Mosman Bowling Club Stoush represents everything that’s wrong in Sydney
Research from a 2022 study by UNSW Sydney found that the city has lost almost half of its bowlos in the past 40 years, with no new clubs formed in the 15 years to 2020. Overall, the number of clubs in Sydney has fallen from 210 in 1980 to 128 in 2022.
The rate of their disappearance has also increased, with 51 clubs shutting down in the last decade alone. Many in this city suffered a fate all too familiar: they were sold to property developers for millions of dollars. Prime real estate and generous lot sizes make distressed clubs easy targets for residential rededication.
Ten-storey residential towers planned: The Waverley Bowling Club is being converted into a new project.Credit: peter rae
Others like Waverley in the east, Sydney’s second oldest bowling club, and Caringbah in the Sutherland Shire have taken a hybrid approach.
They sell the land in exchange for a promise to stay alive and basically turn into a bowling club hidden away in a bunch of high-rise apartments.
Across the city, smaller clubs have attempted to reshape their goals and meet the needs of a changing community.
The Greens at North Sydney revamped its menu and upgraded its events venue, Petersham banned slot machines and became a family-friendly live music venue. Marrickville focused on the hipsters and Leichhardt sacrificed one of the bowling alleys to build an outdoor bar serving local beers.
Petersham Bowling Club has ensured its survival by becoming family friendly and offering live music.
Those who remain true Bowlos have embraced a Darwinian struggle for survival: conform or die. Enter Warringah with its boisterous little things and the crunching sound of children having fun.
Only in a city obsessed with rules and regulations could the same measures taken to ensure a club’s survival also mean its demise. We told the bowling clubs what they had to do to win our patronage and then we penalized them for it.
Why not try live music? No music outside. What about hosting features? Functions are locked. Could we do trivia? Okay, but take it easy.
This week’s news is a much-needed reminder that we should be thankful for the Bowlos we still have and acknowledge how many we’ve lost. Sydney doesn’t run the risk of not having anywhere to drink and eat dinner. You can’t walk 10 meters without stumbling into a venue in Merivale.
But the Bowlo is not just another venue. It’s a reflection of who we were and hopefully, if they stick with it, a sign of who we may yet become.
Because when we get rid of the kids, the beers, the “cheers” and the bouncy castles, places like Warringah will soon become a little too quiet and empty, and by then it will be too late.
