Ian Lewis

Selectors Announced

Bowls Taranaki are pleased to announce the Selectors for the Revital Fertilisers Men’s and Women’s Representative Teams in 2022-23.

For the Men, Allan Batley has been appointed and for the Women, Don Christensen has been appointed. Marty Jordan will assist with the management of the Men’s Team, while John Sexton will be involved with the Women’s Team. We wish the appointee’s all the best for the upcoming season.

Bowls Taranaki have a busy schedule of Representative Tournaments for the year, kicking off with our annual fixture against Whanganui. Following that is the Octagonal Tournament in February featuring Wellington, Wairarapa, Kapiti, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Gisborne-East Coast, Whanganui and Taranaki. This tournament will be hosted in New Plymouth, so we can all come and show our support for the team!

At the same time our talented junior bowlers, will be featuring against their rivals in the Hexagonal Tournament, usually held in Whanganui, it will be hosted this year by Bowls Kapiti. With many talented junior bowlers, we have high hopes they can return as winners!

This all leads towards the National Intercentre in March 2023. To be held in Christchurch, it is expected our team’s will continue their good results and progress from the last few years and represent Taranaki with pride. With many promising players in the Women’s and Men’s teams and many seasoned ‘pros’ it promises to be an exciting year ahead.

Press Release – Bowls Taranaki.

Home Coming for New Executive Officer

It is a home coming for new Bowls Taranaki Executive Officer Ian Lewis.

Lewis has this week commenced employment with Bowls Taranaki and the former bowls champion himself is itching to get involved in the game once again.

Lewis followed his brother, Stephen, into bowls, when in 2007 he joined Paritutu, the very location where the Executive Officer for Bowls Taranaki is based. However, his tenure there was short as he and his now wife, Kim, headed off for a working holiday to the United Kingdom.

When they returned in 2010 it was to Palmerston North, where Ian found his whites once again. He joined the Palmerston North club, claimed a couple of junior centre titles and was the Manawatu centre secretary for two seasons.

Kim’s job as a radiographer took them to Opononi, where Ian’s bowls excelled. In addition to serving on the local club’s committee and having stints as secretary and treasurer, Ian amassed an impressive nine senior Far North centre titles and a gold star.

Kim’s work brought the family – which now includes Katie and Jessica, who are both at primary school – back to their New Plymouth base in 2019.

While Ian has been able to continue his art– he holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts – time is a bit more precious these days. Sadly, that has meant not playing bowls.

But the new role will satisfy a lot of the passion that Ian has for the sport.

“Growing up in Taranaki I was obviously aware of the importance of bowls to the community. And having started my own bowls whilst still living here, I fully understand the importance of the role and of Bowls Taranaki,” Ian said.

“I’m excited by the future and am looking to make a positive difference to the game here.”

New Bowls Taranaki Board Elected

The Annual General Meeting for Bowls Taranaki was held recently in Stratford. A new president was voted in with Grant Hassall taking over the role, vice president this term will be Eric Foreman. Returning board members are Robert Wolfe, Kevin Gray and Chris Commane with Val McEldowney and David Brunton joining the team. The board would like to wish everyone good luck for the upcoming season.