Interesting weekend – I went to watch some sport! Who knew they play bowls at the Commonwealth Games!? I didn’t until this week. On Saturday I drove up to Leamington Spa to watch Commonwealth Bowls. What an interesting day that was.
On 4 greens, with several rinks on each, the games took place. Para bowls too. It was a nice social atmosphere. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all entered teams – as did the likes of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Falkland Islands, Cook Islands, Malaysia, Guernsey, Jersey, Fiji, Namibia, Jamaica, Norfolk Island, Niue, Canada, Botswana and Malta – and over the course of the day I watched them all play.
With as many as 6 games going on at once the best thing to do was to pick one match to focus on, and pay attention to. Otherwise you get a bit lost with what’s going on! What I loved was that it isn’t allocated seating for the bowls so I could move around, go and watch a bit of one match one one green, and then a bit of another. I even sat with a couple of the Scottish supporters (and one of the players) while watching England v Scotland in the women’s para bowls singles. (I was supporting Scotland, obviously).
A great day out! I still need to sign up and start playing myself.
On Sunday I was the driver and therefore was persuaded to watch Commonwealth Rugby 7s in Coventry. Managed to find on-street parking a short walk from the stadium. I’ve only ever seen rugby (briefly) on TV before, was weird seeing it in the actual stadium. I don’t understand rugby, but managed to work out the aim is to get the ball over the white line before being stopped by the opposition. It’s a bit like driving in London then, where the aim is to get the car over the white line before the lights turn red, and without getting stuck behind a bus….. Less contact when driving though (one hopes!)
Rugby was a little livlier than the bowls. The crowd was noisy, but I did well!!
After we found a nearby pub to sit and watch the Grand Prix while enjoying lunch and a drink before driving back.
Not my usual weekend but it wasn’t bad!
FH.
