Empowering global growth in bowls through strategic education and workforce development – that’s the focus of an exciting new World Bowls (WB) partnership.

In announcing the strategic partnership with the World Academy of Sport (WAoS) to develop and deliver structured learning resources for its global membership, WB now needs your help to shape the future of learning in bowls by completing a quick survey.

The aim of the collaboration is to address a significant gap in access to quality education and training tools for many member nations – crucial elements for developing local talent, enhancing athlete performance, and elevating event delivery standards.

With a diverse and globally spread membership, WB recognises the need to empower national federations with the tools required to build sustainable capacity across coaching, officiating, administration, and event management.

The initiative reflects WB’s commitment to fostering inclusive participation and capability across generations and communities.

“Bowls offers a unique opportunity for intergenerational engagement,” said Brett O’Riley, President of World Bowls.

“As one of the few sports where grandparents can play alongside their grandchildren, we see immense potential for social and community connection. I am continually inspired by how resourceful and passionate bowls communities are around the world. This partnership will allow us to support and grow that enthusiasm with the right learning and development resources.”

The partnership with WAoS will leverage its deep expertise in working with International Federations to design education systems tailored to their sport and membership needs. WAoS brings a global team of trainers and robust digital learning technologies to the collaboration, enabling content to be delivered in multiple languages and formats.

Chris Solly, managing director of WAoS, commented: “We are excited to partner with World Bowls to strengthen the sport’s global learning ecosystem. Our experience shows that where sports invest in structured, accessible learning, long-term growth naturally follows. This partnership will support World Bowls in laying the foundations for sustainable capacity building in every region, regardless of current resources or scale. We look forward to helping the bowls community unlock its full potential.”

The Academy is aligned to achieve core strategies of World Bowls whose mission is to expand into new and emerging markets, grow the number of member nations and enthusiasm of the sport.

Key user groups are athletes, coaches, umpires and technical officials, para bowls classifiers, administrators and event managers.

It’s main objectives by 2030 are for 70 per cent of nations to be using the World Bowls Academy as a key tool for development, to have over 5,000 active users annually with courses being delivered in over five languages, to have coach and umpire educators certified in over 60 per cent of bowls nations utilising the academy, to have 50 per cent of nations with a strategic plan and athlete pathway in place and to see a growth of bowls as a result of increased certified coaches overall bowls participants increased by 20 per cent.

The first phase of the partnership involves the creation of a comprehensive learning plan that outlines a long-term roadmap for education and development within the sport.

Thank you for your support of this important project. For more information, please contact Neil Dalrymple, CEO World Bowls ceo@worldbowls.com

Caption: World Bowls president Brett O’Riley, CEO Neil Dalrymple and director Sue Beatt and the launch with Chris Solly and Michael Cary, of the World Bowls Academy.