Joining a Lawn Bowls Club can be Life Changing
His own passion for lawn bowling inspired South Australian support worker, Jordan, to convince his client, to join his local bowls club on the Adelaide Plains which became a catalyst to overcome roadblocks in his life, then subsequently opened a whole new world for him.
When residing in a small country town where lawn bowls is pretty much the major sport for people, other than golf, and life has thrown you curve balls, so you’ve retreated from your local community you need a special person to step in to help you pick up the pieces to take on challenges and opportunities again.
Accessing an NDIS program can activate support from a professional like Jordan. Let’s call Jordan’s client Rod to keep his identity private. Rod knew the local bowling club was there, in his township, but it was just the roadblock to getting the encouragement to get out to initiate this social opportunity. Jordan helped him work on doing exactly that.
Small steps started with Jordan taking Rod out to practice the game on their own for a while. They then realised there was the opportunity for Rod to enter Wednesday Night Owls. Once his confidence grew Rod progressed from there. Plenty of people got around him at the club, helping him out and pumping him up which resulted in Rod growing to love the club environment. Jordan’s goal is to get clients involved in the community and helping Rod develop his love of lawn bowls, eventually progressing to be a part of the club team has been awesome for Jordan to watch.
There were many paths that Rod could have taken, but he just loved the game of lawn bowls, so that was the natural path to move forward with. Jordan took Rod to the lawn bowls store in the city to explore what bowls equipment could be bought there. Rod bought his own lawn bowls, then he organised a spare set for Jordan to use for their practice sessions. Rod’s love of the game grew Jordan’s love of lawn bowls even more, and he loved seeing Rod play in his club matches.
Jordan’s advice for other support workers “Don’t be afraid to get involved and learn about the sport of lawn bowls. It’s just about working alongside who you’re with and moving them forward as much as you can I suppose. Lawn bowls is a sport, once you get involved in it, it’s like a family atmosphere, especially if you’re in a good club, which he is.”
When asked for any advice for clubs, Jordan said “to not be afraid to get people involved with a disability … I’d love to see more of that happening, and I believe there’s a para team through Bowls SA, I’ve watched a bit of the live stream, its good watching that sort of thing happening.”
Jordan works for an organisation that works alongside the NDIS. Rod sourced assistance and when we spoke to Jordan, he was very glad, after working with Rod for two years to be able to put this new world into place for him to continue with.
