Issue 94 July 10, 2015

WITHOUT BIAS

Practice Matches Saturday Metro Pennant Season 2015-16 is under way.

Your Selection Committee has met and we have lined up Four Saturday’s in September for practice matches.

The dates are 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th of September and sheets for these games are up on the notice board.

We have also approached other clubs in the area and these practice matches will include games against: -

Mt. Xavier (Ballarat) Sunbury

Maribyrnong Park Buckley Park

There is a list up on the notice board for players to put their name on if playing Saturday Metro Pennant this year.

It is important that we know about your availability so, if you have-n’t already done so, please enter your preference for Saturday or Mid-week Pennant.

We have entered six sides for Saturday Pennant and they will con-sist of one side in Division Two, one side in Division Three, three sides in Division Five and one side in Division Seven North.

There will be a new marking system for this season and this will be ready for use during the practice matches.

Your new Saturday Metro Pennant Selection Committee is hoping to bring innovations to the selection table and with your support, we will endeavour to make this coming season one of co-operation with the players and the Selection Committee to give us the results for which the Club strives on the greens.

Keith Hinks

Chairman of Selectors

The 2015 Australian

Open, Gold Coast,

Queensland

By GLORIA NORMAN I have just completed officiat-ing at my eleventh Australian Open, the nation’s marquee tournament on the bowling calendar.

This year’s event was show-cased on twelve World-class Gold Coast greens and venues and was promoted as “The World’s Biggest Bowls Festi-val”.

The Australian Open under-went a major transformation this year in preparation for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

There were no stipulations on ability and there was no ardu-ous State-based qualifying play.

The thirteen day event culmi-nated at Broadbeach Bowls C. where all finals were played. Broadbeach Bowls Club will host the bowls during the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Set Play as played in previous Australian Opens was replac-ed with a new format in keep-ing with that at the Common-wealth Games.

Singles games were 21 shots up.

Three bowls Pairs and Fours were both played over 15 ends.

There were no dead ends. The jack was re-spotted on the two metre mark.

Entrants came to the tourna-ment starting with Sectional play and all with a time limit of 2 1/4 hours excluding trial ends, to complete their game. The start of trail ends and commencement of play was governed by a central “hooter” with a 10 minute warning for the completion of unfinished games.

All games from Quarter finals onwards had no time limit imposed, so there were some

Continued on page 3

“Hey good lookin - whatcha got cookin?

how’s about cookin something up for me”

Meat — Egg & Bacon

or Chicken Leek

Page 2 WITHOUT BIAS

John and Joy Hamilton were welcomed with “open arms” at the Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club. Situated on the west side of Canada, on Vancouver Island, only a short ferry ride from Vancou-

ver, the club stands by its motto. “It’s more that a game!” - “We’ve got some serious fun!”

GOOGLE THEIR WEB SIT NANAIMO LAWN BOWLS CLUB YOU’LL BE VERY SURPRISED

Cecile and Ray catch up for happy hour on board the cruise ship as it heads towards the Gibraltar Strait.

After climbing 500 steps to the top of the mountain in Santorini, Ray and Ned the donkey are both look-ing forward to an ice cold drink.

Santorini Santorini is a lovely island to visit, cruis-ing into the extinct volcano called the Caldrea. We rode the donkey to the top of the mountain, not for the faint heart-ed and walked around the rim looking down at two other cruise ships not far from ours, the whitewashed homes with blue roofs and hotels with swimming pools perched along cliff tops.

The scenic cruise through the Dardanells was special — we stopped and a service was held.

It was so hard to imagine why, when the soldiers were landed at ANZAC Cove 100 years ago, and at the wrong location — they didn’t pull back and try again 3 kms to the left.

PS: By the time the next news letter is on the street, our mariners from Keilor B. C. will be reporting from the UK.

JOHN HAMILTON — “We visited four bowling clubs in British Columbia. Three greens were very slow and grass, the other

was carpet and laid on rubber. Very interesting, still a bit slow compared to our greens in Australia, but quicker than the others we played on. This could be a disadvantage for the Canadian team when they come to play in Queensland during the Commonwealth Games. The one thing to be said at all the clubs was the welcome — they just didn’t want us to leave. They loved my “ bowling arm”. I could have sold it at every club we went to. I was offered some crazy prices for it.”

Part 1

in John

and

Joy’s

trip to

Canada

WITHOUT BIAS Page 3

THE 2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN Continued from Page 1

very long and tight games, especially for the Umpires and Markers.

The games commenced at 8:15 am, and when inclement weather became an issue, sub-sequent games were brought forward to allow for additional time for potential interrup-tions. There was very little flexibility in scheduling play.

Players were restricted when visiting the head and bowls were inspected at random. There was one challenge to a set of bowls and 2 cases of bowls not having the required date stamp as required by Bowls Australia who was the Control-ling Body.

There was a penalty that could be enforced for someone de-laying play.

Many players entered all three disciplines with members of a Fours team playing as two teams in the three bowl Pairs.

A few clashes occurred in knockout and these games were played as “catch-ups” under lights, marking for four games in a day and four long sessions of umpiring.

The first six days were all Sectional play followed by days of knockout of “successfuls” to get down to the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Finals. Following Sectional rounds, a num-ber of “next best” qualifiers moved into Knockout rounds.

LADIES SINGLES FINAL This was the case of 18 year-old Ellen Ryan from Cabramatta who in the Ladies Singles Final, defeated Maree Gibb, a club player from a small Queensland country town and who has never had a coach.

Ellen played superb bowls to reach the final. She was cool, calm and collected as she kept her focus throughout that final game, and only after she had won, did she show emo-tion with tears of joy and a smile.

