowling open house Perth coach now Special to the News
EMC sports - It’s your chance to try out the sport of lawn bowling. It’s free and everything will be supplied – the bowls, the instruction and even some treats. Now you can’t be that. This will all be happening at an open house which the Goulbourn Lawn Bowling Club is hosting on Saturday, June 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Club’s lawn bowling green on Huntley Road at Stanley’s Corners just south of Stittsville. The lawn bowling green is located beside the Goulbourn Town Hall, which is the former Goulbourn municipal office. For more information about this upcoming lawn bowling open house, please contact Goulbourn Lawn Bowling Club president George BurnsNichol at 613-831-0939 or via email at gjbn@rogers.com The Goulbourn Lawn Bowling Club has started another season at its grass lawn bowling facility at the Goulbourn Town Hall (former Goulbourn municipal building) at Stanley’s Corners. Again this year, there will be lawn bowling on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. And, as is the Club’s tradition, there always will be treats and refreshments with conversation afterwards. This happens in the tent shelter that was new last year that sits beside the lawn bowling
green, providing a relaxing spot where lawn bowlers can stay out of the sun or inclement weather while enjoying themselves right beside the lawn bowling green. This tent shelter was made possible with the cooperation of the city of Ottawa, with the city supplying matching funds of about $7,000 to facilitate the project. The Goulbourn Lawn Bowling Club is always open to new members. In addition, the Club supplies the lawn bowls. All a new bowler needs is a pair of flat soled shoes, shorts and a light top. You will receive lots of instruction and advice on how to play the game. For those who cannot bowl during the day, the Club has begun offering lawn bowling on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. There is also bowling on Saturday mornings. And lawn bowling is reasonably priced, especially for those just taking up the sport. Indeed, the cost to be a Goulbourn Lawn Bowling Club member has been the same for the past five years: $60 for a first year member and then only $135 a season after that. Lawn bowling is a game that goes back to the possibly the 12th century and most definitely to the 13th century. It is also a sport that suits people from teens through to seniors because of its leisurely pace, its reliance on skill and its non-contact nature. And, first and foremost, it is a game that is mostly played outdoors, with lots of opportu-
nity for conversation and enjoying the fresh air. The objective in lawn bowling is to roll biased (that means that they are weighted, i.e. not perfectly round so that they will curve and bend as they move along the green) bowls so that they stop as close as possible to a smaller ball called a “jack� which has been placed at the other end of the green. Lawn bowling is popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, parts of the United States, Japan and, of course, Canada. It is felt that lawn bowling may have begun back in the 12th century but definitely the game was being played in 13th century in England. This has been verified by a manuscript from the 13th century that contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone. The world’s oldest bowling green can be found in Southampton, dating back to 1299. Today the sport is played in over 40 countries and is a sport at the Commonwealth Games. Lawn bowling is played on a rectangular, precisely leveled area with manicured grass, divided into parallel playing strips called rinks. In singles and pairs play, a player delivers four bowls in each end. In triples, three bowls are delivered by each player in an end while in fours, each bowler delivers two bowls in an end.
with Stittsville Laurie Weir ljweir@metroland.com
Perth’s loss is Stittsville’s gain. Hamish Fraser, who was Coach of the Year in the MetroValley Conference of the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League (EOJHL) this past season while guiding the Perth Blue Wings, has signed on as coach of the Stittsville Royals after being let go by the Perth team following its purchase by a Perth businessman. Mr. Fraser, who lives in Carleton Place and has a business in Stittsville, is looking forward to coaching the Royals, even suggesting that he hopes many of the Perth Blue Wings players follow him to his new team. Mr. Fraser was coach and general manager for the Perth Blue Wings for two seasons, recording a second place finish in the 20112012 season and then achieving a second place finish in the Valley Division championship this past season. Before joining the Perth Blue Wings, he coached minor hockey
in Carleton Place after playing for the Kemptville 73’s junior team. “They want me to do in Stittsville what I did in Perth,� Mr. Fraser says. “Just take care of the hockey stuff – community involvement, marketing. There is no doubt the success will be there off the ice as well as on the ice.� Besides hiring Mr. Fraser, the Stittsville Royals have also signed former Perth assistant coaches Brodie Hurris, Gio Falsetti and Chuck Mills who handled the goalies. Mr. Fraser was let go by the Perth Blue Wings after Michael McLean, a Perth businessman and former owner of the Smiths Falls Jr. A Bears, purchased the team and announced himself as the team’s new coach and general manager. When Mr. Fraser was let go, the Stittsville Royals immediately offered him the opportunity to coach the Royals. He wanted to continue coaching, so he accepted the Royals offer. The Stittsville Royals and the Perth Blue Wings both play in the Valley Division of the Metro-Valley Conference of the EOJHL.
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RUNOTTAWACLUB.COM Stittsville News EMC - Thursday, June 6, 2013 25