Crown green bowls (or crown green ) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green . The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is traditionally formed with a raised centre known as the crown.
31-718: The Roses Tournament is an annual varsity sports competition between Lancaster University and the University of York in England, often described as the largest inter-university sports tournament in Europe. It is organised by their respective Students' Unions, LUSU and YUSU . It takes its name from the 15th-century civil war, the Wars of the Roses , between the House of Lancaster and
62-481: A boat race between the two universities. The students amplified this idea and held a 5-day event with a variety of sports: rowing , table tennis, relay race , mixed field hockey , and tug of war . The winner of each of the sports received two points, and the losing vice-chancellor presented a trophy to the winning university. The event has continued to increase in size since its founding, with new events added every year (2004 had 37 different sports). Live coverage of
93-630: A Virtual Roses tournament which was won by York. The first Roses following the COVID-19 pandemic saw the largest win margin of the tournament's history as Lancaster beat York 241 points to 102. The following sports were included in the 2023 edition of the tournament: * In addition to the University teams, football and netball also includes matches between each university's intercollegiate league champions. Postgraduate and medical society teams have also appeared in some years. ** In 2023 table tennis
124-553: A boat race and tug of war some of the 30 sports. York won the tournament by 101-97 with a 3-1 win in the soccer securing the win. In the 2012 tournament a stadium was used for the first time. The Rugby 1sts XV battled it out at Huntington Stadium , the home of the York City Knights . During the 2013 tournament York opted to use the same venue again, for the second year running. The Lancaster University Men's Hockey Club 4th Team, Lancaster Bombers American Football team and
155-408: A bowl: with or against the bias. Sending a bowl with the thumb on the biased side is known as thumb peg and sending a bowl with the thumb on the non-biased side is known as finger peg. The different pegs determine in which direction the bowl will go. A player delivering the jack is expected to declare which peg is used, but a player delivering a subsequent wood is not. The jack, also commonly known as
186-440: A bowling green or simply the green (usually 45x45 yards). The green usually has a raised centre known as the crown which can often be as high as 30 centimetres above the edge of the green. The green has a ditch around the edge, and slopes on all sides from the crown towards the ditch. Greens are usually rectangular or square, but L-shaped and circular greens also exist. The surfaces also often feature ridges, hollows and slopes to make
217-439: A composite plastic. Wooden bowls have a variable density throughout their core due to the nature of wood. Plastic bowls have a consistent and regular density throughout and manufacturers can produce bowls in different densities generally known as standard, low density and high density. This means that a smaller bowl with a higher density can be the same weight as a larger bowl with a lighter density. There are two ways of delivering
248-462: Is a single circle with the manufacturer's name and other official lettering. This side of the jack is the side with the bias. The other side has a single circle surrounded by three solid dots or smaller circles indicating the non-bias side. Official jacks must also be stamped with an approved date stamp every seven years to comply with the rules. Jacks measure 9.5 cm (3 & 3/4 inches) in diameter and weigh about 660 grams (1 lb 7 oz). The mat
279-628: Is common. Players often have their initials marked on one side, or use stickers to identify their bowls. One side of the bowl has an indent or dimple allowing the player to identify by touch which side of the bowl has the bias. Crown green bowls come in a variety of bias strengths, weights, densities, sizes, materials and colours. The minimum weight is 2 lb (0.91 kg) but there is no maximum weight. Bowls are referred to and sold by their weight, and are available from 2 lb 0 oz to 2 lb 14 oz, in 1 oz increments. They were traditionally made from lignum vitae wood but are now manufactured from
310-407: Is for a player to finish with their own bowls closer to the jack than those of the opponent. For each bowl that is closer than those of the opponent, a player scores one point. Each player usually has two bowls allowing a maximum of two points on each end. A score of one or two is denoted to the two markers (one from each team, in a team match) by raising one or two hands. The winner of the end delivers
341-467: Is frequently referred to as the largest inter-university sports tournament in Europe. Crown green bowls Crown green bowls is played in the Midlands , Northern England , and North Wales . The aim of crown green bowls is to roll a set of two bowls from the hand towards a smaller target bowl known as the jack. Rolling the bowl or jack is known as the delivery. When delivering a bowl or jack,
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#1732779661135372-400: Is the 'Vice Chancellors' Fixture', with the sides consisting of the vice chancellor and the sports president. In past years, croquet is usually played between "executive" teams comprising some combination of chancellors, vice-chancellors and Students' Union presidents, and does not contribute any points to the overall score. In some years, this has been replaced with crown green bowls . Due to
403-625: The COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 edition of the annual Roses Tournament to be held at Lancaster University was cancelled. As an alternative, Lancaster University Students' Union and York University Students' Union created a virtual tournament on Facebook . Events took place in the form of challenges that participants would have to provide photographic or video evidence for. Challenges of were judged by Lancaster SU Vice-President for Activities, Victoria Hatch and York Sport Union President, Maddi Cannell. The tournament took place between 1–2 May 2020 and
434-506: The House of York . The counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire are traditionally symbolized by the red and the white rose respectively, although some York teams play in gold and black kits. The competition is held every year during the early May bank holiday weekend , alternating its venue between the two universities. The first event happened on 15 May 1965 after the Vice-Chancellor of York, Lord James of Rusholme , suggested
465-692: The University of Cambridge . In addition to the 1827 University Match in Cricket mentioned above, the first " Boat Race " in 1829 the first " Varsity Match " (in Rugby Union) in 1872, and the first " Varsity Game " (in Basketball) in 1921 were all contested between Oxford and Cambridge. Unusually for British university sporting events, both the Boat Race and Varsity Match are shown on broadcast television. Unlike many more recent varsity competitions,
