European Championships - Announcement
The 14th European Championships were held between September 2nd to 8th, 2024. Bowls Scotland once again hosted the championships at the National Centre of Bowling in Ayr, Scotland.
The championship saw 18 Countries represented from our Member Countries, with 181 athletes taking part and 11 Disciplines.
For the first time ever in the European Championships, we also saw para-athletes taking part.
Alan McMillan, CEO of Bowls Scotland, said: “We are delighted to once again be hosting this year’s Bowls Europe Championships at the National Centre for Bowling in Ayr.
“Bowls Scotland hosted the last Championships in 2022 and the event was a major success for everyone involved.
“Both Northfield and our team at Bowls Scotland are well accustomed to hosting major events so I’m sure our dedicated staff and volunteers will deliver another high-quality competition in September.
“I look forward to welcoming all of the nations from around the continent to Northfield and hope everyone enjoys their time in Scotland.”
It was the 2nd time in a row that Bowls Scotland hosted the European Championships, having last hosted in 2022. It proved to be a successful event and Bowls Europe planned to build on that success – live scoring, live streaming, interviews and such like.
For the first time ever, the championships were a World Bowls accredited event. Another addition, as previously stated, it was the first time that para-athletes played in the championships, which date back to 1997.
Although the number of countries entering the para-championship did not have the number of teams we envisaged, for various reasons, Bowls Europe were delighted to have these athletes involved. It is hoped that these numbers can be increased in the coming years – as the saying goes “Mighty Oaks from little acorns grow”.
Once again, the format was run, as per the format of the World Championships organised by World Bowls.
The 18 countries who took part were –
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- England
- Falkland Isles
- France
- Guernsey
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Jersey
- Netherlands
- Scotland
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Türkiye
- Wales
The tournament took months to organise. Those months of work were worth it as the Championships proved to be a total success.
It would not have been achievable without a lot of hard work, emails, Zoom meetings, phone calls and dedication of a lot of people, including, the BE Board of Directors, the staff of Bowls Scotland, and the support staff from the various countries taking part.
This tournament is now, undoubtedly, the biggest International bowls ever held in the Northern Hemisphere.
Bob Christie M.B.E., the chairperson of Bowls Europe, commented “Bowls Europe is delighted to be staging the championships again this September and building on its previous success.
“With the event now part of the World Bowls ranking set-up, the directors are looking to make this competition the premier event in the Northern Hemisphere and wish all players a successful week of bowling.”
Bowls Europe were delighted, once again, to have XX20 Sports as the official partner for the championships. They were on-site during the Championships selling official merchandise and other bowls equipment.
