Ready to roll Bowls Manitoba looking to grow the game By: Grace Penner Posted: 1:17 PM CDT Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

Get your head out of the gutter! Or more importantly, your bowls.

Lawn bowling, also known as bowls, has been around since the ancient times. Zooming into our very own province in 2026, Bowls Manitoba hosts eight different clubs. There are six within the city — Norwood, River Heights, St. James, St. John’s, and Tuxedo — with two outside of Winnipeg in Brandon and Gimli.

The president of the organization, Phil Clark, had been a player for over 30 years before retiring.

“I started bowling in Australia and (when I) came over here, was very surprised to find myself on the provincial team,” Clark said.

He moved to Winnipeg 24 years ago from Melbourne, Australia, and has been an avid part of community teams ever since. During his prime, his played in over 11 national tournaments in Canada. After hanging up his mat, he continued to play a role off the rink — but never too far away.

Frederick Cooper, another team player, currently plays out of the Norwood club out of Dakota Lawn Bowling Centre.

“I’ve been bowling about 13 years, ever since I fully retired,” Cooper said, having dipped his toes in many clubs around Manitoba before landing at his current one.

“I’ve known bowls all my life. My grandfather and father played but I was too busy in other sports to have the time for bowls,” he explain, having grown up in Norfolk, England, where his family played.

Cooper plays recreationally both in the mornings and evenings at the club and enjoys the atmosphere that’s involved. Although the majority of the players are in retirement themselves, he also sees a mix of the younger generations come out to play the game he’s loved for years.

“I just decided to give it a try again and I liked it.”

And 13-year-old Sam Forrest started the game at an even younger age.

“I remember bowling in the basement when I was very young. I just decided to give it a try again and I liked it,” Forrest said.

Reminiscing on the memory of throwing a bowl around in his basement as young as four, there was his grandfather, John Bjornson, teaching him how. Forrest and Bjornson play as a pairs team, competing in this year’s Canadian Championships in North Vancouver, B.C.

“I’ve been bowling for about 16 years,” Bjornson said. “Soon as I retired, I started bowling and I’ve played it ever since.”

And he meant it when he said as soon as he retired. A previous coworker of his, Glen Monk, continually encouraged Bjornson to join the league but he kept brushing it off, saying he would start when he officially retired. The day of his retirement, Monk called him up and said, “John, you said you’d come bowl when you retired.” And so he did.

“(I’ve) been to nationals almost every year that I’ve bowled and been to worlds twice — once for indoors singles and once for outdoor singles. That was the highlight of my career,” Bjornson said.

Forrest is working his way up himself, following in his grandfathers footsteps.

“It’s always comfortable out there and you sort of just keep rolling along.”

“I’m loving that I’m good enough to play with him. I want to (continue) to do better,” Forrest said.

Not only will Forrest be bowling alongside his grandfather, he’s also competing at the Canadian Youth & Junior Championships, happening days before in Hanover, Ont.

If you look on the other side of the rink, these aren’t the only familial connections battling out a game. Clarice Fitzpatrick and her daughter, Shirley Fitzpatrick-Hong, have been playing side-by-side for decades.

Fitzpatrick, who just turned 80 this past May, has been playing since 1984, just a few years before her daughter joined her. She described it as a gift to be able to not only spend time with her daughter, but compete with her.

“We just know each other really well, know what to expect of each other. It’s always comfortable out there and you sort of just keep rolling along,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick-Hong started her own journey of bowls in ’89, starting right off the bat with her mother.

“I joined as her practice partner, something to do in the summer (when) I was a student,” she said.

“You can jump in right away and we’ve seen that this year with some of the other champions; they’re quite new to the game.”

Fitzpatrick-Hong started playing competitively immediately, coming in third place after attending provincials in her first year.

“You can jump in right away and we’ve seen that this year with some of the other champions — they’re quite new to the game,” Fitzpatrick-Hong said.

Bowls has always had a place in her life, being able to come and go throughout schooling, her career, and starting a family. But the cherry on top? Being able to play with her mother through it all.

“One of our challenges as a Canadian team is often that we don’t have a lot of playing experience together,” Fitzpatrick-Hong said.

“When I come back home to play with my mom, that part of the game is already taken care of. You can really concentrate on your own performance because that team chemistry was built decades ago.”

Both of them will also be competing in the upcoming nationals tournament in B.C.

Bowls Manitoba had a send off of their provincial team, playing a friendly women’s versus men’s game — where the women’s teams notably swept the game away with wins.

Just a couple feet away at the Norwood club, the B-Cubed League filled up the rink. The triple B league stands for bowls, barbeque, and beverages — a recreational league that plays along to music with a drink in their hand.

“Unfortunately, we have had trouble right across the country with recruitment and getting the younger people.”

This league started a couple years ago, trying to get more non-bowling members to the club.

“One guy who’s been here for all four years, he said, ‘That’s something I will never, ever do in my whole life. So, I’m going to have a go at it,’” Clark chuckled.

Even though this eight-week league has been a massive hit, they’re still needing more members to join the regular leagues.

If you look back 100 years ago at the bowling teams in our province, there was 30-40 clubs scattered throughout. With it dwindling down to the number it is today, it’s saddening for the bowls community.

“Unfortunately, we have had trouble right across the country with recruitment and getting the younger people,” Clark said.

He described a similar phenomenon happening back in Australia until an independent film, called Crackerjack, was released. The film was a comedy that featured the sport, the main character needing to join a lawn bowling club for undercover reasons and ends up competing in a tournament. After the release, bowls clubs in Australia skyrocketed in sign-ups.

“They went on the verge of closing to waiting lists virtually overnight… Maybe we need a TV series,” Clark joked.

But it comes down to two main reasons that Bowls Manitoba is struggling to find new players — an assumption that it is only played by the elderly and the lack of knowledge around the sport.

“They went on the verge of closing to waiting lists virtually overnight… Maybe we need a TV series.”

Cooper said that despite the stereotype, he has played with clubs where the ages range from 13 to 95, including those of all walks of life.

“It’s a game for all ages and abilities,” Cooper added.

And one that could be your next evening activity.

grace.penner@winnipegfreepress.com