Wednesday the 12th of September is the start of the 2018 Community Cup at the Lorne Bowls Club, sponsored by the Bendigo Community Bank.
The competition, in its fourth year, has been a very successful way to start the bowling season and a fun low-key way to introduce the game of bowls to members of the Lorne Community. All you need is to partner with an experienced player, have a pair of flat-soled shoes and we do the rest.
The competition is held over three Wednesday afternoon/nights, commencing at 5.00 pm and we play for nightly and competition prizes totaling $1,200. The rules will be explained by the team captain, we will supply the bowls and if you wish coaching is available the Friday before the competition begins. Each team must have a member who is not a pennant player. You can also arrange emergency players if you cannot commit to all three nights. The dates are:
- Round One – Wednesday 12 September
- Round Two – Wednesday 19 September
- Round Three – Wednesday 26 September
In 2017 the Cup was won by Kevin Van Deuren, Peter Barraclough and Matt Neill.
Whilst playing pennant is a core activity for our Club, we have tried to adopt some new approaches – we now have the Community Cup as a regular part of the fixture, we are playing games under lights and adding new games, for example the recent 2/4/2 night competition.
Bowling Clubs must stay in touch with generational change:
- We have begun Lornebowls2020, which aims to “put everything that we do on the table for discussion”, and for this feedback and new ideas to be used to focus our efforts to make the Club sustainable into the 2020’s. The aim will be to launch Lornebowls2020 at the 2019 AGM.
- We have maintained our membership level, but the growth in social playing members has been significant during the past year.
- Monday music nights run by young community-minded people.
- The ladies have been proactive in recruiting more members, with excellent numbers attending Monday afternoon bowling.
- The installation of lights has already extended the use of the green in winter.
- Barefoot bowling continues to be a popular form of bowling and a solid source of income.
- Audience support when pennant bowling is at home is the envy of many clubs and the introduction of music is appreciated by most.
- Scheduling championship games, when possible, on a Friday evening with a BBQ has increased the members watching. Having a ladies and men’s championship final at the same time was a great innovation.
- The introduction of dollar oysters was very successful on Friday nights in June.
Smaller bowling clubs are reliant upon sponsors. The Great Ocean Road Real Estate and the Bendigo Community Bank continue to be the largest sponsors of our bowling program, sponsoring bowling events and the daily costs of running the Club. They are joined by smaller, but non-the-less very valuable sponsors – Lorne Electrics, Beach House Gifts, The Lorne Post Office, The Stribling family, June Stafford, Lorne Hardware and Leisure, Lorne Foodworks, Sue Theodore, Lorne Breakdown and Towing Services, Stephen Hishon Celebrant and Lawners’ Café and Bar.
In a lower profile sport these sponsors ensure that we remain an important part of the social and sporting framework of the Lorne Community.
Gary Allen
President
Lorne Bowls Club
