Bowls Australia’s Rookie Roller Program
Rookie Rollers is aimed at bringing the sport of bowls to audiences of varying ages and abilities, and has had considerable success with kids, elderly, people with a physical or mental impairment, and many beginners around the nation. At its core, Rookie Rollers is designed to enable school children to participate in an engaging format, which is both fun and inclusive. Importantly, it can be conducted on a range of surfaces including greens, carpets, concrete, wooden floors and just about anything else that is flat, eliminating the restrictions of requiring a bowling green.
Bowls Australia has designed rubber bowls for children, as the full-sized bowls were a limitation. The Rookie Rollers initiative comes in the form of a kit that includes a carry bag, 32 light-weight rubber bowls, eight jacks, 50 cones, a target score mat, eight small target hurdles, eight stepping mats and 36 activity cards.
Many schools in Tasmania already have their own Rookie Roller kits. Clubs can also buy their own kits from Bowls Australia if they want one. Rookie Rollers will appeal to schools because bowls is the most inclusive sport available on the sporting schools’ program.
The Rookie Roller program involves a minimum of 4 lessons either coordinator or teacher lead. Each lesson will have a range of games-based activities for the kids to participate in from the 36 activity cards that are provided in the Rookie Rollers kit. The Kit is essential for all programs and cannot be run without one. Once the program has finished teachers are able to continue using the Kit as it is theirs to keep so kids can continue playing bowls at school for years to come.
Schools can arrange a “co-ordinator led” session of Rookie Rollers by contacting Bowls Australia. Once Bowls Australia receives a booking from a school for a “coordinator-led” session, this is then sourced from its existing database of coaches within the area. FYI Bowls Australia currently has 12 active coordinators in Tasmania to choose from. If they are unable to find anyone from their database, it would then attempt to reach out to bowls clubs in the area to source someone – Bowls Australia’s local Club Support Manager Carolyn Docking would assist in this process.
Schools are charged $115 per session (50 minutes) by Bowls Australia to which Bowls Australia pay the coordinator $40 per session. Bowls Australia is hoping for a greater number of schools making a booking in 2024. It is always looking for more coordinators in Tasmania so if you know anyone, please feel free to forward them the below link to become a Rookie Rollers Coordinator.