Bowls riding a wave of success
BOWLS Premier League No.7 (BPL07) started yesterday in Wellington, New Zealand, with a new-look Gold Coast Hawks team stepping up.
Club Helensvale recruit Aron Sherriff will make his debut for the Hawks after winning the event on three occasions with the Sydney Lions.
Sherriff will be joined by Australian and Helensvale teammates Lynsey Clarke and Nathan Rice, who has made the move from coach to player, with stalwart Mark Casey set to take the reigns as coach.
Foxsports will televise four games live each night from 4-9pm until Thursday’s finals.
National selectors have opted to trial a new generation of Jackaroos ranging in ages from 21 to 30 during their next international tour in July.
A number of rising stars have been given the chance to impress when the team travels to England and Wales, as preparations begin to shift towards the Birmingham 2022.
The young team will be guided by just three 2018 Games representatives, in gold medallists Kelsey Cottrell, Rebecca Van Asch and Aaron Wilson, partly because of a heavy national event schedule with many players unavailable.
Chloe Stewart from Tweed Heads is the only Queensland representative in the team of five men and five women.
Bowls has gained fantastic exposure from the Commonwealth Games with great coverage on Channel 7.
I spoke with Bowls Australia’s
Regional Bowls Manager for Southeast Queensland Andrew Howie.
“The Commonwealth Games was fantastic to lift the profile of the sport of bowls and go a long way to changing the stigma around our game,” he said.
“With our Australian team winning a swag of medals this created great exposure in the media which showcased that bowls is for all ages with our youngest medallist being 24 and the oldest being 68.
“It was great to see so many non-bowlers attending the matches or watching on TV. “What should clubs do? “Already we are having clubs report to Bowls Australia with how many people are coming to their club.
“If you’re looking for a social outlet, barefoot bowls is for you or if you’re looking to test your skill and competitive nature then twilight competition, pennants and club championships are available.”
Congratulations to Chloe Stewart (Tweed Heads) for winning Queensland qualifying through to the Australian Indoor Women’s Singles over the weekend along with Jane Bush (Club Kawana), Mary Geddes (Bribie Island) and Adele Pershouse (Bargara). Qualifying was held at Tweed Heads and Paradise Point Bowls Clubs.