Page 7 - Spring 2016

Page 7:Layout 1 24/05/2016 19:47 Page 1

At the beginning of the session all players draw a coloured ball from the hat to determine 7
the team and mat for that game. Each person draws a new ball for each game. That en-
sures that all players compete on the same level, good players and not so good in each team.
Competition is fierce, but always played in good humour. There is an indoor or winter league
champion at the end of the season that being the person with the highest aggregate score and
points earned during the season.
The season begins in October after the outdoor rinks have been closed. It continues until
the week before Christmas and commences in March. The long break is to take account of the
winter tour that the PLBC undertakes in Spain each February.
We hire the hall from the local council in Charras and that costs 55 euros per session. Each
player now pays 4 euros which includes a cup of tea and a biscuit at half time. Numbers have
fallen over recent years, although there has been a rapid growth of short mat bowling clubs
throughout the region.
Cussac Bowls Club
Cussac Bowls Club was established in 2011 after
a now Past-President was enthused after realising
bowls, as averse to 'Boules' (petanque) was not
played by the French. Research showed him that
only in Brittany, was short-mat played by two
clubs, and that being many hours north of the Lim-
ousine, in central France, would not be useful to
anyone local.
He was not aware, at that time, of the Perig-
ord Bowling Club, who also played flat-green 1
hour south of Cussac or his intentions might well have been different. Short-mat, however,
being possible all year round and without such capital investment, became his intention to sat-
isfy his bowling needs. A six month period of searching for a venue and negotiations with the
local mayor gave him the impetus to arrange a loan of capital from the UK in order to source
and buy mostly second-hand equipment sufficient for playing on 4 mats. His reasoning was
that, as virtually all ex-patriot British had not played bowls before, he needed to present an 'up-
and-running' situation to secure a decent membership.
It worked very well and, with the help of a friend who was more 'socially active' than him,
there was an immediate uptake of 24 members prepared to commit to formally regulating a
club within the French System.
They soon picked-up on what was required and many of them purchased their own bowls,
from UK, to suit their own preference of size, weight and bias. By the end of 2012, the club
AGM showed 40 members bowling at 2 sessions per week. A huge bonus which assisted the
club was the agreed use of the local gymnasium without any charge for rental, heating or light-
ing. This also helped with a swift repayment of the loan from the UK and a healthy financial
position for the club.
During 2014 the local council rebuilt a 'multi-sport' area adjacent to the gym and the
mayor offered the club President free use of a synthetic-grass surfaced outdoor basketball/5-
a-side football court if it would be useful for our 'boules-anglais'. Fortunately the sessions not
used by the local school during the daytime, are available to be used by we retirees. The club
is now 5 years old and the membership remains at between 30 and 40 mixed gender but we
do still struggle to get the French to play which is a shame but perhaps with the growth of clubs
in France will come a wider awareness of short-mat.
Recent contact with all known short-mat clubs illustrates an enthusiasm for the game
which, given a little encouragement, could be the basis for inter-club competition. Let us hope
that such competition can be a launch-pad for greater growth.
Roger Hammond