As the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games approaches, Team England star Sian Honnor believes the sport faces a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine itself and attract thousands of new players.
For years, bowls has lived with a contradiction. It is one of the nation’s most successful Commonwealth sports, producing world-class athletes and delivering dramatic international competition. Yet beyond those who play it, the sport has often struggled to shake off perceptions that fail to reflect its modern reality.
With the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games now on the horizon, however, there is growing belief within the sport that bowls stands at a pivotal moment.
Few understand that opportunity better than Team England international Sian Honnor. As one of the country’s leading players, Honnor has witnessed first-hand the gap between what people think bowls is and what they discover when they step onto a green themselves.
Honnor, 38, said: “People are always surprised when they actually try it,” she says. “They realise quite quickly how much skill is involved, how competitive it can be but also how welcoming the environment is and that anyone can give it a go.”
The challenge, she argues, has never been the sport itself and believes that the biggest hurdle has always been getting people through the gate for the first time. That is why many within the sport see Glasgow 2026 as a potential turning point.
As one of the ten sports on the Commonwealth Games programme, Bowls and Para Bowls will enjoy daily exposure throughout the competition, putting the sport in front of millions of viewers globally. More importantly, bowls’ governing bodies are determined to ensure that interest generated by elite competition translates into real participation at grassroots level.
The vehicle for that ambition is Bowls’ Big Summer 2026, a nationwide participation campaign running from May to September, designed to help clubs capitalise on the heightened visibility that the Games will bring. Clubs across the country will host open days, taster sessions and flexible opportunities to play in an effort to welcome new audiences into the sport.
For Honnor, the timing could hardly be better. She added: “We know there are people looking for ways to be active that aren’t necessarily high-impact. People are looking for community, they’re looking to make connections and improve their wellbeing. Bowls offers all of those things.”
Such benefits are increasingly relevant at a time when sports organisations across the country are searching for ways to tackle inactivity and social isolation.
Unlike many sports, bowls requires relatively little equipment of which most clubs will offer for free during casual sessions, can be played by people of different ages and abilities together, and offers a balance of physical activity, competition and social interaction that few activities can match. Those characteristics are regularly cited as some of the sport’s greatest strengths.
Yet Honnor believes bowls has often been guilty of underselling itself.
“When people watch bowls at the highest level, they see the precision and the pressure. What they don’t always see is the community behind it. Clubs are full of brilliant people and that’s often what keeps people coming back.”
The campaign has been developed not simply to encourage participation, but to make participation easier. Central to the initiative is Play-Bowls.com, which acts as a national hub connecting prospective players with clubs, sessions and opportunities to play in their local area.
The strategy reflects a growing understanding across sport that inspiration alone is rarely enough.
Major sporting events can generate spikes of interest, but converting viewers into participants requires a clear pathway from watching to doing. Bowls’ Big Summer has been specifically designed to create that pathway, ensuring that anyone inspired by what they see in Glasgow can quickly find a local club willing to welcome them.
There is also evidence that the sport is building from a strong foundation.
Recent Bowls’ Big Weekend initiatives have seen hundreds of clubs open their doors and introduce thousands of newcomers to the game, providing confidence that a larger-scale campaign can deliver significant growth when combined with the profile of a major international event.
For Honnor, success in 2026 will not be measured solely by medals. She concluded: “Of course everyone wants Team England to perform well, but if people watch the Games and then decide to give bowls a go themselves, that’s a huge success for the sport too.
“Hopefully we’ll inspire people to try something new. Once they do, I think they’ll quickly understand why so many of us love it.”
For a sport that has spent decades building strong communities across the country, it may prove to be the biggest opportunity it has ever had.
To find your nearest club and book a session, visit www.Play-Bowls.com.
With thanks to New Reach
