Excitement for local bowls but nationals and provincials on hold
NOT surprisingly, Covid-19 has upended the bowling calendar in South Africa, leaving administrators with no choice but to suspend most national activities to limit the spread of the virus.
Acknowledging the need to be observant of factors such as the number of people permitted both outdoors and indoors in any one venue, Bowls South Africa, after consultation with all districts, has elected to cancel the Inter Districts Championship, the Junior Nationals (U15 and U20), the Disability Nationals and the National U30 Tournaments. The districts allocated to host these events in 2021 will be offered the opportunity to accommodate the events in 2022.
A decision on the Men’s (Western Province Bowls) and the Women’s Nationals (Johannesburg Bowling Association) will be taken after the level of entries and the proportion of local participants have been evaluated. Entries for the nationals close today.
The Open, Veteran and Junior Masters Singles Championships scheduled for February 2021 have been postponed until August, but will be hosted at various venues to ensure adherence to Covid-19 restrictions.
The BSA Mixed Pairs Championship will proceed as programmed in June, hosted by Port Natal Bowls at Stella Park Bowling Club. The limited number of entries to this event makes compliance with current restrictions feasible.
Locally, bowlers welcomed the finalisation of the district calendar and are faced with a demanding programme which includes the Open and Veteran Singles Championships (which will be played to completion) and the first round of the Mixed Pairs; all scheduled for March.
Excitement is mounting at Durban Bowling Club as the remaining competitors in the Wakefields Port Natal Novice Singles Championship continue their quest tomorrow, and strive for a semi-final spot. The semi-finals and finals will be played on March 13.
The Port Natal District AGM was held on February 27 and the following elections are relevant
– the Port Natal Bowls executive committee comprises Don Potts (president), Steve Kelf (vicepresident), and Exco members Peter Garrett, Charles Levy and Cheryl Waterman. Maureen Florens continues to serve as the administrative manager and Cynthia van der Merwe takes on the unenviable position as district competition secretary.
The men’s selection committee consists of Sandy Miller, Jim Clark, Allan du Toit, Brad Lezar and Ken Fann; and serving as their compatriots on the women’s selection committee are Joyce Howard, Marsha McCrimmon, Pam Green and Kerry-Anne Perry.
Bowlers are reminded that the move to alert level one does not diminish the threat of Covid-19 and precautions that include a mask, social distancing and sanitising still apply.