Hi there,
Happy daylight saving to all! October is the perfect time to start running shorter games of twilight bowls. It is also a great time to start getting some plans in place for 2015. I’m happy to visit your Club and discuss twilight bowls, business plans or any of the following items in greater detail – please drop me a return email or call 0408 798 272 to arrange a meeting. Remember that I am a FREE resource for your Club to call on.
Massive Month of Major Matches
In the past month, there has been a plethora of major bowls events and plenty of results for Sydney bowlers to be proud of…
Interstate Seniors
The NSW Senior Men claimed their third straight Interstate title last week after winning six of their seven interstate matches – NSW’s only loss was to Victoria when the title was already in the bag. Congrats to the representatives from the Sydney Clubs that were a part of the team: Trevor Imer (Northmead); Peter Hughes (Engadine) and Crawford Linton (Belrose).
The NSW Women’s side were runners-up at the event with three wins from six matches. The Western Australian team were runaway winners remaining undefeated and finishing three wins clear of NSW.
It was great to see the Men’s and Women’s matches being played side-by-side at the same venue (Tweed Heads).
Interstate Juniors
The NSW Junior team (Boys & Girls) travelled to Darwin earlier this month to compete in the Australian Under 18 Championships. Our team ran third overall finishing with six medals from the eight disciplines - 2 gold (boys’ pairs and girls’ pairs), 1 silver (girls’ triples), 3 bronze (boys’ singles, girls’ singles and fours). Queensland won the trophy for winning seven medals from eight events.
Well done to our Sydney reps who were: Ellen Ryan (Cabramatta) – Gold in Pairs & Bronze in Fours, Jamie-Lee Worsnop (St Johns Park) – Gold in Triples & Bronze in Singles, Sam Hatch-Caccamo (Carlingford). Congrats to Ellen Ryan for also being named in the 10-person 2014/2015 Australian Under 18 Squad.
Champions League
The Warilla Gorillas are the 2014 Champions League winners following two good wins in the Finals Series over two Sydney teams, the Minor Premiers Merrylands Magic and the Mount Lewis Lions. Merrylands Magic finished on top of the table only to fall under the same Minor Premiers curse that caught Mount Lewis last year, by leaving the Finals Series with two successive losses. The Mount Lewis Lions reached the Final against Warilla the hard way by winning sudden death matches against the Belrose Bulls, Taren Point Power and then Merrylands Magic. The NSW Women’s team performed well in their first season in the Champions League narrowly missing a spot in the Finals.
Asia-Pacific Indoors
The Asia Pacific Indoor Championships was played in Malaysia earlier this month and St. Johns Park’s Ben Twist captured his second international Gold medal in the men’s singles to go with his 2011 World Under 25 Singles title. Twist finished the event like he started with a convincing win over Malaysia’s rising star MD, Syamil Syazwan Ramli 21-7. Current Australian Open singles and fours champion Anne Johns (also from St. Johns Park) added another international medal to her trophy cabinet claiming Silver in the women’s singles, going down narrowly (15-18) against the two time Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Siti Zalina Ahmad of Malaysia.
…and speaking of big events, the National Champion of Champions Singles & Pairs are being played at Taren Point BC from yesterday through to tomorrow (14-16 October). This event is unique in that it provides a direct pathway for any Club bowler to represent Australia at the World Champion of Champions by initially winning their Club Major Singles or Pairs.
Also, good luck to all those that will represent their Zones at the Bowls NSW State Championships (Open, Seniors and President’s Reserves) to be played at Ettalong BC from this Saturday. I am sure that they will all proudly represent their Zones. All the details of the State Championships and those competing for a State Title can be found at the following webpage…
http://www.rnswba.org.au/RNSWBA/events/events/2014-nsw-state-championships-finals
Twilight Bowls
Is your Club gearing up to run a twilight bowls activity this Spring/Summer? Twilight bowls is a great way to get bowlers on the greens, new and regular players alike. I’m aware that a few Clubs have tried twilight activities in the past and have since stopped, while many others attract great crowds to their greens during daylight saving. I would be happy to visit your Club and share the twilight ideas that are working well at Clubs.