She is the current NSW. Junior Bowler of the Year and when asked: “What’s next?’ She replied: “I’m aiming for the 2018 Commonwealth Games”.

MEN’S SINGLES FINAL The Men’s Singles Final saw young local Aaron Teese defeat the great Ryan Bester. It was a fantastic game which had the appreciative crowd applauding each player as they pulled out all shots and tactics in their armoury to get the better of each other. It was an unforgettable game.

All entrants came into the tournament on a level playing field. There were no qualifying or direct entries. Many were ordinary club members while others were the cream of our top State and National bowlers. They were joined by 180 In-ternational bowlers from across the globe. The draw saw some interesting “match-up” with many club members drawn to play against World Champions.

Many juniors and bowlers with a physical disability entered in the open section and had success against “big named” players. It was wonderful to see their prowess on the green. They were not daunted by their opponent. Their high qual-ity sportsmanship was shown before, during and after their

games. The physically disabled were mind boggling to watch as they displayed their skills and determination on the green They not only played excellent bowls, but were positive, cour-teous and fiercely independent. They accepted their lot in life and could teach able-bodied club bowlers a lot about our great game.

Because of the logistics with games played at multiple venues, all results were forwarded via the Sports Desq system to the main Tournament Office at Broadbeach Bowls Club.

All TV games were streamed live on Foxtel, so when the stands were full including standing room areas, the crowd overflowed into the large lounge at Broadbeach to watch the games on TV.

It was amazing to see the number of young people, some not yet teenagers, playing in this year’s Open. Many travelled from interstate and performed well, showing maturity well beyond their years.

A FORMIDABLE BUNCH The Australian Defence Force have been a part of previous Australian Opens and are always a pleasure to officiate for. Members of the Australian Services Bowls Association come from each of the three services travelling from various State bases across the country.

They stand out with their striking bowling uniform, their knowledge of the game and conduct.

They certainly stamp their mark where ever they play, and leave with a fine reputation each year. Both ladies and men are excellent bowlers.

GLORIA’S NEW ROLE “My role was changed somewhat this year. I was asked by Bowls Australia to not only officiate, but also to mentor local club members who were used as Umpires and Markers.

During the first six days of the tournament, I was appointed as Head ITO at Mermaid Beach B.C., the closest club to Broad-beach B.C., and assumed the role of training and assisting la-dies and men in Marking for three days of Sectional Singles play.

I also had to improve Umpires with their officiating.

Each morning I conducted a briefing on the previous day’s per-formance and little issues were resolved with minimum fuss. All members were appreciative of the friendship and advice offered and were thrilled at the opportunity to officiate at above club level.

A happy atmosphere was established at Mermaid Beach B.C. and participants at the venue told me.— “They had learned so much and it was a great experience.”

I then moved back to Broadbeach B.C., where I had days upon days of full-on umpiring, standing for 8 1/2 hours each day to officiate.

I was kept very busy with calls one after the other which in-cluded a six bowl measure with bowls at all angles.

The players did not want to touch the tight head so called “Umpire!”

On day 13, I umpired for 9 1/2 hours for finals when time limits were not applied. (Continued page 4)

WITHOUT BIAS Page 4

The last game finished just on dark and I used my LED torch to shine on the coin I tossed for an extra end of play. There’s always a first for everything!

REFLECTIONS ON AN AUSSIE OPEN There were amputees with prosthetics, wheelchair and vision impaired bowlers amongst the disabled, all playing exceptional bowls.

The vision impaired used a monocular to see where their bowl came to rest, often as a resting toucher. Their assis-tant positioned them on the mat and told them the angle and distance needed to play their shot — quite remark-able.

I was at this year’s Australian Open to make all I came into contact with enjoy their national-level bowls experience and make it a good one.

I hit the ground running because of my experience.

At Mermaid Beach B.C. I was there to make sure that all aspects of Sectional Play functioned well. It was an inter-esting, challenging and rewarding experience yet again. I was just a small cog in a large wheel to help at this year’s Australian Open with it’s initial new format, be a success.

Of course, we wouldn’t have an Australian Open without rain, wind, threatening storms and sunshine!

We did have inclement weather, but the excellent greens drained very quickly and players kept going despite being wet. At no time was there a safety issue — just a “rain-water –rinse” for some players’ clothing!

Without Bias is grateful for Gloria’s contribution and other interesting articles

penned by her will appear in coming issues.

Two recent publications we have received at the Bowls Club are Maria Vamvakinou news letter.

Our Federal Member for Cal-well wrote a long and interest-ing article on the very suc-cessful night held at our club when Tanya Plibersek, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs gave the fourth Arthur Calwell Memorial Lecture.

Also sent to us from the Can-cer Council was a thank you poster for the contributions we raised, which goes to-wards research, prevention and support in the fight against cancer.

Thirty-three ladies and three gentlemen combined to raise $480 at the hosting of the Big-gest Morning Tea Cancer Appeal, on May 28.

Volunteers are un-

paid, not because

they are worthless .

. . . because they

are PRICELESS

LEFT: Fred Donaldson is jumping for joy as he slips into a life of retirement af-ter completing his last day to the Altona Toyota Plant after 18 years.

RIGHT: Just one of our fortunate winners at last Friday night’s lucky raffle was Denise Hartley from Gympie, Queensland.

Denise is here visiting her aunt Sylvia who is a Friday night regular. Sylvia has just come out of hospital, and Denise came down to care for her. Sylvia intro-duced her to our Friday night fun time and how to enjoy a lovely $8.00 meal.”

Now breakfast is taken care of, all so good.