In a sign of the times, the Ballina Men’s Bowling Club and the Ballina Women’s Bowling Club have “unified” to become one entity.

The merger of the two clubs will make administration much easier and follows similar moves at a state level.

The women’s club was established in 1960 and the men’s club was founded in 1909.

After negotiations over the last 12 months, the two clubs officially became one on Sunday and will now be known as the Ballina Bowling Club.

Newly elected president Phil Power said the merger had come at a pivotal time as both clubs were struggling with declining membership and the perception that bowls was an old person’s sport.

“The state of play of the game is that not enough has been done to market the game and introduce it to new players,” he said.

“The demographics of the men’s club are quite old and the women’s club was struggling to get a committee together.

“The perception is that it’s an old person’s sport, but the younger you start playing it, the better you’ll become.”

Mr Power said Ballina had some of the best bowling greens in Australia and it was now up to the newly merged club to attract more people of “working age”.

He said initiatives such as Thursday night bowls and partnerships with schools had already generated interest from younger players.