We moved here in 2009 and up until a couple of years ago, all the lawn bowlers wore white. Now they seem to literally wear every color imaginable. What caused the change?
Great question and the initial answer is "tradition." The bowlers in other countries wore whites, standard operating procedure. Sun City was the first community in Arizona, to host lawn bowling and the early photos included old men in madras shorts, black socks and tennis shoes. As the sport grew in Sun City the tradition became the standard. Lawn bowling greatest supporter, Helen Teichman, was a traditionalist and she always favored whites. By the mid 2010's, pickleball was taking root and the lawn bowling was falling off. Whites added another layer to the costs, and several of the clubs (we have 5 in Sun City) allowed for a much more liberal practice of club bowls wearing whatever. Tournaments are a little more structured with teams wearing matching shirts (or reasonably close). Funny, until the early 2000's, whites were the order of the day, and the bowls were either black or brown. I saw my first colored lawn bowls in 2004 and now the bowls, like 10 pin bowling balls, come in every color combination imaginable; much like the clothing options. Society in general has loosened dress codes and lawn bowls is no exception.
