A BOWLS coach will represent his club at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
James Lindsay, from Clackmannan, will be on hand to try and encourage more people to give the sport a go while they're enjoying top class competition and watching players from around the world.
He's a member at Alloa Co-operative Bowling Club - he was the president when they celebrated their centenary last year - and the 43-year-old explained: "I was trained and qualified two years ago as a coach for Try Bowls Scotland, I went round helping local clubs organise events and encourage visitors.
"And as Bowls Scotland will have a family fun zone at the Commonwealth Games, which will encourage people to have a go at the sport, they've invited their Try Bowls coaches to come along and help. I'm going along on Sunday July 26.
"It should be good. It's in Kelvingrove Park, there's a good bowling green there, it's free, it's open to all and they'll have big screens showing the Commonwealth Games as well.
"I'm not a great player but I've done the coaching and I'm lucky enough to get invited."
The Games run from Thursday July 23 to Sunday August 2 and just a short distance from the SEC, where the bowls and para-bowls competitions will be held, Kelvingrove Park is hosting the official, free-to-enter family fan zone.
At the Game On Live Site there will be more than 12 hours of daily live action broadcast on giant screens, plus seven activity zones where visitors can try diverse sports, view cultural events, and enjoy food and entertainment.
Taking place indoors for the first time in Games’ history, bowls is one of the original six sports in the Commonwealth programme.
It has been played at every Games since 1930, with the exception of Kingston (Jamaica) in 1966, where no bowls facilities were available.
James, who works as a teacher in a private nursery, said: "I started bowls 30 years ago when I was at school. They used to do summer holiday sessions.
"I couldn't get into Clackmannan BC as my dad wasn't born in Clackmannan - that was the rule back then! - and I wasn't 18 at the time, so I ended up at a few clubs.
"I started at Alloa Co-op and it's come full circle as I moved back there around six or seven years ago and I was president for the centenary last year."
He's keen for more people to try bowls and said: "It gets you out, you're socialising and meeting new people, there's that element of competitiveness - you can play for fun or take it seriously - and you're out in the fresh air, so it's good for your mental health too.
"There have been clubs shutting down across Scotland due to lack of numbers.
"There's one next to Hampden that had been around for 125 years - it closed recently.
"We're sitting ok at the moment, at Alloa we've got 120 members including social members, and we're one of the cheapest for membership, £80, and £10 for social members.
"We're not a profit-making club, we just want to keep existing."
Glasgow 2026 is the largest sporting event in the UK this year, with 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories set to compete in a world-class programme of 10 sports and six Para sports in four iconic venues across the city.
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