Accessible Lawn Bowling Made Possible Thanks to the ADA

Accessible Lawn Bowling Made Possible Thanks to the ADA

Accessible Lawn Bowling Made Possible Thanks to the ADA

A man wearing a yellow shirt and a tan cowboy hat leans forward in a wheelchair, throwing a large, black ball across a lawn bowling playing field.

A founding member of a lawn bowling club was denied the opportunity to bowl from a manual wheelchair she uses. The club believed her wheelchair would damage the lawn where bowling happens. At first, she asked the club if they could put down a mat she could bowl from on the lawn. The bowling club said no. The woman called her Regional ADA Center and asked if the ADA could help keep bowling accessible for her in her chair. The ADA specialist told her that because a bowling club falls under Title III of the ADA as a place of public accommodation, she could request a reasonable modification. With this information, the woman informed the club of their responsibilities under the ADA. The bowling club agreed to work with her and the officers of the club obtained an adaptable wheelchair mat that would not damage the lawn, allowing the club’s founding member to bowl from her chair.