Bowls Australia is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for the

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

in Australia. Bowls Australia is responsible for the leadership, development and management of lawn bowls in Australia. It is a not-for-profit organisation governed by a voluntary board that provides the strategic direction for the sport and the strategies that are implemented by the staff at the national office. Bowls Australia's members are the six state and two territory bowls associations representing

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. There are over 2,000 clubs and 240,000 registered participants affiliated with member states and territories. In addition, there are many social bowlers participating in competitions across Australia. Bowls Australia is affiliated with

World Bowls World Bowls is an international sport federation of Bowls. World Bowls administers bowls around the world and is responsible for the sports premier event, the World Bowls Championship which is held every four years. The organisation was founde ...

and the

Australian Commonwealth Games Association Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) is the Commonwealth Games Association for Australia, and is responsible for representing and promoting the Commonwealth Sport movement in the country, and organises the participation of Australia at the Commonw ...

. It is a core sport in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, which are held every four years. The

Australian National Bowls Championships The Australian National Bowls Championships and the Australian Open are competitions in Australia for bowls. They are organised by Bowls Australia. Bowls dates back to 1845 in Australia but it was not until 1910, during the 1910 Carnival of Bowl ...

celebrated its centenary in 2013.

History

In 1844 an English immigrant called Frederick Lipscombe constructed a bowling green behind his Beach Tavern in Sandy Bay, Hobart. The first recorded match was held on 1 January 1845 between Lipscombe and T. Burgess. Greens were then layed at Parramatta, Sydney and Melbourne, the latter seeing the first club formed in 1865, by an expatriate Scot John Campbell. Ten clubs met in 1867 to agree rules based on the

Scottish Bowling Association Bowls Scotland is the governing body for the sport of bowls in Scotland. A subsidiary of World Bowls, it is responsible for the leadership, development and management of lawn bowls in Scotland. It is headquartered in Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meanin ...

. The NSW BA was founded on 22 May 1880, followed by Victoria just two months later and others followed (WA 1898), SA (1902) and Queensland (1903). The Imperial Bowling Association was formed in 1899 but a failed attempt to create a National Association took place in 1900. On 22 September 1911, the Australian Bowling Council, was formed at conference of state delegates in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. The first Australian Championships under the new body were held in 1912, and the first Australian representative side played in New Zealand in 1914. In 1928, the Australian Bowls Council became affiliated with the International Bowling Board, now known as World Bowls Inc. The first

World Bowls Championship The World Bowls Championship is the premier world bowls competition between national bowls organisations. World Outdoor Championships First held in Australia in 1966, the World Outdoor Bowls Championships for men and women are held every four ...

was played at

Kyeemagh Kyeemagh ( ) is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, on the western shore of Botany Bay. Kyeemagh is in the local government area of the Bays ...

Bowls Club in New South Wales in 1966.

Structure

The national body has eight state member associations: * Bowls Australian Capital Territory * Bowls Queensland * Bowls NSW * Bowls Northern Territory * Bowls Western Australia *

Bowls Victoria Bowls Victoria, established in 1880, is the governing body for the sport of bowls in the State of Victoria. In addition to its specific responsibility for governing the sport and the development of the game at all levels, it also has a social obj ...

* Bowls South Australia * Bowls Tasmania The main competitions Bowls Australia organises are the annual Australian Open (AO), Bowls Premier League (BPL) and BPL Cup. They also stage a number of other important national competitions, as well as hosting international events in Australia, including the World Bowls Championships.

Bowls players

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bowls in Australia Sports governing bodies in Australia 1911 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1911 Bowling organizations Bowls governing bodies