Roosevelt Park Bowls Club coach bowls her way into our hearts
ROOSEVELT PARK – This district coach's love for bowls in so infections she may just compel one to join the sport.
Meet Mabs Rees, a bowls district coach who can be heard singing or rather in her case, seen bowling the praises of Roosevelt Park Bowls Club. We find out more about her and what lead her to bowls all those 17 years ago.
She holds the record in the sport for playing novices, opens and seniors all in one year. Rees, who learned the sport while still living in Eastern Cape, said her participation in the sport began far too late in her life and wishes she had started when she was younger. In her small town of Port Alfred, there were no bowls coaches, so with confidence, she decided she would become one. At the time she was 58-years-old.
Now, 75-years-old, after learning the game she became an umpire and a marker so that she could learn the rules of the game and that insatiable love for the sport has now garnered her the title of district coach.
What could possibly still be keeping her on the greens? That’s simple, the sport still fascinates her, “It looks easy, and yes, anybody can play bowls, but to play bowls consistently well, with all the technicalities available, makes it a challenging sport,” adding the fact that it’s played outdoors, variables change constantly which affects the game.
For her, Roosevelt Park Bowls is without a doubt, the friendliest club in Gauteng, “Though there are many friendly clubs, this one is exceptional. It’s easy to be here and the people are great. We aren’t the biggest club, but we certainly are the happiest club.”
You might think she has been part of the club for years, but she only joined them on January 1, initially coming from the West Rand. After her husband had died, she decided to make a new life for herself by surrounding herself with new people and a new club, in hopes to start having some fun again. “After the tragedy, it’s hard to get back into anything as it is so easy to not want to live anymore, but I wasn’t prepared to do that, or take up knitting,” she jokingly added.
Her message to bowlers, be it they are ambitious or competitive, is to keep honing their skills and to never practise without purpose. To aspirant bowlers, find a coach to help you.
