Short Mat Bowls is probably one of the most significant developments, in  club sport during the last century. An indoor activity, not dependent upon the vagaries of the weather, it is a game that lends itself to social, as well as competitive enjoyment.

Normally played in inexpensive premises, such as Church Halls, or Community Centres, it provides for many, an affordable means of pleasurable exercise. 

Those who doubt their sporting skills, find almost immediate satisfaction in the simplicity of the game. However it is also an exciting and exacting discipline when played at it higher levels. Whatever stage of sporting development a participant might be, the social, community, atmosphere of most clubs tends to engender a sense of well-being in all who take part .

Short Mat Bowling caters for all age groups, so that whole families are able to play together throughout their lives. Children as young as ten year of age, to some players in their nineties, all are able to enjoy this wonderful sport.

Although it grew out of the older and more well known, Lawn Bowls, Short Mat Bowling is not a poor relation of the outdoor game, but a sport within its own right, with demands of skill and discipline that equate well with any other major sporting activity.

There are some twenty six thousand Registered members of the ESMBA in England, complimented by thousands of unregistered players up and down the country.  All enhancing their lives with an affordable, pleasurable, social sport that encourages life prolonging exercise. 

Throughout the county of Herefordshire, there are eighteen clubs affiliated to the  ‘Herefordshire Short Mat Bowling Association’.

Go to ‘Other Clubs page’ to view details of where and when they meet. If you are looking for an enjoyable pastime, look no further, take a phone, ring the nearest club to you, and start out upon an adventure that could change your life.