Who are our National Council members and what do their roles involve? Our series continues to cover each of our heads of departments and their involvement in our sport from the time they first bowled to what’s in store for the future.
Meet BTBA Regional Officer North, Ian Kennedy
Where did your bowling journey begin?
I started bowling at the age of 16 with my cousins who visited us every year from Romford and they suggested that one Saturday we should go Tenpin Bowling at the Merrion Centre in Leeds. I got a 165 first game I ever bowled. From there I was hooked on it. I joined many leagues at Merrion Centre and I used to bowl a backup ball and shot a 258 on new pins…….unheard of 60 years ago. A guy called Andy Mclaren jointed our team. He was a bit older than us and taught me how to bowl properly. It worked as I won the Yorkshire county qualifiers along with Ron Deacon and Co and represented Yorkshire in the original Counties and we won. I soon moved on and eventually bowled at Shipley when Dave Grainger owned it. I loved it and actually bowled a 300 game and a 825 series !!!
How did you get into the administrative side of the sport – what positions you held and what motivated you to get involved?
As a bowler I got involved in lots of things and started to look after leagues etc as no body else would do it……all of this was at Merrion Centre. At some point it was suggested that I bowled leagues at Kirkstall Road and LA Bowl in Holbeck. Before I knew it I was running tournaments at LA Bowl and actually got paid by the centre for organising tournaments. Every one was a great success and was always full with bowlers from Hull, Shipley, Leeds and throughout Yorkshire.
What is your role within the National Council – and why it’s important?
I’m the Northern Regional Officer. It is important to have regional officers to look after the many bowling areas. In my case I find it hard to dedicate the time the role needs and deserves as I bowl in so many leagues, so many tournaments at weekends, run the Northern Scratch Fives, book and organise hotels for an annual tournament at Sunderland which I have done for around 15 years and its FULL every year. The role in itself is just a matter of keeping people informed and chasing them up if they get behind with things. A lot of LA’s don’t understand the internal BTBA processes and inner workings and it’s difficult to communicate them down to them so they adopt their own way of doing things. Regional Officers are tasked with bringing them all on board so that and support Local Associations, so processes are followed and good practice shared. Great idea but there are always challenges.
Now tell us what’s great about bowling?
This is an easy question……at my age 77 years it gets me involved in sport which I enjoy, and keeps me active and mobile.
I find bowling in the UK and Europe great and always look forward to meeting people new and old. The social side of bowling is great. The competition is always good and even better if you win. Really keeps you motivated