Mums and bubs sessions are just part of the plan to help boost the number of women participating in bowls in the south-west.
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The Western District Bowls Division has released its first strategic plan and one of its priorities is to drive up the number of the women and juniors playing the game.
WDBD secretary Marian Treweek said the division planned to run a number of initiatives to encourage female participation.
"They have been declining in numbers because ladies are working longer and not taking the sport up at such an early age," she said.
"So the number of ladies playing have been dwindling over the past few years.
"We're hoping to work with some of the clubs and have some come and try days and perhaps some programs like mums and bubs and things like that which are suitable for females of all ages.
"Just to try and get them to come and play, not necessarily play pennant, just to come and have a go."
WDBD chairman Maureen Drennan said the division would also like to set up a junior development program in conjunction with Bowls Victoria.
"We haven't officially got a junior development squad in Warrnambool," she said.
Drennan said the division planned to promote bowls through schools in the south-west.
But while there's a focus to grow female and junior numbers, it seems the region is actually experiencing a rise in the number of people taking to the greens.
"We had a regional meeting in Warrnambool for our division and the Far Western and Corangamite regions as well," Treweek said.
"The Bowls Victoria reps mentioned to us that participation rates in bowls are actually increasing but the pennant numbers are decreasing.
"One of the factors involved is people are more time-poor and they're looking for more flexible forms of the game which don't take so long."
The WDBD worked with Bowls Australia and Bowls Victoria when creating its strategic plan.
It received a $5000 state government grant in 2018 for the plan which was developed by South West Sport and former Warrnambool mayor Michael Neoh in cooperation with the WDBD.
Drennan said the key motivation for the plan was to forge a clear direction for the division.
"The current board felt that we needed to improve on governance and have direction on where we are going," she said.
Treweek said the division sought feedback from the bowls community when making the plan.
"We invited clubs to have input," she said.
"We put out a draft plan and invited them to make comments and anybody that was interested was invited to share ideas as well."
Opportunities for feedback came in the form of different online surveys for players, sub-committees and the division's board.
With Saturday pennants all wrapped up, the board is now seeking feedback on its recommendations for pennant next season.
The strategic plan can be viewed on the Western District Bowls Division website.
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