Bowls Waikato make development move

Bowls Waikato’s development squads were on the receiving end of experience at a round-robin tournament in Hamilton last weekend, but it won’t change the centre’s new selection criteria.

Waikato’s high performance section has adopted the criteria that are expected to be brought in as Bowls New Zealand guidelines as soon as next season.

Meanwhile, it has left the Waikato development squads vulnerable with at least two players aged under 25 having to be selected and all players having to have less than eight years playing experience.

Waikato development teams played against Bay of Plenty, CountiesManukau and Thames Valley in last Saturday’s development squad roundrobin tournament at Hamilton Bowling Club with the top two teams from the men and women qualifying to player against the top two from zone one next month.

Bay of Plenty and Counties Manukau dominated in both the men’s and women’s sections as the qualifying centres, while Waikato women missed out by one point and the Waikato men finished last, failing to win a game.

‘‘What happens at the moment is that players in development squads could have been playing for 20-25 years – there’s no restriction,’’ Bowls Waikato centre manager Glenn Lee said.

‘‘We think Bowls New Zealand are going to bring in [the new criteria guidelines] next year and Waikato are the only one in zone two that’s working to that criteria already under our high performance programme.

‘‘That’s why some of the results at the weekend weren’t that flash, because people who hadn’t been playing for that long were up against someone who had been playing for 25 years and got smashed.’’

But Lee said that in the long term it would benefit Bowls Waikato, who ‘‘We think Bowls New Zealand are going to bring in [the new criteria guidelines] next year and Waikato are the only one in zone two that’s working to that criteria.’’ would be well advanced in developing younger, inexperienced players.

‘‘By running that programme now and keeping running with it we’re going to be that far ahead of the other centres and hopefully can turn the tables on them when the criteria guidelines come in.’’

A KiwiSport bowls development programme has been run in Waikato and Thames Valley for 21⁄ years in all secondary schools and as a result the region had plenty of under-25 and schoolaged bowlers.

Bay of Plenty is now starting a similar KiwiSport programme but all the other centres are well behind Waikato in such development.

Lee said it was possible under the current rules to have open squad players play in development teams, which was unfair.

‘‘Our high performance group have decided we will run with it and yes, it’s going to be tough for us for a couple of years, but in the long term it’s going to be very very good and we’re going to be far better off than the other centres,’’ he said.

Tomorrow Waikato’s top club sides head to Pukekohe for the interclub zone two playoffs, with Frankton Railway representing the centre in division one men, Hillcrest in division two men and Te Awamutu in premier women.

Zone winners qualify for the national interclub finals in Palmerston North next month.