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Press Release

A lack of column inches in local newspapers and the thirst for quick and easy information in the 21st Century has inspired many crown green bowling leagues and clubs to explore the possibilities of the world wide web and start up their own websites to pass information to their members. In the not too distant past a club would not know their league position until four weeks after their latest game, the internet has provided the possibility to publish the information within a couple of days. With new websites emerging at a rapid pace, it was almost impossible to remember all the .com, .co.uk, .org names and from this confusion came www.crowngreen.com which attempted to list and link all known crown green bowling clubs, leagues, associations, retail outlets and other related websites.. Webmaster Paul Hickman spent much time adding to new features to the website to make it one of the most popular and interesting bowling sites in the country. Paul (36), who is secretary of the Hilly House Bowling Club in Dudley, first became interested in the sport like many others through family members who played the sport and quickly took an interest in the administrative side of the game and currently sits on three league committees and acts as a website adviser to a number of others. Having started the Hilly House website and magazine in the late 90s, Paul was approached by the Dudley & District League to help set something up online for the match secretary Geoff Willetts to be able to update. The popularity of the website encouraged other leagues to follow suit and after just two years, Paul was providing online information for the Oldbury & District, Kingswinford & Brierley Hill, Smethwick, Walsall & District, Walsall Veterans websites amongst others. The next big online step came when he was approached by Warwickshire & Worcestershire Bowling Association league secretary Barry Jones to give the associations website a new and fresh look. An online forum for bowlers to have their opinions heard quickly took off and was added to both the crowngreen.com and wwcba.com websites. The forum, which can be found at www.talkingbowls.com has had its ups and downs, upsetting some and delighting others. Often controversial, its hard to ignore and has a regular following, with Padges Place quickly becoming THE place to find information and gossip from around the crown green circuit. Many have taken comfort from its Deepest Sympathy section and had fun playing the various free games provided. “Its brought together a group of people who were unlikely to ever meet on the green and Ive made many friends via the website”, said Paul. “Ive even become a bit of a celebrity by being asked to present trophies at award ceremonies, though all I really do is push a few buttons.” “Live coverage of the Crossfield Cup final, an interesting and maybe decisive debate about women in bowls and an almost instant filling of the new Antony Pagett Memorial Competition are amongst the websites major successes.” In a computer age, crown green bowling has not stood still and with Pauls help, one day all clubs and leagues will have an internet presence, providing much sort after information to the people who want it. “Its not as difficult or as expensive as most people think, contact me at paul@crowngreen.com and Ill walk you through it.”