Bowls: Greenhorns revive old club

By TERRY MADDAFORD

A veritable old lady is kicking up her heels. At 110 years and facing the slippery slopes, the Ponsonby Bowling Club was going nowhere. Now the inner-city club has a new lease of life and the prospect of the bright future that few of its ageing members would have hoped for.

Unlike the club made famous by the Australian movie Crackerjack, Ponsonby does not have carparks to rent out for a few bob to raise much-needed funds.

But the club, founded in 1893, now has a bunch of first-year members and new-found enthusiasm. And, amazingly, the unheard-of prospect of having to close off membership.

Many - make that most - clubs have lamented falling memberships, blaming, in part, drink-driving concerns and the amount of time needed to play the game.

The revival began when a birthday group looking for something different struck a deal with the club for a party and roll-up.

Within days, about a dozen (ages 21-42 years) had signed up and the club was on a roll. By the start of the season it had 70 new members (male and female) and had more than doubled its membership.

The younger inductees were made welcome by members often more than double their age. Being able to buy a pint of beer for $2.70 rather than up to $6 elsewhere was another obvious attraction.

The drive for new members began when club president Russell Dennerley and greenkeeper Evan Forde attended one of the Target Ten workshops organised by Auckland Bowling Centre development officer Barry Greers.

It was a scheme aimed at each club getting out and attempting to attract 10 new members as part of a concerted membership drive.

Ponsonby did a whole lot better.

The key, club secretary-manager Paddy Stanley said, was taking the time to make these people feel welcome and provide them with a level of activity that suited their needs.

"It has been amazing," Dennerley said. "Like other clubs, we were starting to fear for our future. It is not easy being a central-city club. We had spent money in doing the upstairs up. Now we can think about what needs doing downstairs.

"Having this number of new members who pay $100 a year for their membership will be a big financial boost."

Officially a mixed club since its amalgamation two years ago with Herne Bay Women's, Ponsonby is determined this influx will not be just a social affair.

"We can already see three or four of the new members as being very good," Dennerley said. "We will continue to get them the coaching they need and encourage them to enter centre events.

"We have attracted our new members across the board. We have company directors, architects . . . "

Radio Sport host D'Arcy Waldegrave was among those to join the charge.

"We had a bit of history in our family," Waldegrave said. "My great-grandfather, Charlie Spearman, won four national titles and I had been doing a bowls spot on the radio.

"I went to the party at Ponsonby and thought, 'Wow, this is great,' so I joined up."

The club now conducts regular coaching and plans to have a regular Friday night tournament - probably two-bowl triples, definitely not "boring" fours - followed by a barbecue.

Like Ponsonby, other clubs have reported increases. The trick now is keeping the members. That is a challenge clubs are preparing to meet head-on and prove that a sport some saw in its last throes is ready to roll again.