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Before Covid, the Pukekohe East Indoor Bowling Club had over 50 members, and now it’s down to 18.
Pukekohe East Indoor Bowling Club secretary Carolyn Alleyne said that in its early days, they believe the club ran games two nights a week, and there was a waiting list to play.
“There were so many people wanting to play, but over the years our numbers have dwindled.”
“In 2019, we had 52 financial members, in 2022, it came down to 28, and this current year, we’re down to 18.”
One obstacle could be the club’s opening hours of 6.45pm for a 7pm start.
Club president George Devonshire said that age was an issue; as members got older, they preferred to stay home rather than make the trip out in the evenings.
“We’re at Pukekohe East, which is a bit of a drive for some of our older members, so they tend not to come. We’ve tried to encourage younger people to come, but they’re not interested; they think of bowls as an old person’s game.
“Out of Pukekohe, there are a lot of clubs with younger members, but we just can’t seem to get them. I think the night thing is a problem for a lot of kids; it’s too late for the ones who are still at school.
“I just feel these young ones don’t want to come out. With all their phones or computers, they just tend to finish dinner, sit down, and play their games.”
The club holds tournaments on the second Tuesday of each month, where they invite other clubs from Drury, Bombay, Buckland, and, at times, Karaka.
“That is usually sponsored by one of the local producers here in Pukekohe, and we also get sponsorship once a month from Pak’n Save. They supply groceries and things, and the other ones give us veggies to raffle off to help pay for the night.
“It’s usually a very good night; we get up to 12 teams sometimes more, and it goes down very well. And then during the season, we have our own tournaments, we play singles, pairs, triples, and fours, and we have eight of those championship games a year within our own club.
“The older generation is getting older, and there’s not another generation coming through to help us out. I think all the clubs in Pukekohe are feeling the same thing,” said Devonshire.
- The printed article in the September 12 edition of the Franklin Times incorrectly stated George’s name was Donald.
