Jayne and George got married in January of 1986 and settled in Belgium. Jayne was naturally reluctant to leave her beloved game behind and the pair agreed to spend their spare time for the next five years trying to develop the sport in Belgium. During the Summer of 1996 they carried out a number of demonstrations but found two big obstacles. firstly, the name of bowling was always associated with American tenpin bowling and secondly, that they were continually given outdoor areas which were unsuitable surfaces for playing bowls i.e. parts of football training grounds.

To resolve the first problem the adopted the name of curve bowling to describe the difference to tenpin bowling and founded the Curve Bowls Promotion Centre. Secondly, they purchased a 45 foot Short mat carpet, so that they could use indoor floors to demonstrate the sport of bowls as a whole. Using the carpet at a holiday and sport promotion exhibition in Hasselt, they successfully demonstrated the sport and this lead later in the year to the formation of a club in Diepenbeek. Other clubs began to form in 1988 and on a trip to England the George & Jayne made contact with the English Association and were promptly invited form a National Association and to attend the inaugural World Championships in England.

From this point the sport in Belgium has been steadily growing and whilst there may only be 12 clubs at present, they are scattered through the Flemish part of the country and through the continuing development work being undertaken, the Belgian Federation will no doubt continue to grow and will spread the Short Mat gospel outside of Belgium also. Despite their smaller numbers the skill of their sport can be seen at every World Championships and they will no doubt make their mark on the World of Short Mat bowls. The hard work and long hours that Jayne & George put in has given their Nation a new sport and this is a great gift.

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