Australian Premier League – November 18 to 21 – Bowls on TV
Live bowls will be back on TV screens again soon. The Australian Premier League is back and season two is bigger with more action and two new teams. For the Clubs with Foxtel, it is a great opportunity to encourage members to watch bowls at your Club – some Clubs will be holding special APL viewing events such as Club Mount Lewis – for more details of their ‘best seats in the house’ promotion, refer to the following link…
Collectively, six Commonwealth Games gold medallists and 12 world champions will take part in the $100,000 APL02 event. The Australian Premier League will be shown LIVE on Fox Sports nationally and SkyTV in New Zealand each night of the November 18 to 21 competition, from 5.00pm-10.00pm AEST (with replays shown earlier in the day), while free entry and rink-side deck viewing will be on offer at Brisbane’s Club Pine Rivers.
Sydney will once again be represented by the Sydney Lions: Aron Sherriff, Karen Murphy and Steve Glasson (Coach: Gary Willis). The other teams are the Adelaide Endurance; the defending Champions, Brisbane Gold; Gold Coast Hawks; Melbourne Roys; Murray Steamers; New Zealand Blackjacks; and Perth Suns.
A full TV schedule will be emailed as a part of next month’s update. For other details, visit the website below…
http://www.australianpremierleague.com.au/
Upcoming Courses - Coaching Course & Selection Module
In future monthly updates, I will endeavour to list upcoming Coaching, Umpiring and Competition or Selection Module Courses to be held in the Sydney Metro area. For the moment, I am aware of the following courses to be held in October:
Club Coaching Course – Mon 20th & Tue 21st October at The Hills BC
Selection Module – Wed 22nd October at The Hills BC
If you would like to register for either course, please send an email to Declan Kelly (Bowls NSW) at declan@rnswba.org.au or Kate Wingrove (Women’s Bowls NSW) at admin@womensbowlsnsw.org
Australian University Games – Sydney
The Australian University Games were held in Sydney at the beginning of this month, the first time that Sydney has played host to Australia's largest annual multi-sport event in over a decade. University students from around the nation flocked to the event which featured 32 sports. The lawn bowls competition was hosted by Ashfield BC and around 100 bowlers from 15 Universities competed in two Divisions for the highly sought-after Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. Competitors in the event ranged in all levels of experience, from experienced Pennant players to players who played in their first competitive lawn bowls event. The Universities were split into two Divisions according to past performances and qualification events.
The final results were: Division 1 Gold – Charles Sturt, Silver – Uni of Newcastle, Bronze – Monash Division 2 Gold – RMIT, Silver – UTS, Bronze – Flinders Uni
Congratulations to Ashfield BC, and in particular Maelene Mihaere and Mike Wilson, for hosting and co-ordinating a great event.
Aloha Barefoot Bowls – At Venues Around Sydney
A few new bowlers (and their more experienced partners) took their first steps to winning an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii over the weekend. Aloha Barefoot Bowls events were played at Taren Point, The Hills and Blacktown City. Last Sunday at Blacktown City BC, State Opposition Leader John Robertson and Liberal MP for Smithfield Andrew Rohan also joined the 20 teams for a bit of a roll – well done to Martin Billam for co-ordinating a well-attended event at Blacktown City. Congrats to the winning teams at the three venues: Jim Stafford & Phil McGreogor; Bodhi Lewis & Ral Lewis; Wayne Murphy & partner. It’s not too late to enter with qualifying rounds being played this weekend at Penrith (Saturday) and Roselands (Sunday). Grab a mate/family member and enter online at… www.alohabowls.com.au
Improving Your Club’s Profile Through Media
Recently Bowls Australia provided an online article on describing ways in which clubs can help improve their publicity and profile. Please refer to following link…
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http://www.bowlsaustralia.com.au/News/ArtMID/852/ArticleID/11262/Generating-media-exposure-for-your-club
Free Club Websites
Speaking of Club profiles, an online presence is vital in these times. Gone are the days of potential bowlers finding your Club via the Yellow/White Pages. If your Bowling Club does not have an easy-to-update website, do you know that you have access to a website builder and that your new website can be hosted for FREE with a domain name such as www.yourclubname.bowls.com.au. These websites can always be linked to any other website that your Licensed Club may already have established.
