Rookie Rollers

Bowls Australia has an exciting universal introductory product called Rookie Rollers, 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.

We have 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.

Clubs who purchase two kits will also receive a complimentary scoring wedge, providing all the tools for a whole school class to participate concurrently.

A scoring wedge can also be purchased individually.

Rookie Rollers aims to introduce children to the sport; so we’ve devised a program to run on any surface within the school environment, eliminating the challenge of getting children to a green.

The 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.

Rookie Rollers will appeal to schools because bowls is the most inclusive sport available on the sporting schools program.

There’s no advantage for being a particular gender, age or height as it is a non-physical sport that provides an even playing field for all.

It provides an opportunity for every child to play and compete, and it also fits in and aligns with the Australia’s Government’s Sporting Schools initiative – it can be played before, during and after school, and supports the Australian curriculum.

The Rookie Rollers kit is designed primarily for primary school age children, aged between five and twelve.

• Purchase a Rookie Rollers kit

Sporting Schools Rookie Rollers