It was the bad old days when Leigh first wanted to join the Titahi Bay Club as a 21-year-old.
"I had to wait three years," Leigh said. "Young women were not encouraged to join bowling clubs in those days.
"The women didn't like it and said I was too young. They wanted to restrict the number of women in the club. But the men wanted to open it up."
Some of the older women who controlled bowling clubs wanted to keep it as a closed shop and made it difficult for younger women to play bowls.
It was not only the draconian dress code but also the decision to play centre championships during the week. This stopped working women from joining the sport.
Since the amalgamation of men's and women's bowls with the formation of Bowls New Zealand in 1996 there have been big changes in the sport that are now starting to bring positive results.
"The sport has now come out of the dark ages," Leigh said. "The older women were too antiquated in their attitudes."
Leigh Griffin (44), a Wellington court registrar, led the change at the grassroots level by encouraging her daughter Kirsten to play bowls.
Kirsten (19), who also works as a court registrar in Wellington, was introduced to bowls at a young age, when she was taken to the green in her pram to watch her mother in action.
"Kirsten has watched bowls all her life," Leigh said.
"She started having roll-ups at the club from a young age.
"Kirsten loved bowls from the start and wanted to join the club at the age of 10. But I held her back. She was a bit too young then," Leigh said.
Kirsten joined the Victoria Bowling Club in Wellington as a 13-year-old in her first year at St Mary's College and typifies the teenage influx into the game.
Mother and daughter have played together for the last five years and played in their first national championship together in 2006 and reached the second round of post-section play in the pairs on Sunday.
"We are the best of mates and play together all the time," Kirsten said. "We get on well and know each other so well."
Bowls has become an important part of their life.
"I love it," Leigh said. "It is a mentally challenging game and is a big part of my life."
Kirsten enjoys the friendliness of the people she meets when playing bowls.
"It is challenging playing outdoors in all sorts of weather, especially in Wellington," she said.
"I just loved watching Mum play, and especially in representative competition."
Leigh went to all the bowls tournaments her daughter played in while at secondary school and got to know all the teenage bowlers.
"They all called me Mum," she said. "We are the best of friends."
Leigh has been playing bowls for 25 years and has won 20 Wellington centre titles. She has represented the province for the last 14 years. Former international Judy Howat holds the record with 32 titles.
Kirsten is in her sixth year of bowls and has already won two Wellington centre open titles and the New Zealand under-20 singles in 2009. She represented New Zealand in the under-19 transtasman series in 2007 and 2010.
Her goal is to emulate Commonwealth Games and World Bowls gold medallist Jo Edwards, who is the player she looks up to in bowls.
