The CEO of the International Bowling Federation, Andy Oram, has delivered a rallying call to his members as it changes its name from World Bowling and will again seek Olympic recognition.
Oram, from the federation’s Swiss base, said in an open letter that the sport remains strong.
“We have great opportunities that we never fully captured," he said. "If we change perspective, we can shape our future to even strengthen the relevance of bowling in the world.”
Oram called for a "rebirth" to leverage the key learnings from the past in forming a new history.
The governing body World Bowling has been an associate member of its own organisation instead of acting as the international bowling federation. This is about to change, Oram said.
Following an extraordinary general meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Monday, the name of the organisation is to be changed from World Bowling to the International Bowling Federation. “Ours is not merely a change in name but a change in the way the IBF will fulfil its mission and interact with all stakeholders.”
Oram said the IBF will encourage the development of the sport of tenpin, ninepin and para bowling as an international sport and promote it as a sport for Olympic and Paralympic status.
He added that a wide range of projects and programmes would be put into place to raise the recognition levels of the game and support players. Decisions would be made at international rather than national level in the future so that the IBF will have ownership and be accountable across all areas. He said that Olympic recognition was a major target, following failed bids for the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Bowling is a sport,” he insisted. “Sport bowling has a long history, yet that history often stands in its way. I have heard for the past year from many that the sport would have changed if included in the Olympic Games. This is a flawed vision. We must change to reflect the scale of bowling and the true global representation of the sport. Evidence; fact not fiction. An Olympic bid should not be a rescue strategy for a sport. An Olympic bid should be an enhancement of a vision for success that is shared from proprietors to administrators to athletes and volunteers.”
Oram called for bowling centre operators to take the financial risk by investing in the business that allows the sport to be played. “It is therefore not surprising that some bowling centre operators did little or nothing to encourage competitive place in their centres or would listen to suggestions from an organsation. We must listen, engage, embrace and support them and make everyone part of the journey.”
