Rules

Club status and rules

The Club is a not for profit association. It is registered with HMRC as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) which gives the Club certain exemptions from taxation and allows the Club to recover Gift Aid on donations. The Club is governed by its Constitution (Rules). These can be downloaded, together with the corresponding Disciplinary rules and procedures rules, as amended in November 2023.

The General Management Committee (GMC) set their own regulations derived from powers given to them under the Rules. These can be downloaded here.

The CASC rules also affect the actions of the Club and can be found here.

Voluntary work

The Club survives through the efforts of all its members contributing their time voluntarily to the numerous tasks that need to be done throughout the year. All members are expected to nominate a particular activity that they will undertake, for example, bar duty, gardening, green maintenance, administration, catering etc. If you are not currently undertaking a task, ask someone on the GMC to point you to where help is needed.

Safeguarding procedures and welfare matters

Safeguarding

It is important that every member or visitor to the Club feels safe, positive and comfortable whilst on the Club premises. In order to monitor all aspects of this issue the Club has appointed a Safeguarding Officer (Alison Macdonald - contact 07767 363935 and doctorallymacd@gmail.com) who ensures that the Club follows best practice on safeguarding as set out by Bowls England.

This best practice includes Safeguarding for Children and Safeguarding for Adults.

It is also important to recognise where bullying may have taken place and to take steps to prevent it.

Safeguarding concerns will be reported to Bowls England's Lead Safeguarding Officer in line with this policy.

Welfare

Our President, Sue Close, is also the Club's Welfare Officer and reports to the GMC on members' health issues and deaths.

The Club has a defibrillator in the main club area (on the wall, opposite the bar) and it is important that as many people as possible know what to do in the event of someone with a cardiac arrest.



Etiquette on the bowls green 

Here are some examples of best practice behaviour when you are on the bowls green, some of these are actually set out in the laws of the sport and others are good sporting behaviour:

  1. Come to the game on time, with the correct attire and if you need chalk and/or a measure/pen make sure that they are with you. Always shake hands with your opponents at the start and end of the game.
  2. When a player is standing on the mat, all players waiting to play should stand behind the mat so as not to be in the line of sight of the bowler on the mat; you should refrain from talking loudly or doing anything to disturb the concentration of the player on the mat.
  3. Do not step onto an occupied neighbouring rink to get a better view of the jack.
  4. Keep track of the play and be ready to bowl when it is your turn. Do not delay unduly, but do not ever bowl your wood before your opponent's wood has come to rest.
  5. After you have bowled your wood do not turn away before it has come to rest, your skip wants you to learn from your mistake.
  6. At the other end of the rink when a player is waiting to bowl, players should stand still and not obscure either of the rink markers. At the head, the skip of the team waiting to bowl should have free access to all the head of bowls and opposition players should all be behind him/her. As soon as the bowled wood has come to rest the skip should move aside from the head to allow the other skip to direct their player who now has control of the mat.
  7. Bowlers on the mat should release the wood as low as possible and not bounce the wood so as to cause potential damage to the rink. Should the bowler be preparing to use a weighted or firing wood it is good practice to indicate to those at the head that this is what they are intending to do.
  8. If you like to run after your wood to watch its progress, then ensure that you get ahead of the wood before it comes to rest and remain at the head until the opposition bowler has ceased to be in control of the mat.
  9. When changing ends walk with the minimum of delay up the middle of the rink and be aware of what is happening on the adjacent rinks in case your movement might distract their play.
  10. While you are at the head on a sunny day ensure that your shadow does not fall on to the jack. Also if you have white shoes do not stand behind a white jack.
  11. Do not applaud your own "lucky woods" or complain about the opposition's "lucky woods" - you will have your share over time.
  12. If you are a skip do not criticise your own player for bowling a bad wood, if they were trying their best.
  13. Having lost an end, it is the responsibility of losing leads to collect the woods in a pusher to bring them back to the mat area. However, give them a hand if they need it.
  14. Do not openly complain about an opponent's green.
  15. If you are unhappy with what you consider to be infringement of the laws or poor etiquette by an opposing player, ask your skip to sort it out with the opposing skip.
  16. If you have called for an Umpire to adjudicate on an issue, move away from the head and let them get on with their job.
  17. If you are a spectator, or you have finished your match, do not walk behind a rink where a player is on the mat preparing to bowl.
  18. Remember, bowls is a social game and should always be played in a good spirit and with fairmindedness.

If there are further issues which should be raised under this head, let the webmaster know via our contact page. 

External rules

     Bowling

Everything about how to play the sport of bowls is contained in The Laws of the Sport of Bowls which are agreed internationally. 

World Bowls. The Laws of the Sport of Bowls can be found on their website and can be viewed here.

Bowls England. They oversee the playing of the sport in this country.

The duties of the respective players in a bowls team are enshrined in the Laws in Law 40.

The duties of a marker are set out in the Laws as seen here. For learning how to operate these in practice sign up to one of Sue Mates' training sessions or ask her when you see her.

Rules and guidance for umpires can be found here. If you would like to be an umpire, just talk to Sue Mates.

ESMBA Rules for playing short mat bowls can be found here.  This is the 2023 amended version. You can check for the latest version by going to the ESMBA website. The English, Scottish and Welsh versions are all derived from the World Bowls Short Mat Council's Rule Book.

      Administration

Data Protection (GDPR) as explained here by Bowls England.

KCBA Unified Constitution and Rules can be found here.

KCBA Regulations (Women’s Section) can be found here.

KCSMBA Constitution can be found here.