Alongside Disability Bowls England, MS Swale set up a friendly tournament that allowed disabled bowls players to compete with Its' members of.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 This ability is no impediment. That's the motto for the MS Swell Bowls Club in Sittingbourne,
00:06 as they welcome disabled players all over South East Kent, including some even making
00:12 the trip from Ipswif and Salisbury.
00:15 Bowls is played on a wide open rectangular field, where players try to throw curved balls
00:20 as close to the jack as possible.
00:23 MS Swell has made all sorts of accommodations for less able-bodied players, from providing
00:29 lightweight wheelchairs to running weekly sessions for those with motor disabilities.
00:35 You can only see here this afternoon on the film that you're taking that all the disabilities
00:40 are, there is a way around doing things. There's several different implements they can use,
00:47 they can bowl on wheelchairs, they have bowling arms as well that they can use. So there just
00:54 really isn't any barriers here. We will make arrangements for everyone's disability that
01:00 we can.
01:01 It's definitely proven to be a good day out for many of the players.
01:04 We always have fun. Disability Bowls is a great day out to meet new people. Disability
01:09 Bowls is a family that enables people of all ability to play bowls. What they could play
01:16 before, for health reasons they think they can't play, they can play now. People who
01:21 have had road accidents from birth, they can now play bowls and enjoy themselves, not like
01:27 any other sport. So friendly and helpful people are at Swell. It's been an enjoyable day.
01:33 Are you excited to be playing today?
01:36 Yes we are, yeah. A bit nervous but it's exciting and it's our first competition.
01:44 It's been nice, that's about it you know, meeting different people. Going on our day
01:50 trips, we go out ourselves and play other places. So it's a good sport, so enjoyable.
01:58 The day concluded with MS Swell winning 5 of the 6 rings. But the event was a friendly
02:05 competition to show people that bowls is the perfect sport for players of all abilities
02:11 to get involved with. Disability certainly isn't a barrier here. I decided to give it
02:17 a try myself.
02:18 I almost hit the jack.
02:28 Henry Luck for KMTV in Sittingbourne.