Lawn Bowls

Resurrecting Bowls Oldest Tournament at New Plymouth Bowling Club

New Plymouth Bowling Club

When the New Plymouth Bowling Club was established way back in 1885, there wasn’t a lot of bowls being played in New Zealand.  In fact, the only other club in the North Island was in Auckland’s Grafton Gully … the Auckland Bowling Club which had been around since 1861.

The New Zealand Bowling Association wasn’t formed until 1886, and the then existing 12 clubs in New Zealand didn’t start playing national competitions until 1891.

But early on, It must’ve quickly become a matter of provincial pride as to who had the ‘best’ bowling club in the North Island.

So the ‘Challenge Cup’ was conceived as a competition between Auckland and New Plymouth, and first played for in New Plymouth in 1886.

That must’ve been a big call.

Travel between Auckland and New Plymouth was by sailing ship … it was a long way to go just for a bowling tournament … and took a long time .. perhaps a week each way.

Overland was out of the question.  There was no State Highway 3.  In fact there was only a horse track between Awakino and Mokau which wasn’t widened to take a horse and cart until 1897.  The first car didn’t make it through until 1905, and even then some of the route required horse-drawn assistance along the beach.

“Despite the difficulties, the Challenge Cup was played for in 1886 and again the following year,” says Patron of the Auckland Bowling Club, Graeme Scott.  “It was in Auckland in 1887, and back in New Plymouth in 1888.  New Plymouth won on all three occasions.”

For whatever reasons, the challenges stopped for a few years.  And it wasn’t until 1912, that the idea of playing the challenge was revived again.

“They must’ve been serious,” says Graeme.  “Because both clubs contributed £6 towards the creation of a solid silver trophy mounted on a greenstone base.  It’d be worth a few bob today!”

“The trophy was played for in 1913, 1914 and 1915, and on each occasion, New Plymouth won.  Winning three years in a row, meant that New Plymouth retained the trophy.”

Challenges stopped (probably because of the first world war), and the trophy was largely forgotten about.  Until last year.

“We got wind of the Challenge Cup,” says Nenad Rajic, President of the Auckland Bowling Club.  “So we caught up with New Plymouth last year and challenged them for the cup.  They accepted.”

More than one hundred years later, in January this year in New Plymouth, the Challenge Cup was played for once again.

“We flew down to New Plymouth for the weekend with our Four of Phil Robottom (lead), myself at two, Glenn Newton (three) and Leif Selby (skip).  It was a great weekend … the bowls were challenging (we came away with the win) and the hospitality was superb.”

“They had a very competitive team … Graeme Earl (lead), Gordon Brown (two), Basil Newland (three) and skip, Richard Helms. Unfortunately Basil had to be substituted after the third end by an equally worthy replacement, Tobin Hori.”

However, the win didn’t mean that Auckland lifted the Challenge Cup.

“It’s a bit like the Bledisloe Cup … the current conditions of play mean that we have to win three times in a row,” explains Graeme.  “Having said that, the President of the New Plymouth Bowling Club, Grayson McEldowney, was gracious enough to allow us to ‘borrow’ the trophy for a while!”

“We’ve also agreed new on-going conditions of play.  It’ll be competed for every second year on a home and away basis … the next challenge will be in Auckland in 2025.”

“It’ll still be Fours … and we’ll still have to win three time in a row to lift the trophy.  But we’ve got one win under our belt now!”

Bowls New Zealand
https://bowlsnewzealand.co.nz/news/resurrecting-bowls-oldest-tournament-in-new-zealand-the-challenge-cup/

Frittering Away the Days at Awakino Bowling Club

Awakino

Mention Awakino, and most people will think of the small white baiting settlement on the west coast of the North Island: the last place on the coast before State Highway 3 hits the Awakino Gorge (going north) or the last place before a not-to-be-missed whitebait fritter sandwich at the Whitebait Inn or the River Run Café in Mokau (going south).

