Update on the Restart of Lawn Bowling

All bowls organizations have been working diligently over the past several months with the various national and provincial health and sport authorities to restart lawn bowling. The process in BC has been developed by Bowls BC in coordination with viaSport, the provincial body responsible for amateur sport.

The rules for restarting are simple:

1. Phase 1 allows for practice and limited coaching but not club games until Phase 2.

2. Each club is to prepare a set of guidelines that covers how they will operate and include aspects such as:

- symptom screening checklist before play,

- a waiver acknowledging that anyone over 50 is in the at-risk category if they are infected with COVID-19 and playing may expose them to that risk,

- disinfecting surfaces and playing equipment,

- limited number of players,

- physical distancing.

3. Clubs must submit their plans to Bowls BC who will provide feedback regarding any perceived deficiencies.

4. Clubs can proceed anytime with opening adhering to whatever permissions and guidelines set out by their municipalities.

If things go smoothly, hopefully we can proceed to Phase 2 at some point later this season. At this time there are no district, provincial or national championships planned.

Safe bowling will require diligence and adherence on everyone’s part to club guidelines to keep everyone safe. So be cautious, think of your health and the health of others but go have some fun on the greens in another beautiful British Columbia summer.