Fresh from winning ten-pin bowling gold at the Gay Games in Valencia, John Williams is preparing to roll again at Auckland’s Rainbow Games this October and wants bowlers of every age and ability to join him
At 80, John Williams is not interested in slowing down. When he is not competing in ten-pin bowling, he is travelling the world, pursuing his passion for riding motorcycles. Soon after returning from Valencia, he was preparing to leave again for Bolivia with a packed itinerary of full-day rides.
That appetite for life has been accompanied by 34 years of bowling. Williams began playing after moving to Auckland and joined the Sail City Bowling League, where he found far more than just a weekly sporting commitment.
“I found like-minded friends who, over the years, have become like family,” he says. “We still meet and bowl every Sunday.”
Two years after joining the league, Williams travelled with fellow Sail City bowlers to the 1994 Gay Games in New York, where he won gold medals. The experience gave him a lasting goal: every four years, he would return to test himself and challenge for another medal.
His latest victory in Valencia proves that ambition has never faded. Next, Williams will compete at the Rainbow Games, taking place in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland from 29 October to 1 November. He hopes his story will encourage others to register for ten-pin bowling, whether they are experienced league players or have never thrown a ball before.
“If you can hold a bowling ball and push it down the lane, you will enjoy the excitement of seeing it knock down the pins,” he says. “No athletic skill is needed to have fun.”
For Williams, bowling’s accessibility is one of its greatest strengths. Its handicap system allows newcomers to compete alongside more experienced players, while practice brings the same rewards and challenges found in any sport. At the Rainbow Games, social and competitive divisions ensure participants can choose the experience that suits them.
“Every competition is a new challenge to be the best you can be on the day,” he says. “The extra dimension of bowling at the Games always provides a high level of fun and competition through the diversity of the players.”
That combination of competition and connection has shaped Williams’ life. Growing up on a farm in a conservative town during the 1950s and ’60s, team sports provided an important social outlet. Travel later opened his world, sparking his interest in photography and introducing him to cultures and communities he continues to revisit decades later.
Williams has never felt the need to let sexuality define or limit him. Instead, he hopes the confidence with which he moves through the world offers something valuable to younger LGBTQ+ people.
“I would hope I am an inspiration to the younger generation to find like-minded friends and family, grow confident in themselves and live life with passion,” he says.
He credits his own health and energy to doing exactly that: building a life around work, sport and hobbies he genuinely loves.
“Life has been very good to me,” he says. “I have been able to live every day passionately.”
For anyone worried they may be too old, too inexperienced or too nervous to enter the Rainbow Games alone, Williams’ message is simple: register.
“Bowling lanes are always a very social environment, and even more so when an event like the Rainbow Games is happening,” he says. “Anyone at any level should not hesitate to register and take part in this fun and friendly sport.”
Rainbow Games ten-pin bowling takes place at PINS Henderson on Saturday 31 October, with singles, doubles and trios competitions. Participants can enter individually and be matched with others. Registrations close 16 October.
