Founded in 1989, Stokenham Short Mat Bowling Club soon gathered an enthusiastic following and centred on Stokenham Parish Hall, it was not long before there were sufficient members to acquire two playing mats and all  the necessary support equipment.  Some attention to the floor and more recently improvements to the lighting has resulted in excellent playing conditions.

Today the club has a membership of 42 the majority of whom are keen active bowlers with sufficient enthusiasm to enable the fielding of two teams in the local league in addition to playing a number of friendly matches, knock out competitions and the arranging of numerous club competitions.
Keen competition in a friendly sociable atmosphere has continued to be one of the main objectives of the club and the purely social side is not neglected with the Annual Dinner and Lavis Cup Party as well as other fun events.
In 1999 to celebrate its anniversary, the club produced a brief history of the first ten years wherein it stated that of the original membership 18 were still with the club, today 14 remain although one or two are much longer in the tooth and there is a growing need to recruit some of the younger generations.