BAYSIDE COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES NEW TENPIN BOWLING COACHES

People with lived experience of disability make amazing coaches, with the tips, tricks, and knowledge to pass on to anyone willing to learn.

In 2022, Bayside Community Health Services and Tenpin Bowling Victoria – utilising the support of Special Olympics Victoria to enable four inspiring bowlers to become trained Bowl Abilities Lane Rangers. .

Kyle, Megan, Andrew and Riley – who are all talented bowlers in their own right – aspired to pass on the sport to others in the community. Starting with Tenpin Bowling Australia’s Bowl Abilities program, the ‘Lane Ranger’ training enabled these four to start on the pathway to becoming coaches.

A combination of program elements meant there were fewer barriers to participating in the initiative;

• A Mentor Coach and Lane Ranger in Leanne Healey, who would run the Bowl Abilities sessions in Zone Bowling Moorabbin, then mentor the trainee coaches in 2-hour sessions
• Printed Resources such as lesson plans, wordboard, social story, and visual schedule for coaches to bring the sessions to their new learner bowlers
• Supportive staff including support workers from Bayside and the friendly staff at Zone Bowling Moorabbin
• A video call session with Diversity & Inclusion Manager Emily Rennes, to introduce the program, the learner coaches, and their mentor – setting them up for success
• Special Olympics Victoria support and resources
• 5 sessions in-office and 5 sessions in Zone Bowling centres, plus practical sessions with other learner bowlers

After 10 weeks of practice, online and face-to-face learning, including partaking in a Bowl Abilities program themselves, the four coaches graduated 19^th December 2022. Tenpin Bowling Australia’s CEO Rohan O’Neill was on hand to present the certificate and Bowl Abilities Lane Ranger shirts.

If you’d like to learn from these new Lane Rangers, we’re hoping to offer a  Bowl Abilities program at Zone Bowling, Moorabbin soon. Email us with your preferred day/time and we’ll coordinate the rest.

Any other organisations, or individuals, looking to get started on a tenpin bowling coaching pathway are encouraged to register and complete online Lane Ranger training at www.bowlabilities.com.au/lane-rangers or email [email protected]

Check out Instagram and Facebook at @BowlAbilitiesAus and https://www.facebook.com/CentralBaysideCHS/