Ted is looking for young bowlers: “You end up in a kind of family”

“Kegeling is a sport that anyone can do,” says Ted Volkeri, president of Zierikzee Kegelbond. “But to become a good bowler, you have to feel good, be able to concentrate and have no physical flaws.”

The game is played on an elevated ground thirty centimeters wide. The bowler must roll a heavy ball (with a hole, where there are three in a bowling ball) down the lane and then knock down nine pins. †

There are twelve bowling clubs in the Kegelhuis in Zierikzee, which train weekly and also hold competitions. But the clubs need new recruits. “You get a bit of turnover at a club because you’re always looking for new members at your age, but that’s wrong. You actually have to get younger to survive. So we’re ready for that.”

Volkeri himself started bowling at the age of 22 and never stopped. “I’m 72 now and I still can’t think of quitting.” He also attributes the fact that there are few youngsters at the club to a lack of knowledge of the sport. “In the past, it was paid little attention to, so it became a hearsay sport. I think that’s not true.”