It’s a settlement of just 5 permanent households … and another 15 baches occasionally occupied by holidaymakers or white baiters during the season from the 15 August to the end of November.

It’s also the home of the Awakino Bowling Club … a club of 5 full-playing members, and15 social members. That mightn’t sound many, but in a town with a permanent population of ‘less than 10’, that’s like Auckland having a bowling club of 700,000 or 800,000 members!

“Only two of the permanents are playing members,” says Past President and Life Member Gail O’Keeffe, “The others come from around the district.”

Nevertheless, what other bowling club can skite about signing up 40% of the local population!

The Awakino Bowling Club is also the ‘Hadrian’s Wall’ of the Taranaki Centre – the northern most club in the Centre … defending the Taranaki bowls empire against the insidious encroachment of competitive leisure-time activities!

And as far as Gail is concerned, they’re not going to be doing any encroaching under her watch.

She’s determined to keep the club open until she can no longer, and she is helped by a group of locals who feel similarly about their club.

After all, the Awakino Bowling Club has been around for nearly 100 years.

It was created by the local hotel proprietor, Tony Bartlett, who was also a pretty sharp bowler in his time, and wanted to be able to practise his favourite sport without the long trip to town. He used his money (and corralled the help of some local labour) to build the green and clubhouse. The club kicked off in 1927 with 10 members and an annual sub of 50 shillings.

The club reached its zenith in the late 1950’s when it won the Northern Division Shield Championship in consecutive years (1956/1957 and 1957/1958) and again in 1967/1968 and 1979/1980.

“I didn’t join until 1992,” says Gail. “My husband and I had retired in 1987 down the road at Mokau. We had lived in Eltham, but used to come white baiting with a scoop net on the Mokau. I can remember mum saying that when she was a girl she used to put a net out while she milked the three house cows. She’d fill a 5-gallon can. She used to feed the left over whitebait to the pigs and chooks!”

These days whitebait is a little harder to come by. But it doesn’t stop the smallest club in the Centre running the lawn bowls tournament towards the end of November it’s renowned for: the Whitebait Tournament. “We’ve had 28 teams competing in the past,” says Gail, “14 teams out on the green … we only have 7 rinks … and 14 teams inside. We swap over every hour.”

“The winners get 300gms of whitebait each, and the runners-up 250gms.”

But more important to the Awakino area is the annual Awakino-Mokau Community Christmas Party, which is being run by the bowling club after the local Lions Club closed down.

“We get over 50 people here,” says Gail. “The club opens up the bar and puts on a feed of ham, chicken, potatoes, peas, salads, ice cream, jelly and pavlova.”

That’s what small communities are all about.

When they re-roofed the Awakino Community Hall across the road, the bowling club grabbed the old corrugated iron and built a ‘new’ fence around the green. It was gratefully received. The club isn’t wealthy … money is just used where it is needed … like the rates bill which is $35 every quarter. Otherwise, things only happen with volunteer labour.

“We’re proud of our club.” says Gail, “and we’re all looking forward to our centenary celebrations in 2027.”

Keep up the great work, Gail and team.

bowlsnewzealand.co.nz/news/frittering-away-the-days-at-awakino-bowling-club/

 

Stratford District Citizens Awards 2024: Gloria Corkill – always ready to help

Courtesy of The Stratford Press: 1st August 2024

Gloria Corkill is a 2024 Stratford District Council Citizens Award recipient.

Gloria Corkill is a 2024 Stratford District Council Citizens Award recipient.

When Gloria Corkill is sorting food at the Stratford Foodbank, or volunteering her time at the Stratford Salvation Army, she gets a sense of satisfaction knowing she’s helping those in need.

Corkill has spent almost half a century helping in various community organisations, and despite now being 85 she is yet to stop.

That community service has earned her a 2024 Stratford District Council Citizens Award.

She said she was shocked when she received the letter informing her of the award.

“I didn’t do this for an accolade or anything, I was very surprised.”

Corkill, who went to Eltham Public School and attended Stratford High School for two years, has always been ready to help, with all her volunteer work happening in Taranaki.