496-480: The University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayfield stadium is claimed to be the oldest recurring varsity match in the world, having been played since the 1860s. It is predated by the University Match in Cricket between Oxford and Cambridge, which was first played in 1827. The country's longest-running series of varsity matches is played between the University of Oxford and
527-555: The Lancaster Trampolining team were the only teams to remain unbeaten in the history of the tournament to date going into Roses 2012, however all three teams lost to their York counterparts in 2012. For the 50th battle of the Roses in 2014, the tournament was hosted at Lancaster. Lancaster created a purpose built stadium for first time which hosted the opening and closing ceremony, as well as fixtures including women's rugby, men's rugby and archery. The 2015 tournament
558-569: The Oxford–Cambridge matches stand alone rather than being part of a wider multi-sport varsity competition. British newspaper The Independent proposed in 2008 that Bath vs Loughborough was "the real varsity match" on the basis that these were the top two teams (at that time) in British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) competitions. Since 2015, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS),
589-553: The Virtual Roses Tournament, to take place on Lancashire Day (27 November), was announced via the same Facebook page that hosted the summer edition on 17 November 2020. Lancaster won by a score of 40-22. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2021 edition of the annual Roses Tournament to be held at York University was cancelled. As an alternative, Lancaster University Students' Union and York University Students' Union created "Roses Unlocked". Events took place in
620-478: The block, is a smaller version of the bowls used by each player in a game of crown green bowls and also contains a bias. There are written specifications determining the size, weight and bias strength of jacks. To be able to be used in an official British Crown Green Bowls Association recognised league match or competition, jacks must be black, white or yellow. Other colours are available for use in practice. Jacks have different markings on each side. On one side there
651-479: The event is broadcast every year by a collaboration between the two universities' student television stations YSTV and LA1:TV , and their two student radio stations, Bailrigg FM and University Radio York . The importance of non-sporting social activities at the event has also been increased, with organised events on the Friday and Saturday evenings. In 1989, Roses celebrated its silver Jubilee with rugby, rowing,
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#1732779661135682-441: The form of a pentathlon consisting of a sprint, running, a static erg, a swim and a cycle between most uni sports teams and were live-streamed online. The tournament took place between 30 April–2 May 2021. York won by a score of 115-57. List of British and Irish varsity matches A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between
713-502: The game more difficult. Due to this vast array of historical differences, no rules stipulating the shape, size or height of the crown are laid down by the British Crown Green Bowls Association. In crown green bowls, players use two bowls each. Bowls are also commonly known as woods. There are no requirement for official markings on the bowls although manufacturers branding and the weight of the bowls
744-444: The jack in the next end. Competitive games are usually held between two people with the winner being the first person to accumulate 21 points. An unlimited number of ends are played until someone wins. Variations exist where players can have more than two bowls, games are played to 31 points or more, or players form teams of two or more players. Crown green bowls is played on a specially prepared short-cut smooth grass surface known as
775-407: The jack. An end finishes when all bowls have been delivered. At the amateur level it is usual for several ends to be played simultaneously on one green. If two moving woods meet, both are taken back and the shots replayed. If a moving wood strikes a stationary wood or jack from another end, it is again taken back and replayed, but the bowl struck is replaced where contact took place. The aim of an end
806-433: The player must place one foot on a mat to ensure that all bowls and jack are sent from the same spot. A full game comprises a number of ends. An end is where the jack is rolled first. The player sending the jack can choose to deliver it wherever they like on the bowling green. This ability to bowl an end in any direction is a unique feature of crown green bowls. Players then take it in turns to roll each of their bowls towards
837-454: The successor to BUSA, has organised fixtures between Loughborough and Durham (two of the top universities since 2011-12) to occur on the same day, in what has been termed the "BUCS Varsity". A number of city and regional sporting rivalries exist between universities, which are also dubbed varsity matches. The Roses Tournament between the universities of York and Lancaster is one of the oldest and largest of these, dating back to 1965. It
868-495: The tournament for the first time in 2016 in the form of League of Legends , Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive . The 2018 tournament saw the introduction of dodgeball and golf to the competition, as won by the Lancaster Royals. In March 2020 it was announced that the event would be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . However, a competition was held with the Roses tournament being replaced by
899-400: Was a mix of events that were open to all, events that were only open to members of specific societies, and events only competed by specific individuals. Most events awarded 50 points for 1st place, 30 points for 2nd place, and 20 points for 3rd place. Some events awarded points for the number of participants each University had. Some events awarded 100 points for the winner. A winter edition of
930-546: Was officially opened by England football team manager Roy Hodgson and Football Association chairman Greg Dyke . The opening ceremony, which featured a series of boxing matches dubbed 'Friday Night Fight Night', was watched by 1,000 people in the University of York's Central Hall , with a further 5,000 people watching on large screens across campus. It was also the first year that one university had scored more than 200 points; however more point scoring activities are present now compared to 50 years ago. Esports were introduced to
961-566: Was won by York by a score of 2337-1971. Charity fundraising was also done alongside the tournament, with a total of over £5000 being raised. The 'Opening Ceremony' for the tournament featured a number of video performances being uploaded to the Virtual Roses 2020 Facebook page on 1 May 2020. Sets were performed by Emily Millard, Lancaster's Brass Quintet , Lancaster's Clarinet Choir , Lancaster's Chamber Choir , Hamza Dalvi, Victoria Hatch, and Lancaster University Comedy Institute. There