LARA JETS TAKE OFF
LARA has entered the 2019-20 season with a fresh new look that board member and Premier Division skipper Anthony Briggs describes as exciting.
“We, as a board, decided to rebrand our club with a new image,” Briggs said. “With our proximity to Avalon Airport, it made sense that we would become the Lara Jets.”
Lara unveiled its new shirts in Round 1 this season and Briggs said the new look was more than just a uniform.
“It’s about trying to engage the community and promote our club to a far wider variety of people, with the younger generation our main target,” he said.
With many clubs struggling to increase membership, Lara has implemented a few simple ideas that offer something for the non-bowling public to become involved in their club.
“In June this year, our social membership was three. We currently sit at 74 social members and that’s mainly due to parma nights on Thursdays and offering barefoot bowls on regular occasions,” Briggs said.
“Our membership, like many clubs, is over 70 per cent with an age group of 65 and over. If we can provide a better connection with a younger age bracket, that can only help our club’s future.”
On the greens, Lara will be desperately trying to gain its second lot of match points this week when they host Highton.
“The last two weeks we played Queenscliff and Bareena, who we consider top-four sides,” Briggs said.
“Our goals are to be part of the finals, so we must bounce back this week against Highton, who have just come off a big win against Queenscliff last week. We will be ready for the battle — a few positional changes after a shaky start, which hopefully finds us the right balance.”
Eastern Park has bounced back from its Round 1 loss to Queenscliff with good form against Highton and Drysdale.
Hosting Ocean Grove 1 in the match of the round, coach
Nathan Bush said his side would go in unchanged.
“We are unchanged from last week, I was very happy with the effort,” Bush said.
“The first 30 ends against Drysdale basically set up the win. The match was over because the damage was done early.”
Bush expects a good battle with the Grovers. “We respect Ocean Grove as a club,” he said. “It will be a competitive match and one we will be keen to do well in at home.”
Ocean Grove 1 heads into tomorrow’s clash with a couple of slight changes.
Luke Benson comes in for Owen Clark for his first run in the ones this season, while
Brian Boyle will slot into second for Mick West.
Steve Sullivan returns for Queenscliff against Drysdale after his duties with Victoria in the over-60s national championships.
Queenscliff leader Richie McGovern is certainly one player who will welcome back the star skipper.
“Stevie is worth 30 shots for us,” McGovern added.
Under-18 Geelong representative Seb Monahan got his first taste of Premier Division bowls last week, but will make way for the Victorian legend’s return in the home game against Drysdale.
Drysdale has brought in Chris Reilly and Aaron James for the clash. For the visitors, it’s all about the first half.
“Our starts have not been great,” Drysdale’s Cal Inderberg said.
“We will need to improve in this area to have any chance of knocking Queenscliff off.”
Torquay will be looking for some improvement with the return of skipper Daryl Kitchen but will still find Bareena a strong opponent this week, while Ocean Grove 2 could be on the look out for some points against City of Geelong.