“I’ve lived in Taranaki for all my life.”

During her secondary school holidays, she helped at Hāwera Hospital.

“I worked as a nurse aide. At the time, they were short on staff so I used to work to relieve people during the holidays.”

Corkill lived in Toko for 23 years while her husband was the Toko Dairy Company foreman.

While there, she volunteered with the local Scouts club, spending seven years as a cub leader and three years as the district leader.

When the Douglas Athletics Club started, she was one of the first volunteers.

“I used to bring my children into town for athletics but when they started the athletics club in Douglas we moved there. I volunteered there while my children were competing.”

She left Toko in 1989, spending a year in Eltham caring for her mother before moving to Stratford in 1990. When she returned to town, she volunteered for 13 years at Budgeting Advice and four years with Grey Power.

Corkill was also one of the original members of the Stratford Positive Ageing Group. She has some fond memories of those early days, setting up the group and connecting with like-minded people in the community.

She was an umpire for outdoor bowls for roughly 30 years, first with Toko and then Stratford and across the wider Taranaki region.

In 1994, she joined the Citizens Advice Bureau, spending 20 years using her budgeting skills to help the community. During this time, she held the role of treasurer for four years and chairperson for another four years.

Two years later she started volunteering at the Stratford Salvation Army Family Store. She is still there 30 years on, spending her Saturday mornings there, helping those in need.

About 18 years ago she started with the Stratford Foodbank, sorting donations and making up parcels for those in need.

“All the food in the pantry comes from our Christmas drives, donations, organisations, collections and at the moment from the Food Network.”

Volunteering is something Corkill said she genuinely enjoys.

“I get a lot of satisfaction from it. I met lots of interesting people and made lots of friendships through volunteering.”

Stratford Mayor Neil Volzke said Corkill has done a lot over the years for her community and the wider district.

“She is an amazing volunteer who has served our community incredibly well for a time.”

Courtesy of The Stratford Press: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/stratford-press/news/stratford-district-citizens-awards-2024-gloria-corkill-always-ready-to-help/I5PPU4OHYBH35JYZVGFFGPFLHE/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEzULtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQ4FxY3m8y35KrPjzcEKfA26JNrrHhZaU8f1uh7wMIndoqQkCIQ4EO7GVQ_aem_fn7AKAyjGiFQDBzUTEWtEA
1st August 2024

Team’s Weekend Ruined after winning National Championship

A victorious Taranaki bowls team has returned disheartened after thieves took off with the bowls which won them the championship.

The Hawera women’s bowls team won the New Zealand Women’s second division interclub title against Raumati South, at the Carlton Cornwall Club in Auckland on Monday.

It was a career highlight for the team of Maureen Tamou, Jo Bloor, Faye Hopkins, Diana Rowe, Thelma Edgar, Betty Fraser and Patty Symes.

“We were on a very, very big high all the way to Hamilton,” team manager Kristin Stampa said.

However, their victory was overshadowed by thieves at a McDonald’s in the Hamilton suburb Frankton who broke into their van and stole all of the bowling bags, containing the champion bowls, she said.

“They were angry. It’s pretty bittersweet, it just marred everything for us,” she said.

“We were only in there 30 minutes.”

Stampa’s work laptop and cellphone were also taken.

Despite the distressing situation, they could still laugh about the situation to a point, Stampa said.

“We reckon they thought they were stealing luggage because who would take bowling bags?

“So we saw the funny side of it.”

Before heading into the fast-food outlet, Stampa said she had taken notice of the car which was pulled up beside the team van, which seemed to be leaving its motor running for an unusually long time despite the two male occupants not being in hurry to go anywhere.

Stampa said she thought she might not have locked the van properly and felt at fault for the theft.

However, when they were driving out of Hamilton a cold breeze led them to discover the culprits had removed a small triangle pane of glass in order to let themselves in, she said.

“The police woman, she asked what model the van was and I told her and she went, ‘oh, they’re really easy to break into’.”

