New chief executive sees need for fresh approach
MARK Cameron is used to bowlers who deliver the ball overarm.
But in the past three weeks the 49yearold has had a crash course from the other type of bowlers.
The former Auckland Cricket boss has taken over as Bowls New Zealand chief executive and has been getting around the country on a reconnaissance mission.
He was in Dunedin earlier this week meeting the clubs. Cameron is not a ‘‘bowls person’’ but he does have an extensive history in sports management.
Cameron led Auckland Cricket for six seasons. He managed the National Basketball League from 1998 to 2000 and was on the board of Basketball New Zea land in 2001.
He has previously owned indoor sports centres in Auckland and is also a former chief executive of the Northern Mystics netball franchise.
He might be green when it comes to bowls, but many of the problems facing sport are not unique to any particular code. There has been a drift away from clubs and organised sport to more casual arrangements and paytoplay events.
‘‘I don’t know bowls, so when you get around the clubs you talk to the people and you find out the issues and you get a flavour for what is important and what is not important,’’ he said.
‘‘But I don’t just want to know what is happening on Saturdays, I want to know what is happening [the rest of the week].
‘‘It is not just about the serious side of the bowls, it is about the casual side of bowls. If we are going to grow the game, we have to grow in that casual space.’’
Cameron’s background in running indoor sport centres will serve him well as he looks for innovative solutions to the issues facing bowls.
He believes the way bowls is delivered at club level needs a fresh approach.
‘‘It would be too soon to say that I have plans. This trip is about finding out what ideas are already out there.
‘‘But it is fair to say I have some ideas. As I’ve said before, I used to own indoor sports centres and that business was not based on membership of any club.
‘‘You would turn up, pay your $10 and have your beer or three. You weren’t a member, you were a customer.’’
Cameron feels a model that embraces casual users more is the way forward for bowling clubs.
The other shift that is having a big impact on clubs is there are fewer people prepared to volunteer their time, he said.
‘‘The way clubs are run are changing. You can go around the clubs in Dunedin or New Zealand and you will find that the average age of committees is 60plus. That is because people who are 30 or 40 are not stepping up to run what are amateur clubs.’’
Cameron said the Dunedin clubs he had spoken to were open to change.
‘‘They know that their traditional membership is dropping. What they are unsure about is what that change will be like.
‘‘And it does not always come out in discussion, but the other issue is how do you resource that change.
‘‘It is one thing to say ‘let’s go run a fantastic mates and bowls event on a Thursday night’ but who is actually going to open the clubrooms and run the bar when they are volunteer clubs?’’
To be ‘‘very successful’’, Cameron feels the clubs will ‘‘need to move into a paid management approach’’.
‘‘The danger is if you go and put a paid manager in place, suddenly all the volunteers go ‘Thanks very much, I’m out of here’, when in reality that paid manager needs to be growing the club and not just taking over from the person who empties the ashtrays or closes the bar at the end of the night.’’