History of Bowling in Morocco: from 1953 to Today

Bowling arrives with the Americans

Ten-pin bowling is an American sport, and it was the Americans who brought it to Morocco. After the Allied landings of November 1942, the United States set up several military bases in Morocco, including the Port-Lyautey naval air station (today Kenitra). In the early 1950s, the Cold War led them to add large air bases at Nouasseur, Sidi Slimane and Ben Guerir. Thousands of servicemen and their families lived there, along with their pastimes: cinema, swimming pool… and bowling.

Curiosity spread to the civilian population. In May 1952, the daily Maroc-Presse, reporting on a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce, asked the question: “Does bowling stand any chance of success in Morocco?” The answer was not long in coming.

1953–1954: bowling fever in Tangier and Casablanca

In spring 1953, La Tribune de Tanger noted that “there are many bowling projects” in the international city, because “our American friends are very fond of this pastime”. In July, La Vigie marocaine ran the headline “Tangier discovers bowling”: in less than four weeks, open-air lanes had opened in four different parts of the city. In August, Tangier’s Luna Park advertised its “great bowling attractions”.

Casablanca followed in the autumn. On 26 September 1953, L'Amirauté, on the Aïn Diab corniche, announced the “opening of the bowling alley”, inaugurated in the presence of a “Texas champion”. On Wednesday 25 November 1953, the Bowling Casablancais opened at 109 Boulevard Gambetta, on the site of the former Idéal Club Marocain. Its founders, Messrs Bertuzzi and Iachella, had installed fourteen lanes “made of plastic”, and Le Petit Marocain enthused: “Bowling has got off to a brilliant start in Morocco”. Players used three-hole balls weighing 3 or 7 kg.

The movement gathered pace in 1954:

• a company, International Bowling Limited (IMBOW), was registered in Casablanca in January;
• on 14 April, Anfa-Bowling opened on Rue de Pessac in Aïn Diab, with 8 teak lanes;
• a few days later, Bowling Pégoud moved into the basement of the former Tabarin, on Rue Pégoud;
• the Océanic-Club in Aïn Sebaâ added a two-lane bowling alley;
• in May, the Auberge Savoyarde in Sidi Bouknadel, near Rabat, opened its own with a gala evening.

In December 1955, a “Bowling-Club de Casablanca” was still being reported on Boulevard Gambetta. The digitised colonial-era newspapers stop shortly afterwards, and it is not yet known what became of these alleys after independence.

Bowling alleys on the American bases (1942–1978)

The American bases played a discreet but lasting role. A US Air Force regulation required a bowling alley to be scheduled within two years of each new base opening, and the archives confirm that they existed in Morocco:

These alleys were reserved for military personnel and their families, but they employed Moroccan staff: recollections from former Kenitra base residents mention “Driss from the bowling alley” in the late 1960s. The air bases were handed back to Morocco in the early 1960s, and the last American servicemen left Kenitra in 1977; their bowling alleys disappeared with them.

From the 1960s to the 2000s: a long interlude

For forty years, bowling remained rare and little known in Morocco. Travel guides from the 1960s mention “Le Bowling” on Rue Renard, a dance hall where you could also bowl, and a 1970s hotel chain, Hôtels Les Almohades, listed bowling among its facilities. In Marrakech, the Palmeraie Golf Palace housed a 6-lane bowling alley that travel guides mentioned as early as 2000; BowlingMaroc.com listed it in 2009, already noting the worn condition of the lanes. Renovated in 2018 with string pinsetters, it shows no sign of recent activity.

2004–2010: Morocco on the international stage

This is a little-known chapter: even before the Megamall opened, Moroccan bowlers represented the country in international competitions. The AMF World Cup (now the QubicaAMF World Cup), which brings together national champions from dozens of countries every year, welcomed Moroccan players five times:

Morocco also fielded a team at the Mediterranean Challenge Cup, the tournament for Mediterranean nations: in 2006 in San Marino (Daniele Amsellem, Dalila Ouaqqa, Mohamed Semmahi, Patrick Mehdi Leroy), then in 2007 in Mersin, Turkey, where the team finished 10th of 11 with an average of 175.79. No Moroccan player reached the finals, but these appearances show that a small community of experienced bowlers existed long before the rise of modern centres. No Moroccan participation in these major events has been found since 2010.

The revival: modern bowling centres (2005–2026)

Modern bowling was reborn in Morocco alongside the big shopping centres and leisure complexes:

There are also smaller venues, such as the Grand Plaza bowling alley in Marrakech (formerly Kech Bowling), the Bowling Lounge in Agadir, and the bowling alleys in Oujda and Ifrane. One operator now dominates the sector: Best Leisure, a subsidiary of the real-estate group Aradei Capital founded in 2012, which runs the bowling centres at Almazar, Socco Alto and WAW, and is preparing WAW venues in Fez and Tangier.

