Who is in charge of Crown Green Bowling?

Bowling News

With the upcoming Special General Meeting called by the BCGBA I decided to look at what are the options open to the three County organisations if they fail to oust the present Board of the BCGBA. It seems likely (to me) that they don't have enough votes to complete a takeover and will have to make some big decisions about their future existence. What do they do? Where do they go? Are they going to go quietly? Does this seem like a real mess to you as well?

To fully appreciate their options I wanted to get a grasp of the structure of Crown Green Bowling in this country, to see where the real power lies. I am a big fan of structure charts. In my working career I worked in a lot of different hospitals up and down the country and whenever starting somewhere new I used to acquire a structure chart of the internal organisation. This was to help me understand who reported to whom and who were the real decision makers. I thought that there might be something similar outlining who was in charge of bowling.

There was very little help coming from official sources so I decided to use my Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, Gemini. So I asked the simple question .....

Gemini responded within seconds ....

While the British Crown Green Bowling Association (BCGBA) does not publish a single, officially branded organizational chart on their website, the entire hierarchy maps out into a clear dual-track governance framework.

The direct hierarchy handles traditional geographic boundaries, while the national overlay track (which includes the British Parks and the Federation of Crown Green Bowls) manages cross-boundary leagues and municipal greens.

Whatever a clear 'dual-track governance framework' may be, it didn't really help a simple soul like me. So I decided to give Gemini another opportunity to redeem itself (I will keep calling it 'it' as I am unsure if an AI can be male or female, maybe I will ask it?) Anyway back to the main plot - I asked Gemini .....

Again within seconds Gemini comes up with the goods.

The governing structure of Crown Green Bowling operates as a clear hierarchy that connects local community clubs up to the national governing body in the United Kingdom.

1. National Level: The BCGBA

The ultimate authority for the sport is the British Crown Green Bowling Association (BCGBA). It is recognized by Sport England as the National Governing Body (NGB) for the crown green code of bowls. 

The BCGBA handles the macro-management of the sport, including maintaining the database of players, organizing national county championships, and setting overarching safeguarding and development policies. Its internal governance structure comprises: 

• The Board: The strategic decision-makers (consisting of executive officers, regional representatives, and independent members). 

• The Executive Committee: Led by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), this arm handles day-to-day operations and finances. 

• British Crown Green Referees Society: An integral associated body that officially manages, reviews, and publishes the official Laws of the Game. 

• Bowls Development Alliance (BDA): The BCGBA works alongside the BDA and other codes (like flat green) to implement structural frameworks for coaching and inclusive participation. 

2. Regional Level: Geographic Regions

To streamline support across its core playing areas (primarily the Midlands, North of England, North Wales, and the Isle of Man), the BCGBA divides its network into five distinct regions. Each region is assigned a designated Board contact to handle communication and representation. 

3. County Level: County Associations

Directly below the regional umbrella are individual County Associations (e.g., Yorkshire, Lancashire, Shropshire, Merseyside). 

• Counties act as intermediate regulators. They handle disciplinary appeals, manage county-wide competitions, and field select squads for the National County Championships.

• Because crown green bowls is highly regionalized, some areas feature separate administrative paths for Men's and Ladies' county organizations, while others have fully merged.  Yorkshire is a fully merged organisation covering Men's and Ladies bowling in the County.

4. Local Level: Leagues and Associations

Beneath the county tier sit the regional Leagues and District Associations (such as the Huddersfield & District Liberal League or British Parks). 

• These groups manage the week-to-week fixtures, local competitive formats, division promotions, relegations, and local cup days.

• They ensure all players participating are appropriately registered and playing under recognized local bye-laws linked to the county rules. 

5. Grassroots Level: Local Clubs

At the foundation of the entire structure are the 3,000+ local bowling clubs. 

• Every individual club is run by its own voluntary management committee—typically consisting of a President, Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer. 

• Clubs operate under a formal Club Constitution and maintain affiliation with their respective county and the BCGBA. This ensures that every individual member playing on a local green complies with national safeguarding, dress codes, and anti-doping regulations. 

If you read the above response slowly you may be able to make some sense about what it is saying and I start to get an idea about how I might be able to construct my own structure chart of bowling management.

I will start on that and see how far I get, maybe I will ask Gemini to help me. I did ask Gemini one final question for today

Within seconds, Gemini responded .....