Each bowl set would cost up to $800 to replace for the seven bowlers, and wet weather gear and bowling accessories worth hundreds of dollars were also stolen, Stampa said.

“But a person’s bowls, it’s like your jewellery – it’s special to you.

“It’ll often have a special emblem on it which identifies you. When they play a shot, you look at the bowl and then you look at the person because you know who it belongs to.

“Losing that, losing your bowls is just like chopping an arm off.”

The team was grateful no one was hurt in the process, but that didn’t mean they weren’t “brassed off” by the situation.

She was also confused at the items the thieves didn’t take, including a GPS unit and cellphone.

“The silly part is they took some food out of the chilly bin and not what had been sitting out above as well.”

That being said, it would take a lot to dampen their spirits following their national win, Stampa said.

Having scraped through in the first round and taking out Browns Bay, the tournament favourites, in the sudden death round, it was an impressive win for the team, she said.

“It was an awesome effort to do this against the big cities.”

Hamilton police had not been in contact with Stampa on Tuesday with an update, she said.

“But I know if there was an option between buying all new sets, or having their own gear back, I know which option they would choose – they’d want their old stuff back.”

stuff.co.nz/national/crime/78138291/hawera-womens-bowls-team-gets-their-championship-bowls-stolen

Hannah Lee

Cross Country Mixed Pairs Qualifying

Check out the results from today’s Cross Country Mixed Pairs. The results and draw for tomorrow’s play is under Centre Results.

40 teams have qualified for Post section at Hawera Park and Tower tomorrow. A successful day ran across 5 venues with 76 teams taking part. Thankfully it survived the predicted rain and fingers crossed for fine weather tomorrow.

Thanks to all the volunteers and clubs for hosting and good luck to those who have qualified.

Vospers Women’s Interclub Winners

Vospers Women’s Interclub finished today. After battling the weather it turned out to be Paritutu’s day, winning both Division 1 and 2.
Credit goes to West End who finished runner up in both divisions. We thank Mike Aro and Vospers Funeral Services for their continued support of Bowls Taranaki. We also would like to thank the players, supervisors, umpires and clubs for their efforts and patience getting through a couple of wet days and making Interclub this year a success.

For all Centre Results Click Here

Men’s and Women’s Rep Teams v Whanganui Announced.

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Congratulations to the following players for being selected for the Revital Fertilisers Taranaki side in the upcoming fixture against Whanganui to be held at Hawera Park.

Men’s:
Selectors Allan Batley & John Garrud
Singles: Darren Goodin (Paritutu)
Pairs: Craig De Faria (West End), John Roberts (West End)
Triples: Maurice Symes (Fitzroy), John Garrud (West End), Kelly Hill (New Plymouth)
Fours: Adam Collins (Paritutu), Steve Walker (West End), Aidan Zittersteijn (Paritutu), Dave Wilson (West End)

Manager: Martin Jordan

Unavailable for selection
Dean Elgar & Hamish Kape

Taranaki Under 8s

Singles: Nathan Goodin (Rahotu)
Pairs: Bruce Colgan (West End), Camron Horo (Rahotu)
Triples: Rob Clark (Manaia), Brian Pearce (Startford-Avon), Kevin Archer (Paritutu)
Fours: Steve Sabine (Inglewood), Kurt Smith (Oakura), Luca Dobson (Hawera Park), Peter Van Dyk (Inglewood).

Manager Graham Reive

Practice at Paritutu for both Men’s teams on 8th November 5.30pm.

