National Bowls Day comes to the Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club June 8. (Dan Marshall)

By Dan Marshall

Let it Bowl

Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club welcomes community for open house event

Jun 6, 2019 | 1:35 PM

NANAIMO – Saturday is National Bowls Day in Canada, a time to check out the local green and try your hand at lawn bowling.

Over 100 clubs across the country participate in the event.

The Nanaimo lawn bowling club will host an open house at their Bowen Park location from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to mark the occasion.

Club spokesperson Bernice Urbaniak said anyone nine or older can come try lawn bowling for themselves.

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“A coach or an experienced bowler will take them onto the green and give them the basics of the game. Really show them how the bias works on the bowl, because they don’t go straight they go in a curve,” he said.

The Nanaimo club has about 130 members. Many are seniors but young people do take up the sport as well.

“We say anybody from nine to 99,” Urbaniuk said. “We do have bowlers here in our club who are in their 90’s who still bowl actively.”

The club is home to a star youth bowler.

Jason Valchar, 16, is ranked fifth nationally.

The Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club will be full of young bowlers in July when they host the BC Junior and U25 provincial championship.

That event is slated for July 19 to 21.

Another point of pride for the club is the visually impaired bowling program, which is one of the largest of it’s kind in the province.

Between youth, mens, ladies and visually impaired sessions, the NLBC is in use six days a week.

The aim of events like Saturday’s National Bowls Day is to grow the game in Nanaimo and get more people out on the green.

Minimal equipment is required, just a pair of comfortable flat shoes.

In the heat of June a hat or visor can come in very handy as well.

dan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On twitter: @danmarshall77