Bowled over by Christmas surprise
Wednesday 22 December 1999
Scotland is to play host to the prestigious World Blind Bowling Championships for the first time in its history, with the support of sportscotland Lottery Fund.
"Participation in sport can have many positive advantages for visually impaired people..."
An award of £100,000 will help to bring the event to Scotland, which will attract competitors from across the globe, including Australia, Canada, China (Hong Kong), England, Israel, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Wales and Zimbabwe.
The announcement came as welcome Christmas surprise for blind bowlers in Scotland and to the people of Girvan, Ayrshire, where the event is due to be held in August 2001.
The Scottish team hope to build on their success in the last competition in New Zealand, where they won both silver and bronze medals, and are looking forward to competing on home soil.
During the competition, each team will consist of 12 bowlers, all of whom are registered blind, a number of helpers, a manager and an assistant. Different categories will cover different levels of visual impairment.
It is hoped that staging the competition in Scotland will help to heighten the profile of blind bowling and assist greater integration of blind bowlers into mainstream bowling clubs.
Alastair Dempster, Chairman of sportscotland, said: “Participation in sport can have many positive advantages for visually impaired people, including increased confidence and greater mobility as well as improvements in general fitness.
“We hope that staging the World Blind Bowling Championships in Scotland will encourage visually impaired people of all ages to try out the sport and experience the benefits that participation in sport can bring. sportscotland is delighted to be supporting this event.”
- sportscotland has also supported the World Blind Golf Championships with an award of £15,000. This is due to take place in September 2000.
- In total, sportscotland Lottery Fund has supported over 28 Major Events with awards totalling over £1.7m