While over the years we have always had a small number of younger players, the Youth Section itself only came into being in the 2003 season.
It was in response to a decision to apply for a grant from Sport England to replace the old pavilion, which was in need of repair and which did not allow us to have activities during the close season.
play in Club Matches.
That decision was made in 2002. The designs and costing were put to a general meeting of the Club for approval, and in the following weeks an application for a grant was produced. In doing so we had to ask ourselves the question ‘What should the Club be doing in the Community’.
We take pride in the fact that we have always been a part of village life. Social activities from the very first Smoking Concert to our most recent events have always been ‘Village occasions’, but our thoughts now concentrated on how we could use not only the new pavilion but bowling itself to bring in more local people. One major area was a desire to get young people into the game, and as soon as possible after the rebuild a Youth section was started and a Youth Officer appointed.
Initially we had five youngsters who wanted to give the game a try, in the normal way of things some found other interests and left the club, but one or two have stayed and have been selected to play in club teams.
The local Middle School has also been invited to make use of our facilities, and while this has not been an annual occurrence, we are hopeful that it will start again in the near future
