Altobelli advises trying this sport

Chris Yemma

A hop, skip and a jack, and before he knew it, Jim Altobelli was a

lawn bowler.

A Newport Beach resident for 30 years, Altobelli, 70, has found a

sport that keeps him active, yet is not too damaging on his knees.

A sport that involves a ball, called a bowl, and a jack, the

target you aim the bowl at, lawn bowling has a steady following in

the Newport area. And Altobelli is the man who holds the keys.

He is the former president of the Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling

Club, located in Corona del Mar, and is looking to increase the

number of participants in the area.

“We’re trying to get younger people,” said Altobelli, the father

of Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli. “Everybody

thinks it’s an older person’s game. But we tell them it’s an old

person’s game that younger people play.”

A former baseball coach himself with various youth and high school

teams, Altobelli has been practicing the art of lawn bowling for

going on 10 years. He currently plays two to three times a week at

the club.

Altobelli, who said he recently had two knees replaced, considers

the sport truly addicting. He used to play golf, but that became too

painful on his knees.

Now, his true passion is targeting the bowl at the jack.

“When I first started playing, I was immediately hooked,” he said.

“I found myself ditching work to go down there and play.”

Luckily, he owns his own business, an industrial diamond wheels

company that sells products used for cutting glass and other hard

materials.

Having relinquished his duties as president and tournament

director of the club, Altobelli said he still organizes certain

tournaments, the most important of which the club hosts every year in

early September.

In 2001, the first year of the tournament, Altobelli said they

raised a sum of money and donated it to the 9-11 victims’ families.

Last year, the donation, which was matched by the YMCA, he said, went

to selected families at Camp Pendleton that had kin in Iraq.

The club hosts regular tournaments at least once a month, he said.

Altobelli has coaxed his son, John, down to the club on a couple

of occasions.

“He has tried it a couple of times,” he said. “His hand-eye

coordination is phenomenal. Needless to say, he probably would have

beaten me with a little more practice.”

Altobelli said there are a variety of members in the club, ranging

in age from their 30s to his age and older.

One member is from New Zealand, he said.

But a common theme Altobelli likes to stress, is the club and the

sport are hoping to attract younger members. Altobelli believes the

sports has much to offer.

“It’ll take you 20 minutes to learn and a lifetime to conquer,” he

said.