Indoor lawn bowling type sport newest addition to Complex
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| A Saskatoon Short Mat Club member releases a shot. |
After years
of conducting games in the basements of Saskatoon area churches, the Saskatoon
Short Mat Club made a debut at an open house at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex
on November 1, 2020. The organization was able to conduct games in the pitching
lanes of the Indoor Training Centre until pandemic related Provincial Health
Orders put a pause on those activities.
Still,
Robert Hackett, who is the president of the Saskatoon Short Mat Club, said the
organizations members were blown away with the good first impressions of their
new surroundings.
“Everybody that I have talked to they love it,” said
Hackett. “There is plenty of parking, which is something that at the church was
something that we hardly ever had.
“You never have to worry about the parking, and it is close
at hand. We have a storage unit there that everybody knows. It is locked up,
and it is secured.
“All our equipment is there.”
Hackett noted another perk was fact the members of his club
were allowed to roll up the mats they play their games on and leave them off to
the side of the pitching tunnels, as the rolled up mats didn’t interfere with
any other activities.
At church facilities, they often had to clear everything out
of the areas their competitions were held in to allow for church functions to
happen.
The debut of the Saskatoon Short Mat Club brought a sport of
precision and skill to the Complex. When short mat games are taking place, it
is easy for those passing by to get caught watching the shot making that was going
on.
The short mat game itself comes from the sport of lawn
bowling. Lawn bowling itself can be traced back to the 13th century.
Of course in countries that have winter climates for an extended time, the time
you can take part in lawn bowling is limited.
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| The short mat game requires precision and skill. |
“The mechanics and everything are pretty well the same,”
said Hackett. “They are little bit different.
“The difference is on short mat the mats are six-feet wide
and 45-feet long. When you are lawn bowling, your rinks are eight-feet wide and
they are 120-feet long. There is a difference between lawn bowling on grass as
to be short mat on carpet.
“When you lawn bowl, the rink can change on you just by the
bowls going down there and kind of making little grooves in the grass. It is
not really all that different. It is a matter of the weight, really.”
Hackett said the local club has an easy way to explain their
game to newcomers.
“Whenever we get new lawn bowlers out, one of the questions
that we ask is have you curled before,” said Hackett. “If they have, then we
say ‘OK then.’
“This is no different than curling only instead of ice you have
grass. You have interns and outturns in curling, and we call it forehand and
backhand. It really makes no difference.”
The scoring in the short mat game is like curling in that
the team that has their balls closest to the jack scores points at the end of
each end. Unlike curling there the button can’t move, the jack in lawn bowling
and short mat games can be used.
The jacks used in short mat games are a little heavier than
those used in lawn bowling due to the fact the rinks in short mat games are
smaller than those in lawn bowling games. A board obstacle is also placed in
the middle of the rink in short mat games to add an extra challenge.
Team sizes in short mat games can be singles, double,
triples or foursomes. Games usually last 14 ends, but they can be 10 or 12 ends
in length.
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| Strategy is discussed before a shot is made in a short mat game. |
“It just takes a lot of getting used to is the little bit of
weight you need to release it,” said Phillips, who has completed in the short
mat game for 15 years. “That is why a lot of people in doing short mat don’t
take a step.
“When you are bowling outside, you usually take a step
forward when you are releasing the ball just to get more of your body into it.
With short mat, most people just keep their legs static and just release it
with just using their hand, because it takes so much less pressure. I think
that is the biggest difference is just getting used to the correct weight that
you need to deliver it.”
Phillips said the line of your throw is important in each
game and avoiding the board obstacle in the short mat game is a special
challenge.
“The board in the middle is always a bit of a challenge to
people too, who aren’t used to that,” said Phillips. “There is not really a lot
of distance between the edge of the board and the edge of the mat.
“There is only probably three-feet there and not even, that
you have to get your bowl around. You have to be pretty accurate with your
line.”
Phillips
said there has been a national governing body for the short mat game for about
the last five years in the Canadian Short Mat Bowls Association, which has allowed
for national championships to be played. She believes the Saskatoon club itself
has been around for about 20 years.
Competitors
can even take part international competitions as well. About five years ago,
Hackett and his wife, Carolyn Jones, accepted an invitation through the
Canadian Short Mat Bowls Association to a world championship even in
Manchester, England.
Hackett
said the experience of that trip was an enjoyable one, and it was eye opening
to see how well the short mat game was played elsewhere in the world.
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| A short mat rink set up in a pitching tunnel. |
“We thought we were good. Think again when you are going
into a world championship.”
Overall,
Phillips said the local club has enjoyed finding a new home at the Complex, and
they can’t wait for the provincial government to allow competitions to resume.
“I think everyone has been pretty happy with it,” said Phillips.
“We were pleased to find a space that we could spread out in.
“It was working out quite well. People were pleased with
it.”
