HI All

This country has always had a strong contingent of (mostly older) folks playing lawn bowls and 40 years ago we had over 20 different bowling clubs in Harare alone. Once a year there would be a Nationals Bowls tournament with several hundred of the more competitive types converging on one or other of the major city centres for a whole week of bowls playing in teams of 1-4. Then, with the advent of the major land reforms, sports clubs in most of the smaller towns were abandoned and the sport began to die a slow death. Right now, there are effectively only two bowling clubs operating in Harare. 

Three years ago, young Scotty Fraser saw an opportunity to completely revamp the Highlands sports club building. He effectively replaced a well outdated structure with a completely new layout that has since become “The Sports Club” in Harare. “The Highlander”  is conveniently placed allowing visitors to play tennis, padel or bowls as well as being a good base for a 6km run. It offers a relaxed environment to either meet up with mates for a quiet drink after work or to watch big sporting events like Rugby, Tennis, or Soccer. 

Soon after the Highlander opened 3 years ago, Scotty decided to emulate the “Bare Foot Bowling” that happens in Australia whereby newbies to the sport can meet up to play bowls with about a dozen or so of their mates along with wives or partners. Scotty’s idea was to play bowls during term time with just two members of a team having to play for under two hours straight after work on a Thursday. This was done so that guys or gals would not miss out on too much family time. 

Hence the introduction of “Rocking Rollers” and there were 22 teams competing in this first term of 2026! The bottom line is that you play bowls in a friendly atmosphere relaxing with a beer or a cigarette after a hard day’s work.

We ended the season last weekend playing some very competitive, yet highly social, bowls in the season-ending finale affectionately known as “Super Saturday”.   One of the major offshoots from the Rocking Rollers is the number of people that are now starting to buy their own bowls and joining in the normal club afternoons at Highlands or Avondale. The Nationals tournament is being played in Bulawayo over this coming Easter weekend. With the renewed interest in the sport, it’s going to be interesting to see how many more players are involved in next year’s Nationals. See you bowling. Mike G