Welcome to the Youth Bowls section of the Bowls Canterbury Website here you will find news and information for youth bowlers.

Region 5 at the National Secondary Schools Finals

After a long and protracted programme that started with the centre playoffs in February followed by the regional playoffs in March, we finally arrived at Pakuranga greens to contest the national finals. Our regional team consisted of three players from Nelson, two from Kaikoura and seven from Christchurch all of whom earned their trip to Auckland in the prior events. Overall, the team was fairly young with a mixture of experience and unaccustomed to the varying playing surfaces in adverse weather conditions. However the enthusiasm and team spirit were evident and this was to play a major part to the remarkable results attained. Overall we scored 75 points, 19 points ahead of the next region which was the other South Island Region giving notice that the current strength of youth bowls is healthy in the south.

The Nelson pairing of Julia Hodgson and Kelly Brenton improved on their previous years performance and easily took out the girls pairs title and a great effort saw Kaitlyn Inch and Brittany Tyson of St Margarets edge their way into third place, a really top result. In the girls singles, Connie Rowlands of Linwood College was fourth and Tayla Bruce, Christchurch Girls High School was fifth. Both girls played very consistently all tournament and the experience they gained will auger well for future events. Runners up, Josh Boyd and Tu Solomon of Kaikoura, were unlucky not to defend their title in the boys pairs with a nail biter of a final that had the gallery on their toes. The Shirley Boys High pairing of Thomas Treleaven and Cameron Bailey had a good tournament to end up in the top half of the field in sixth place and will be looking to improve on that performance in their coming years. In the boys singles, Josh Thompson of Nayland College was third with Robbie Reed of Shirley Boys in fifth place in a keenly fought contest between experienced youth bowlers.

This brought the2009 secondary schools programme to a successful conclusion for our region so there is little time to reflect before embarking on the campaign for 2010 which will start in February. Being a New Zealand event it was disappointing to have the tournament run on both natural and all weather surfaces as it affects the preparation and training of the players who should have the opportunity to play on greens that are consistent through the competition. There are some critics about youth on the bowling greens but my recommendation is to come and have a look at them playing. The future of NZ successes internationally lie with these bowlers and it is exciting to see that the South Island players are so prominent. Long may it last.

Bill Rothwell
Manager

Canterbury vs Timaru Youth Bowls

Following an initial exploratory visit by four schoolboy bowlers to Timaru in the cold winter days of July, we came to agreement with Timaru to initiate an annual event on an expanded basis involving all youth bowlers.  We held the first event at the Redcliffs Bowling Club on the 5th and 6th October with the visitors staying overnight at the Marine Backpackers in Sumner (highly recommended by the Timaru team). This event was funded by sponsorship from the SBS Bank at Ferrymead along with contributions from the players which made the event very affordable to the young bowlers.  Coupled with the drink bottles and dusters provided by SBS to all players, everyone went away happy with their involvement in the two day event. Special thanks to the SBS Bank and the Redcliffs Bowling Club.

Over the two days, there were seven rounds of pairs played, with all players being rotated to give all players the opportunity to gain experience against different players, a situation they will encounter when progressing to regional and national tournaments. Timaru provided seven boys and two girls, while the Canterbury team consisted of six boys and seven girls. After the first round, Timaru led 3 – 1 throwing a challenge to the Canterbury team, however this was reversed after the second round. Over the next four rounds, the advantage see-sawed between the teams until the final round, when Canterbury played their ace card. Connie Rowlands was seconded to the boys’ team which freed Robbie Reed, allowing him to play a game of singles against the Kittyhawk champion, Sam Morton. The end result was that Canterbury won the pairs tournament by one game and we did not have to claim Robbie’s success in the singles to ensure overall victory.

Extra activities prior to the evening BBQ included an egg and spoon race which rapidly declined into an egg tossing competition and resulted in one of the visitors having to get his shirt washed prior to returning the next day. Special thanks to Laura and Brittany for devising and organising these games and our own Rebecca for aiding and abetting. Naturally these events do not run themselves and we thank all the parents for assisting in the preparation of the food and the cleaning up.

The Timaru and Canterbury management were delighted with the success of the tournament, especially in the performance and dedication of all of the players. Some players were very experienced, while others were in their first tournament. Congratulations to you all. It is hoped to run this event on a home and away visit basis in the holidays between the third and fourth terms as this is an opportunity for those progressing to the national finals in December to gain valuable green time under the tournament conditions. 

Bill Rothwell
Youth Bowls Committee