Clubbing
Bowling alone? Let’s not. Paisley’s local sports clubs are teetering. Letting them fail would be a huge mistake. So we’re joining the bowling club and backing the cricket team.
CASCO, Maine — Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone, published in 2000, is a brilliant analysis of what he called faltering ‘social capital’ in America. The idea that fewer people were joining bowling leagues (this is 10-pin bowling for those following along outside the U.S.) was an indication of the fraying of community and connection. It’s as relevant today as it was at the turn of the century. According to the American Enterprise Institute, the share of Americans reporting zero close friendships rose to 17% in 2024. The same phenomenon is happening around the world.
Twenty-six years later, my family and me have become fully-fledged fee-paying members of Wellmeadow Bowling Club in Paisley. We also continued our sponsorship of players and game balls at Ferguslie Cricket Club just across town. These local amateur sports clubs, and others like them, bring together generations of families and individuals, and serve as central social gathering points that strengthen towns and communities. They have been formative places for me. But they are challenged. The financial models are changing, member populations are aging and - as Putnam pointed out - there is a growing disconnection of people from each other. Add to that the more recent advent of social media and online gaming and you get local clubs closing. People later in life suddenly bereft of a connection; future generations denied the connection, further confined to their devices without really knowing an alternative. We need to avoid this fate.
Wellmeadow Bowling Club was formally established in 1907, emerging from the Paisley United Bowlers Club which was founded in 1849. Located on Argyle Street, I grew up literally across the road on Walker Street. According to local histories, the first games were two pence each, with a seat and a newspaper available for an extra penny. Trust me, the prices have barely changed.
The club has played an important part in my life. We’ve spent countless Hogmanays there, hosted friends and family from around the world, hours listening to great storytellers spin yarns about times past, even hosted Hopkinton Hotspur. Celebrated my mum’s life there after her funeral in 2023. It is still a vital connection lifeline for my dad. We were there a few weeks ago and became members. Despite the challenging environment, the club is solvent. And it has to continue to be. For my dad, but also for countless others now and into the future. It’s 120 UK pounds to join. Do it!
Ferguslie Cricket Club was founded in 1887 with the support of the well-known Paisley philanthropist, J.P. Coats. Located down on Corsebar Road, the club’s Meikleriggs ground is a beautiful oasis of calm where competitive (but always friendly) amateur cricket has been played for over a century, including by yours truly.
I love this place. It has been a social hub, a place to compete and play a sport I love, a quiet spot to talk to friends about big and small things when I was deciding whether to go to America when I was 17. I toured Dublin with the team. The club - and its people - have played a vital role in my life. We visited during our recent trip, seeing the team win (as of writing they top the Western Premier League) and visiting with old friends. The club is steered by a group of dedicated, forward looking volunteers who have ambitions to build a new pavilion and expand the game for everyone, including women and girls. It’s an awesome mission. If you want to contribute, let me know…
We visited Ferguslie CC and Wellmeadow Bowling Club a couple of weeks ago while in Paisley. We went out for dinners and came second in the local pub quiz. It was great to see old friends, and meet some new ones. As you get older, it’s easy to get nostalgic for these places that hold a place in your imagination. Even more so when you live far away. But if you believe in the importance of simple human connection, it’s also easy to see that we are losing that battle. We can avoid the fate of bowling alone by joining with friends to bowl together.
The final installment in the Summer Stack is coming soon. Thanks for following along. We’ll round up the crazy last 8 weeks in the last post. As a sneaky bonus, two quick pictures from last week; one from DC and the other as I am bounding (?) towards the finish line in the Casco Days 4-Mile Road Race. And for the record, the guy with the stroller (who you can just see on the edge of the photo to my left) passed me with ease…
