Why Rounders is Bringing People Together

Introducing John Lowes our MyCommunity Rounders Chair. John joined as a player in January 2023 with wife Sarah Waite and hasnt looked back, signed to many teams and captains an all male team in the mens rumble league. John leads the board with warmth and determination, hoping to encourage others to gain from the game of rounders, as he has. Heres what John had to say : What inspired you to join the MyCommunity Rounders board? For me, rounders isn’t just a sport—it’s something much bigger. Sure, it gets people moving, but what really stands out is how it brings people together. The rounders community is amazing, and I’ve seen firsthand the social and health benefits it offers, but I also saw that not everyone could access that experience. Whether it’s cost, age, disability, or health issues, there are real barriers that stop people from joining in. MyCommunity Rounders is all about breaking those barriers down, and I wanted to be part of that—helping others find the same connection that I have. In your role as a board member, what impact are you most hoping to make? I want to help build strong foundations for the organisation—especially around funding and governance—so we can keep growing and making a difference. It’s about making sure we’re not just doing good work now, but setting things up so that we can keep doing it for years to come. How do you see MyCommunity Rounders growing or changing over the next few years, and what excites you most about that? I think we’re going to see MyCommunity Rounders reach more places and more people. What excites me most is seeing rounders being played by everyone—kids in schools, older adults in walking rounders groups, and people with disabilities in adapted sessions. Plus, I’m sure we’ll see more people joining our small group of volunteers as there’s already loads of opportunity but not enough of us to do it all! If you could achieve one legacy or lasting outcome from your time on the board, what would it be? I’d love to help make MyCommunity Rounders a recognised name across the country for inclusive sport. If, in a few years, rounders is being played in schools and community centres all over Wales and beyond—and people of all abilities are getting involved and loving it—I’ll be proud to have been part of the team that helped make that happen.

When Julie moved to Neath on the very day lockdown began, life looked very different. A qualified relationship therapist with a sporting background she had hoped to explore her new community, meet people and find a new rhythm for her young family. Instead the world shut down. “For 18 months I built my therapy practice online” she recalls. “But I missed the camaraderie of team sport. Sport had always been my lifeline and I could see through my therapy room just how isolated people had become. Many had lost vital social skills, there was a lot of grief and people were not sure how to socialise anymore. I wanted to help bring people back together.” At first she joined a walking group and casually asked if anyone fancied a game of rounders. The timing was not right, as it was the year of Welsh firebreaks and restrictions meant it never got off the ground. But the seed had been planted. One Post 152 People In September 2022 Julie phoned her local leisure centre, Aberavon Leisure Centre to ask if they had any free evenings. They told her Sundays were quiet. She took a chance posted in two Port Talbot Facebook groups and waited. “I turned up with one bat and one ball” she laughs. “I thought a handful might come but 152 people arrived. I was shocked, excited and completely unprepared. I did not even know all the rules so I just glued something together.” That night was the start of something extraordinary. Within weeks Julie had created a logo, branded the concept of social adult rounders leagues as MyRounders, drafted a friendlier version of the rules “I found the official ones a bit ruthless” and launched the first official Social Rounders Rules. By November 2022 the first league began in Port Talbot with eight teams. By January another division of eight was added. Soon after, a twelve team league launched in Gowerton. What started as one Facebook post had become a fast growing community movement. Momentum That Did Not Stop Nearly three years later MyRounders now boasts over 9000 registered players across South Wales stretching from Llanelli to Newport and everywhere in between. More than 350 teams play each week through the year, both indoors and outdoors. The model has diversified too. Alongside mixed leagues, there are now women only leagues, the first men only league in rounders history. Families play side by side “In one team in Pontardawe we have four generations of one family” Julie says. “Our eldest player is 74. We have got mums playing against sons, brothers playing alongside sisters. No other sport offers that kind of connection.” The playing standard has also grown. A select side of MyRounders players travelled to England to face experienced English teams and won. “We came away unbeaten against English sides and travelled to Leicester for the finals, where we lost in the final, but it was a great day and a wonderful achievement” Julie grins. Recognition has followed. In 2025 MyRounders won the Welsh Sports Associations Women and Girls Award for Best Sporting Initiative, cementing its reputation as one of the most exciting grassroots sport stories in Wales. Lives Changed by Rounders For Julie though it is the human stories that matter most. “There is one player Kelly Carr who reversed her diabetes after joining. Then there is Jane Maguire. She had lost her father and was in a deep place of grief. She joined rounders just to get out of the house and it gave her a reason to interact again. She is now a League Coordinator an umpire and one of our leaders. That is the kind of impact rounders has had, it changes lives.” She pauses before adding “That is what I am most proud of. It is not about scores or stats it is about people finding their confidence, their community and a reason to connect.” More Than a Sport A Movement What makes rounders so powerful, Julie believes, is its accessibility. “A lot of our players either hated PE at school, never played team sport or have not set foot in a leisure centre for years or maybe at all. Rounders is nostalgic welcoming and easy to play, it has the core basic physical skills of catching, throwing and batting. It is about fun first but it also gets people active without even realising it.” That mix of nostalgia, inclusivity and social connection has turned MyRounders into more than just a league system. “It is a movement” she says firmly. “The demand has been incredible and now we want to franchise the model so other communities can benefit in the same way South Wales has. I honestly still pinch myself this started, with one bat, one ball and a Facebook post. Now it is giving thousands of people their lives back.”