Bowls New Zealand chief executive Kerry Clark told the South Island Forum in Dunedin yesterday that "the sport in New Zealand is going through a challenging time and must work together" to remain one of the country's top sports.
"We are sitting at the cusp and must look to our own destiny, take the blinkers off and open our eyes. We face a difficult future if we don't do things in a different way.
"We must ensure that game structures and schedules meet the needs of bowlers."
Bowls New Zealand has looked at the issues over the past 12 months and has worked out a plan "to take bowls forward through a period of change."
There are 583 bowling clubs in New Zealand and Clark believes the sport would be better served if there were amalgamations and fewer but stronger clubs.
"We would still have the biggest club network in New Zealand," Clark said.
"No other sport brings together such a diverse group."
Bowls must take note of what other sports are doing and adapt the successful ventures into the sport, he said.
He was impressed by the world triathlon championships that were held at Auckland this month, in which 3000 competitors competed in age group events against people of a similar standard.
"We could do the same and create a new marketplace for ourselves." he said.
Clark told the forum that while bowls must retain its traditional stream it must add a different format to attract new bowlers.
"We must do things differently. If we keep the status quo we will go into decline," he said.
"We must be more flexible and have a shorter time frame for weekend competitions.
"We will grow our numbers by being flexible, innovative and relevant to attract a new generation of participants to the game.
"We must encourage casual bowlers to come to our clubs."
The Black Jacks are the shop window for bowls and New Zealand is ranked top in the world at the moment after dominating World Bowls at Christchurch in 2008.
This reputation was enhanced at the weekend when Leeston's Sandra Keith won the world champion of champion women's singles title in Cyprus.
"We want to be the best bowls country in the world by 2020," Clark said.
Bowls New Zealand will celebrate its centenary next year and a special feature will be the establishment of a Bowls New Zealand Hall of Fame.
Bowlers must have achieved top results at international level to be included.
The exceptions are men who played before 1934, when New Zealand first competed internationally, and women before 1973. These bowlers must have won more than one national title.
The other category is for administrators, officials, umpires and coaches.
