Bowls: Exciting bowls concept targets youths

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Tupoho students Taura Mareikra (left) and Tumanako Kumeroa-Woon get the lowdown on Craig Whiteside's new Quickdraw indoor bowls concept. Photo/Rae Cliffe

Former national indoor bowls coach Craig Whiteside is on a mission to change perceptions about the game and inspire the next generation of potential champions.

The Tauranga-based New Zealand Indoor Bowls national development officer has embarked on a nationwide tour, visiting schools in an attempt to sell the game to the younger set.

Whiteside arrived in Wanganui on Sunday and yesterday visited Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Tupoho, a Castlecliff school that caters for pre-schoolers through to Year 13 students.

He introduced his latest tool to help coax younger players into the game. Drawing on his 52 years of experience in the game, Whiteside has developed Quickdraw, a shortened version of indoor bowls which mirrors a concept that has worked wonders for cricket since the Twenty20 format was introduced.

He may well have been preaching to the choir at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Tupoho, however. For the past three years, the school is the only Wanganui-based education unit to send a team to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Indoor Bowls Championships.

School principal Stuart Kawau said the school had reached a semifinal once and the plate finals twice but had yet to win a national title.

"The guys loved Craig's shortened version Quickdraw and were excited to have contact with someone with his knowledge of the game," Kawau said yesterday.

"He probably came to us first because we are the only Wanganui school to send teams to national secondary schools championships, but what he is trying to achieve can only be good. It will mean more support for younger players to draw from.

"Indoor bowls is a great game because it doesn't require super fitness and is designed for any gender," Kawau said.

Whiteside has represented Bay of Plenty and Tauranga over the past 40 years and concedes that there is a perception the game is for the older generation.

"When people say that to me I can quite truthfully say 'have I got news for you'. Last year we managed to increase junior numbers from 61 to 146 in three indoor bowls districts at home. And, in 2011, our involvement in the Aims Games programme increased school participation from seven to 28."

Regular coaching sessions in his home district have also helped to increase the number of youngsters playing the game.

"Wanganui juniors are very fortunate to have rep players as coaches - it's something we don't see very often," Whiteside said.

His visit was supported by Sport Wanganui and the Wanganui Indoor Bowlers Association.

Association president Brendon Kenny accompanied Whiteside and his wife, Robyn, during the visit and will take over the programme in this district.