Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future
By Tenpin Bowling Australia
Written by Emily Rennes – Tenpin Bowling Australia’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager
International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is held on 3 December each year. It is a day to raise community awareness, understanding and acceptance of the 5.5 million people with disability in Australia.
This year’s theme is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future”.
At Tenpin Bowling Australia and in many bowling centres across the country, we are fortunate to have people of all abilities leading our sport. For themselves, for fellow bowlers and the broader sporting and inclusion community. We value their contributions to the evolution of bowling and development of the sport in Australia.
From our wonderful National Training Squad – Inclusion (NTS Inclusion) members are leading the way with high performance standards. For example, Queensland-based Rhian Patching (OAM), whose vision impairment has made him a stand-out on and off the lanes. Honoured with an OAM in 2024 for services to people with disability, particularly through sport, he is keen to encourage other vision impaired people to give bowling a go.
We also benefit from the leadership of our friends at Australian Disability Tenpin Inc. who run an incredible National Disability Championship every year. Their 36th will be in Perth in 2025 https://tenpin.org.au/ndc/ and we know many leaders will make light work of this capstone event. Locally in Perth, the wonderful Moira Mattie is a legend amongst learner bowlers and Zone Bowling centres alike. Her passion for inclusion is highlighted in weekly learn to bowl sessions with Bowl Patrol, Sporting Schools, Bowl Abilities and inclusion leagues under her belt. For those interested, entry forms and entries are expected to open late January 2025.
More recently we’ve been inspired by leading coaches, especially those who committed to completing a Bronze Coaching qualification. Like Trevor Dawkins & Dave Guerriero – located in Adelaide, who’ve taken their bowling and community impact to another level. Both have agreed to a TBA/Special Olympics Australia project in 2025 to provide coaching support and resources to bowlers across the country. Leading by example their enthusiasm and advocacy for tenpin is greatly admired.
There are many more we could mention, from support workers who advocate for their participants to centre who strive to always improve their accessibility from ramps and adaptive equipment to carer discounts and assistive technology. We’re so proud of the leadership demonstrated every day, across the country, and know this’ll continue to mean every ‘body’ can enjoy bowling.