Women’s:
Senior Rep Squad: 2022 – 2023 season
Briar Atkinson (Paritutu), Val Symes (Fitzroy), Lesley Te Awa (Fitzroy), Chris Commane (Opunake), Rhonda Adams (Fitzroy), Trish Howard (West End), Jackie Moeahu (Paritutu), Rita Davey (Opunake), Susan Cottam (West End), Robyn Klenner (Fitzroy), Kristin Stampa (Hawera Park), Ella Smailes (Hawera Park).
Manager: Cathy Andrews

Under 8s Rep squad 2022 – 2023 season
Tina Atkinson-Watt (Paritutu), Judy Fox (Manaia), Shelley Baldwin (Paritutu), Tina Quilter (Lepperton), Amanda Crehan (Paritutu), Lea File (Fitzroy), Alesha Quay (Paritutu), Denielle Scown (Manaia), Sandra Feek (Paritutu), Judy Crawford (Fitzroy), Julie Hemahema (Opunake), Angie Debique (Opunake).
Manager: Cindy Nicoll

Note: Rep practice will be on Tuesday 8th November at Stratford-Avon 5-30pm and 15th Nov at Paritutu at 5-30pm.

We wish all the players best of luck, and hope you represent Taranaki proudly.

 

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Kape’s four does it again in Hawera

It is one of the misfortunes of fours as a bowls team game that the often the only player who rates much of a mention is the skip of the side.

And on Saturday, as Hamish Kape’s Paritutu quartet made it back-to-back victories in the Scott Roberts Metcalfe Real Estate-sponsored men’s centre fours at Hawera Park, the value of an all-round, productive team was superbly illustrated.

While Kape had been instrumental in his side’s semifinal victory, in the final it was the cumulative drawing power of his front three – Kaylin Huwyler, Nathan Goodin and Aidan Zittersteijn – that gave Paritutu the advantage in the decider.

At the final count, Kape’s crew defeated West End’s Garry Murfitt 18-9 after 17 of the scheduled 18 ends. Murfitt’s side included Bruce Colgan, Lindsay Murfitt and Dennis Osborne.

The opening half of the game was an even contest. Murfitt took a three on the fifth end to lead 6-2, after Kape was astray with two drives. But two ends later the ledger was levelled at 6-6, with Goodin in particularly good touch.

After 10 ends, the sides could not be separated at 8-8.

But thereafter Kape’s side, aided by threes on the 12th and 14th heads, dominated proceedings.

Huwyler and Colgan had a good tussle off the front. Over the closing ends, Huwyler, a member of the senior Whanganui squad this season, was impressive to set up the Paritutu team.

Kape now has six Taranaki titles, Zittersteijn has four and both Goodin and Huwyler sit on three apiece.

In the semifinals, Kape converted and reduced on a number of ends as his side beat Hawera Park’s George Stannard, Trevor Symes, Sean Cullinan and Frank Pollock 20-14. The two teams could not be separated through 13 ends.

Murfitt’s side was in control from an early stage in the other semi, beating Hawera Park’s Gerald Hopkins, Jarrod Pettitt, Glynn Herbert and Brian Eccleshall 23-7.

Meanwhile, in the Vospers-sponsored women’s first division interclub at West End on Saturday (05/11/22), after three rounds, the points are: Paritutu 14 +29, West End 10 +13, Fitzroy 10 0, New Plymouth 8 0, Inglewood 7 +10, Opunake 5 -52.

In the Vospers-sponsored women’s second division interclub at Stratford-Avon on Saturday, West End and Paritutu lead their respective sections. After three rounds, the points are:

Black:     West End 14 +32,  New Plymouth 10 -4,  Opunake 5 +6,  Stratford/Avon 5 -5,  Fitzroy 2 -29.

Amber:   Paritutu 10 +27,  Lepperton 10 -5,  Tower 8 +7,  Waitara 6 -12,  Manaia 2 – 17.

Stay up-to-date with the latest

Today sees the finalisation of Scott Roberts Metcalfe Real Estate men’s Centre fours at Hawera Park.

To keep up-to-date with the results, go to Centre Event results

Results of the Vospers-women’s interclub and Summerset-men’s interclub will also be posted as these are forwarded through to the Centre office. Each event throughout the season will have its own results page in this document.

Weather Update

7.20 am: Hawera Park is currently under water, a decision will be made at 10am this morning to see if any play today. If play is to start, earliest play will be 11am

West End play as normal, Greens in good condition.

Stratford-Avon, players to report at usual time.