AS A long-time bowler, John Turner would love to again see the Rosewood club having younger players regularly competing in city competitions.
John was part of a challenging and rewarding period when he shared in past Rosewood Bowls Club successes.
“Rosewood had 16 men under 45 playing bowls – not socially, just playing in competitions,” he said.
“That was the highlight for the club back in the late 70s, early 80s.
“We took 16 blokes down to Booval Bowls Club one day for competition and that was pretty fantastic for a little country club.”
However, John said it was difficult to attract new members, let alone build competitive teams to maintain past traditions.
John enjoyed the recent Rosewood Bowls Club 70th anniversary celebration, re-uniting with former club mates including 103-year-old Edie Bambling.
“It was good. Terry did a good job,” John said, praising club president Terry Hobden for his efforts organising the milestone event.
John joined the Rosewood club as a member in 1976 after previously playing social bowls in Mt Isa and Chinchilla where he grew up.
“I had some wonderful times there [at the Mill Street club],” he said, having lived in Rosewood for 51 years.
“I just loved the camaraderie, people mixing together.
“Everybody was equal.
“I’m a people person but bowls is a dying art I’m afraid.”
John recalls how many people used to join a bowls club when they turned 65.
“In the olden days unless you got your name in quickly, you never got a game. The green was full,” he said.
“Men were keen then because it was something they built themselves. They organized the club. They raised the money.
“But nowadays there’s a lot of distractions too.”
Unlike past years, John said retirees now “hook up a caravan and disappear around Australia”.
“They’re looking after their generation, their grandkids. They have responsibilities in that direction,” he said.
“There’s all sorts of things but I put it down to volunteerism because that word is fast disappearing from the dictionary.
“Nobody wants to help without getting some sort of recompense.”
The former Moreton Shire councillor said bowls was considered “an old man’s game” in past decades.
In recent years, more younger people have become involved at different times and at larger bowls locations.
An encouraging sign is Australia being represented by players in their twenties and thirties at past Commonwealth Games.
However, attracting new members remains a challenge for smaller clubs.
“If you play bowls three or four days straight and you are a 75 year old, you are going to suffer somewhere along the line but those young fellas, that’s their bread and butter,” John said. “They can just go out and do it every day.”
John said the Rosewood club had developed quality juniors and family connections in the early 2000s before the bowlers moved on to a higher level of competition.
An issue now is young people have so many sporting opportunities, making it harder to entice them to bowls.
John said it was “really sad” seeing the Boonah Bowls Club, RAAF Bowls Club and the Harrisville Bowls Club shutting down.
John remembers trying night bowls when it was “a big thing” in Mt Isa and Chinchilla, where conditions suited playing until after 10pm.
But he said issues with dew in other bowls centres presented challenges organizing games past 7pm.
John, now 82, performed a number of roles – including as a town planning assistant -on Moreton Shire Council from 1974-1981.
After being an employee, he became a councillor, retaining that role until Moreton Shire amalgamated with Ipswich in 1995.
Deeply concerned about the game he enjoyed for so many years, John hopes the Rosewood club can battle on, buoyed by the recent injection of interest from the 70th anniversary get-together.
He welcomed more young people to discover what social or competitive bowls can offer as a player or volunteer.
“I’d just love to be 25 again and get down there and try and do something,” John said.
