Bowls Taranaki Busy Over Winter – August 2023
Bowls Taranaki have been busy over the winter months preparing for the new season. Firstly, we are pleased to announce Midlands Funds Management as a major sponsor of Bowls Taranaki and the Taranaki Men’s Open Fours. We look forward to working with Midlands Funds Management over the coming years, and appreciate their support. You will see their name and logo on posters, entry forms and signage throughout the year.
We also would like to welcome on board The Devon Hotel, principal sponsor of ‘The Devon Hotel Women’s Open Fours’. Working alongside The Devon Hotel, we have some exciting plans for the Devon Hotel Women’s Open Fours, and look forward to another great event.
Our new board has been appointed, and we welcome Dean File, and Kristin Stampa, as Vice-President. Dean and Kristin have considerable experience in bowls and sports management, and we have already seen their skills make a positive impact around the boardroom table. We would like to thank David Brunton and Eric Foreman for their contributions. Grant Hassall continues as President, Robert Wolfe as Chairman, and Val McEldowney, Chris Commane and Kevin Gray as Board Members.
Bowls Taranaki works hard to reduce costs to clubs and members, and we compare favourably with other Centres. At our AGM, there was a small increase to the levy for membership, up to $24+GST per person. However this compares favourably with other Centres close to Taranaki who charge between $45-$55 per member.
We wish our Revital Fertilisers Taranaki Selectors and Managers all the best for the upcoming season. Don Christensen will again take charge of the women’s team, with Cindy Nicoll and John Sexton assisting. With, the men, we look forward to John Garrud taking over. John has high hopes of Taranaki taking the next step and firmly believes we have the talent to win. Bruce Hall will help with management and Graham Rieve will assist with the juniors.
Over the winter, we worked on getting a new website up and running. This will be more secure, easier to use, and is more attractive to potential sponsors, visitors and funding providers. Entries can be taken online for the Taranaki Open and live results will still be available.
Greenkeepers, Coaches and Umpires have been holding their Annual Meetings, with the Presidents for each association being duly elected. We look forward to working with Gary Lilley, Moe Kelly and David Brunton again, and know that they have a number of initiatives coming up including a Growsafe Qualification Day, Spring and Summer Field Days for Greenkeepers, and a coaching and umpires day at the start of the season. A number of new umpires have qualified for the start of the upcoming season.
Graeme Rees (Former Blackjacks Coach) and Alex Reed from Bowls NZ came to Taranaki to host a weekend for new and existing coaches. A number of new coaches went through the course, and we look forward to their contributions. Thanks to Paritutu Bowling Club for hosting and those involved.
Bowls Taranaki nominated the following for the Bowls New Zealand National Awards, Briar Atkinson, Gary Lilley, Paritutu Bowling Club and Okato Bowling Club. Awards will be announced at the Bowls New Zealand AGM via zoom. Good luck to those nominated.
We have also entered into two new Representative tournaments to provide more competition for our competitive players. Revital Fertilisers Taranaki will play Waikato on 2-3 September at Paritutu. Taranaki also featured in the first year of a National Under 26 Tournament, hosted by Bowls Wellington. A very impressive performance by our players saw them beat Wellington in the final. Congratulations to our winning team of Luca Dobson, Camron Horo, Nathan Goodin, Briar Atkinson and Aidan Zittersteijn. Thanks to Simon Rowe for selecting, managing and travelling with the team.
A huge thanks must go out to all the volunteers and workers at the clubs who are helping to prepare for the new season. There is a lot of work put in each year to help run every club and we thank everyone for preparing greens, looking after club facilities, administrating and planning for your club’s season. We appreciate your effort.
Ian Lewis
Bowls Taranaki