Each of these centres billed itself, when it opened, as “the first bowling alley” in its city, or even in Morocco. That holds true for the modern era, much less so in the light of the archives: Casablanca and Tangier had lanes as early as 1953.

How much did a game cost?

Sources: BowlingMaroc.com archives (2009), Team Tamaris Bowling club blog (2012), official price lists of the centres (2026). Current prices are detailed in our article on bowling prices in Morocco.

Competitive bowling gets organised

In 2007, a group of enthusiasts in Rabat founded the Association Sportive du Bowling Marocain (ASBM), the country’s first bowling association. It set up a weekly league at the Megamall that has run without interruption ever since: more than 35 quarterly leagues, around 130 members over the years and some ten national tournaments.

In the early 2010s, Casablanca got organised in turn around Tamaris. On 29 January 2012, the Team Tamaris Bowling club launched monthly inter-club tournaments with the ASBM and the Dauphins club from Rabat. In January 2013, the Tamaris Bowling Challenge, billed by its organisers as “the first major tournament ever held in Morocco”, was played over a week; it was won by Othman G. of the Dauphins. Further editions followed in 2014 and 2017.

The past decade has seen new events emerge:

• the Tangier International Open, organised by the ASBM’s Tangier section at Socco Alto: around fifty players on 30 November 2024 (won by Turkey’s Aytekin Kara), and 64 on 1 November 2025;
• the Intercity Strike Cup, created by the ASBM: more than 60 players from 7 cities on 18 January 2025 at the Megamall, and up to 108 players for the 2nd edition on 7 and 8 February 2026;
• in Marrakech, the Marrakech Bowling Association and its weekly competition (one player bowled a perfect 300 game there in January 2026), followed by the founding of the Club Marrakchi de Bowling Al Manara in November 2025.

To track the averages of bowlers from all these associations, Union Bowling Maroc offers a shared national ranking.

Why is there no bowling federation in Morocco?

Bowling is not among the federations recognised by the Moroccan National Olympic Committee, and the Royal Moroccan Sport Boules Federation only covers boule lyonnaise and raffa. Morocco is not a member of the International Bowling Federation (IBF), which has 120 member countries including six in Africa (South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Tunisia), nor of the African Bowling Federation founded in Cairo in 2018, nor of the Mediterranean confederation.

Competitive bowling in Morocco therefore relies entirely on associations. Creating a federation would require bringing together several affiliated clubs in different cities and a sufficient number of licensed players, then obtaining recognition from the ministry responsible for sport. In the meantime, competitions such as the Intercity Strike Cup already bring together bowlers from every city in the country.

Timeline of bowling in Morocco

• 1942 Allied landings; the US naval air station at Port-Lyautey (Kenitra) is established.
• 1952 Maroc-Presse wonders whether bowling has “any chance of success in Morocco”.
• 1953 Open-air lanes in Tangier (July), the L'Amirauté bowling alley in Aïn Diab (September), the 14-lane Bowling Casablancais on Boulevard Gambetta (November).
• 1954 Anfa-Bowling (8 teak lanes), Bowling Pégoud, the Océanic-Club in Aïn Sebaâ, the Auberge Savoyarde in Bouknadel.
• 1955–1965 Bowling alleys on the American bases at Nouasseur, Sidi Slimane, Ben Guerir and Kenitra.
• 1977 The last American servicemen leave Kenitra.
• 2000 The 6-lane bowling alley at the Palmeraie Golf Palace in Marrakech is mentioned in travel guides.
• 2004 First known Moroccan participation in the AMF World Cup, in Singapore.
• 2005 The Mega Mall in Rabat opens, with its 12-lane bowling centre.
• 2007 The ASBM is founded in Rabat; Morocco finishes 10th in the Mediterranean Challenge Cup.
• 2009 BowlingMaroc.com launches and lists the first centres.
• 2010 Tamaris Bowling opens in Casablanca.
• 2012 First monthly inter-club tournaments (Team Tamaris Bowling, ASBM, Dauphins).
• 2013 Tamaris Bowling Challenge; Almazar Bowling opens in Marrakech.
• 2016 The Socco Alto Bowling & Fun Park opens in Tangier.
• 2024 1st Tangier International Open.
• 2025 1st Intercity Strike Cup at the Megamall; ASBM section launched in Tangier; the Club Marrakchi de Bowling Al Manara is founded.
• 2026 2nd Intercity Strike Cup; WAW Casablanca opens; WAW Fez announced.

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