Assistant Lane Ranger, what is it and how do I be one? 

Bringing Tenpin Bowling to primary school-aged learners, Bowl Patrol is Australia’s only national junior tenpin bowling program.

Bowl Patrol is an eight-session, adaptable program that utilises modifications to make learning to bowl more fun. It teaches the fundamental skills of the sport, improves coordination and balance, is inclusive of all abilities and ages to play together within the same program.

Within the program, Bowl Patrol offers volunteering opportunities for parents and guardians to be an Assistant Lane Ranger.

“The Lane Rangers and volunteer Assistants are such an integral part of our Bowl Patrol programs,” TBA Participation Manager Emily Rennes said.

“The leading Bowl Patrol Lane Ranger will let the Assistants know how they can help, typically it’s tasks like helping with scoring, make sure children are all taking their turns, providing positive feedback on each bowling attempt, supervising or explaining activities.”

Many Assistant Lane Rangers are parents or carers of children taking part, however, anyone looking to volunteer in their local community can offer to assist with a valid working with children check.

Interested volunteers are encouraged to register and complete the FREE online Bowl Patrol Lane Ranger training which can be found here. No prior knowledge of bowling is needed to be a part of Bowl Patrol

“We’ll teach you the basics and there’s additional learning ‘on the job’ from the Lane Ranger in charge of the program. You should have a valid working with children check that’s relevant to the state you’re volunteering in,” reminded Rennes.

Current Assistant Lane Rangers provide positive feedback about being involved with the program.

“All five of my kids have done the Bowl Patrol program, it’s great they are all involved at the same time. I stay around and give them and the other kids encouragement on the lanes,” commented an Assistant Lane Ranger and Bowl Patrol parent.

“This program has been a great way for me and my granddaughter to connect, I’ve bowled for years, and so did her mum. Bowl Patrol has helped show her an easy way into the sport; she’s on the way to beating me on the lanes these days!” an Assistant Lane Ranger Grandparent also commented.

Assisting as a Lane Ranger is a great initial step to being involved as a coach in the sport of Tenpin Bowling

“Starting a coaching journey can be a little daunting, but it’s actually really easy!” Rennes said.

“You probably already know a fair bit about tenpin bowling, especially if you’ve been before – or you’ve been bowling for years. We encourage anyone to start with Bowl Patrol (for children learning) or Bowl Abilities (for adult learning) online Lane Ranger training and go from there.

“After this, if you’re wanting more technical details, a Level 1 Tenpin Bowling Coach course is for you – and it’s all available online. Check out Tenpin.org.au for more details,” detailed Rennes.

For anyone interested and wanting more information to be an Assistant Lane Ranger, click here to find out more