BOWL CLUBS UNITE TO STAY ALIVE Amalgamations seen as solution
LAWN bowls is all about etiquette and sportsmanship, but its survival is all about money and membership.
In Townsville and Charters Towers where bowls clubs are being savaged by costs and dwindling memberships, amalgamation is seen as the key to survival.
In the 2002 movie Crackerjack, the fictional, ailing Cityside Lawn Bowls Club had to think outside the square to survive. Now, local clubs are doing the same.
Two of Townsville’s five clubs – South Townsville and Cutheringa – have had “talks”, but in Charters Towers amalgamation of the three clubs is all but finalised.
South Townsville Bowls Club treasurer Barry Lehmann said “early talks” had been held with Cutheringa.
“We have to think of our futures at some stage,” he said.
Mr Lehmann said there would be some who opposed amalgamation but if clubs were to survive, they had to find ways to build membership and cut costs.
He said South To w n s v i l l e ’ s me m b e r s h i p had fallen from 200 to 120. He said sponsorship was hard to find and people tended to go to major venues such as Brothers Leagues Club, Cowboys Leagues Club and Townsville RSL for recreation.
“The NQ Cowboys soak up the sponsorship dollars. That’s just the way it is in Townsville,” he said.
Cutheringa president Glen Atfield stressed nothing had been finalised.
“We are in talks ( with South Townsville) but nothing has come of it yet. It’s unfortunate but bowls as a sport doesn’t seem to have a lot of growth,” he said.
Mr Atfield said bowls was always portrayed as an “old people’s” game but young players could make money.
“Weipa had a tournament recently with $ 20,000 in prizemoney,” he said.
He said electricity and insurance costs were crippling clubs and falling member- ships only exacerbated the impact of high overheads.
Charters Towers Bowls Club president Jim Mitchell said the men and women’s divisions of the city’s Services Memorial Bowls Club and his own club were amalgamating.
He said the new club called Gold City Bowls had already been formed.
“It already has nine members and the rest will come in when the amalgamation is complete,” he said.
“We’ve got down to 90 members between the three clubs. The overheads are going up. We had a meeting and it was unanimous that we amalgamate,” he said.
Mr Mitchell said the three clubs formed a working group at the start of this year and engaged consultants to advise on legal and other issues. He said it was not “sustainable” for the clubs to remain separate.
“We can halve our power and insurance costs,” he said.
Mr Mitchell said Gold City Bowls planned to establish itself in what would be a new $ 2 million covered complex at the Charters Towers Golf Club.
“Our preferred option is to go to the golf club,” he said.
The national peak lawn bowling body, Bowls Australia, declined to comment.
Bowls Australia is the governing body of the sport in Australia and is responsible for its leadership.