To sign up for a free club website, please click the appropriate link below:
Click here to sign up for a club website if you are affiliated to Bowls NSW
Click here to sign up for a club website if you are affiliated to Women’s Bowls NSW
Jack Attack
Jack Attack will be launched nationwide next month. Jack Attack is a nationally branded program designed to attract new bowlers into your Club by providing non-bowlers an opportunity to compete in a structured 4-6 week short-game format – games go for no longer than one hour. The format is based on the Australian Premier League (APL) and can help drive new participants to your Club. Jack Attack will be launched nationally in November in parallel with the 2014 APL Season (live on Foxtel from November 18-21). If you would like to know more about Jack Attack and how your club can be involved, please let me know.
Australian Open
A reminder that entries are open for the richest event in world bowls, the 2015 Australian Open with $225,000 in prize money. There’s no need to partake in an arduous qualifying tournament any more - simply enter online or through the manual entry process and you’ll be guaranteed a place in the main draw.
Disciplines include men’s and women’s singles, pairs and fours, Under-18 boys’ and girls’ singles, bowlers with a disability singles and pairs. Visit the Australian Open website for more information…
http://www.australianopen.bowlsaustralia.com.au/
2015 State Pennants Final Venues
Bowls NSW recently announced the venues for the Men’s 2015 State Pennant Finals. Four Sydney Clubs will be sharing the Finals in two grades…
Grade 1 - Dapto Citizens & Albion Park
Grade 2 - Cabramatta & Ingleburn
Grade 3 - Kahibah & Warners Bay
Grade 4 - Leeton Soldiers & Narrandera
Grade 5 - West Dubbo & Dubbo Railway
Grade 6 - Northmead & Merrylands
Grade 7 - Orange City & Blayney
The Women’s State Pennant Finals will be played in the South Coast District from August 17-21, 2015.
Race Is On To Be Crowned #1
St. Johns Park’s David Holt leads the race to be crowned Aero Bowls National Male Bowler of the Year, while Jamie-Lee Worsnop (St. John’s Park) leads the Women’s race. On July 1, Bowls Australia introduced a new national player ranking system where fairness, equity, events graded on prize money levels and a stronger emphasis on major event results with a weighted points system are the cornerstones of the new system. The philosophy of the new system is to provide equal and just opportunity for bowlers across the country to earn ranking points with the highest ranked player, both male and female, to be crowned Australia’s number one player for the year. Each title is sponsored by Bowls Australia’s Official Preferred Bowls Supplier, Aero Bowls, and the highest ranked players will receive a cheque, courtesy of Aero Bowls, to the value of $3,000.
The new four-tier ranking structure will allow Clubs to apply for ranking status for any of their events that offer more than $3,000 in prize money. Carlingford, The Hills and Cabramatta have all run events recently that have allowed players to achieve ranking points. For more details on how your Club can be involved and for the current leaderboards, please refer to the following webpage…
http://www.bowlsaustralia.com.au/Events/Player-Ranking-System
Junior Jack Attack Kits – Selling Like Hotcakes
Dozens of Junior Jack Attack kits have now been sold to Sydney Clubs.
A Junior Jack Attack kit is the perfect resource to use with children for school activities, barefoot bowls groups, open days and any other activity where kids may be trying the sport of bowls. In each Junior Jack Attack kit are: 32 small-sized kid-friendly bowls (16 green & 16 gold), 50 cones, 8 mats, 8 jacks, 1 target mat, activity cards and a wheelie bag to put them all in …all this for less than the cost of one new set of bowls - just $400 (incl. GST) – freight is additional. Why not ask a Club sponsor to purchase a kit for your Club? – their business name can always be transposed across the side of the large kit bag. Junior Jack Attack kits can be purchased directly from Bowls Australia’s E-Store via the following link… https://shopdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=16084
If you would like a closer look at the kit, then please let me know and I will happily visit your Club to demonstrate.
My twitter handle… @chriswallace73
Have fun on the greens,
Chris Wallace | Regional Bowls Manager – Sydney
Bowls Australia Ltd. | PO Box 52 | Northcote Vic 3070
m: 0408 798 272 | t: 03 9480 7100 | f: 03 9495 0194
e: cwallace@bowlsaustralia.com.au | w: www.bowlsaustralia.com.au