Our club: Bowls

One go was all it took for Cheryl Wiggins to get into the sport of indoor bowling.

Now club president of the Ngongotaha Indoor Bowling Club, she says it's cheap and a lot of fun.

The club has been serving up quality sport, community spirit and some good yarns for more than 50 years.

"It's just a good evening and any club in Rotorua would be the same, I'd say, in providing a good time."

She said the club met every Monday night for bowls with some good quality yarn, a cup of tea and a biscuit in between games.

"It is as competitive or as social as you want it to be and I personally have made a lot of friends from playing.

"It is not a big cost either. All you really need is a pair of soft-soled shoes or slippers. You don't even need your own bowls and any age group can play."

Mrs Wiggins said the aim of the game was to get as many bowls as close to the jack as you could on the 22m long mats.

"It's a lot more technical than you might think, though. Some players can get right into it, it is very strategic.

"We offer coaching and there are games for singles, pairs, triples and fours."

She said Rotorua had a great bowling community with nine local clubs of which most shared players.

"Some people have joined all the clubs. Every night is covered in Rotorua and it gets more competitive in the weekends."

Mrs Wiggins said the club was this year involved in a national push to get children of intermediate age involved in the sport.

"That's our intention but it is only fairly new so we are still breaking the ice somewhat."

She said they hoped students from all three intermediate schools in Rotorua would get involved and invite their parents along for a bowl.

"It's a really good game for families."

Mrs Wiggins said indoor bowls was similar to outdoor bowls but the mats were a lot shorter and the season ran through the winter.

She encouraged anyone to go down on a Monday for a free game and said the games usually went for about 40 minutes or until you finished nine ends.