SYDNEY NORTH WEST ZONE 10 BOWLING ASSOCIATION PO Box 69, Thornleigh NSW 2120

E-­mail: secretary@zone10.org.au Web: www.zone10.org.au

Business Paper – Management Committee Meeting

7.00PM Wednesday, 13th April 2016

THE HILLS CLUB – 2 JENNER ST, BAULKHAM HILLS

1. WELCOME AND ATTENDANCES

2. NEW DELEGATES

3. APOLOGIES

4. BEREAVEMENTS & HOSPITALISED MEMBERS

5. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

The documented minutes produced at this meeting were a record of the AGM and the

election of officers to various committee positions.

The Treasurer presented the 2016 annual budget for approval and noted the projected

annual income was $50,395 with expenses of $46,910, leaving a residual profit of

$3,485. It was proposed by Bob Calvert that Zone Capitation fees remain unchanged

at $10 per head/per member and this was approved.

The incoming President, Brett Hughes thanked the outgoing Board for their work done

on behalf of zone 10 members over many years.

Brett thanked the Club Delegates for their vote of confidence for himself and incoming

Executives. Brett and his committee have promised to work hard to achieve the best

results for Zone 10 Clubs. Brett also spoke of his ambitions for Executive to catch up

with individual clubs for one on one visits to see how the executive might be able to

offer more assistance.

The meeting was then handed over to the outgoing President William Sutcliffe who

presented zone members, Michael Schwarcz and Dennis Harmer with Life

Membership medals for their individual and collective outstanding service to the Zone

over 20 years.

Norm Muir introduced Geoff Evans from Homes for Heroes who spoke of the plight of

homelessness and post-traumatic stress disorder facing up to 3,000 Iraq and

Afghanistan mission returned service men and women. Following Geoff’s address,

Norm put a motion asking for all 26 clubs to help raise funds for the Homes for Heroes

campaign and this motion was approved by those in attendance.

6. PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Senior Vice President, Mick Harry and I attended the Bowls NSW 2015 Player Awards

Night on 24th February 2016 and what a wonderful achievement it was for Club

Merrylands to be announced the Metropolitan Club of the Year and Male Bowler of the

Year award being presented to Neil Burkett. I’m sure I speak on behalf of all bowlers

in Zone 10 when I say congratulations to all involved at Merrylands on an outstanding

season in 2015.

And I’m sure it was a great buzz for Gareth & Mason Lewis to be nominated for the

most improved male bowler of the year. One behalf of the zone executive, club

delegates and all zone 10 bowlers, our best wishes and congratulations to all the boys

and all involved in the Club Merrylands for a sensational season in 2015 and I’m sure

more success will come in 2016 and beyond.

The Executives have been in contact with most Clubs in Zone 10 and have made a

visit or planed a visit in the coming weeks. We are asking all clubs to commit to a table

of 12 for the Zone 10 Presentation night (Friday date TBC) & 3 teams for a tournament

with all proceeds going to Homes for Hero’s (Date TBC). We will follow up with more

information in weeks to come.

All clubs will be asked to put in an expression of interest with a fee of $500 for the right

to host one of the finals of the Zone 10 Singles, Pairs & Triples. If you are successful

in your application you will host a section round plus all finals of the chosen category.

E.g. Open Singles, President Singles & Senior Singles. All money raised from hosting

the Zone 10 Championships will go towards subsidizing Zone 10 Presentation night.

It was a pleasure to have Bowls CEO Greg Helm in attendance at a meeting with the

Zone 10 Executive on the 3rd of February in which we were able to discuss some bullet

points put forward by Bowls NSW & Zone 10 Executive. The fixed Fee model has been

re-thought by Bowls NSW and the changes have been reflected in advices to individual

clubs. All clubs would now know where they stand and from the meetings that Zone

10 Executive have had with Clubs in Zone 10 they seem to have a better understanding

and whilst not completely agreeing with the fixed fee model, they now accept the fix

fee and would like to move on. I would also like to thank Greg & President Vince Beard

for attending tonight to answer questions or concerns by Clubs regarding the fixed fee.

It was a privilege to be invited along to the Veterans & Super Veterans day held at

Brush Park on the 5th April. It was also pleasing to see the increase in numbers with

90 members from Clubs within Zone 10 competing on the day. A special thanks to the

volunteers on the day Peter Murphy, Richard Summerhayes, Tony Bromley, Barry

Goldworthy, John Leek & Col Carmichael. The players arrived for registration at

11.15am & had a 2 course meal before heading out on the bowling green for a friendly

game of bowls. Badgers were handed out to all the Veterans & Super Veterans that

have not received a badge before. It was a great day had by all and thanks to Tim

Cunningham for his association with the event.

I would also like to pass on my congratulations to the Merrylands team of Peter

Williams, Matthew Phillips, Paul Webb & Elko Tamara on winning the Zone 10 Fours

Championship. I would also like to congratulate Barry James, David Leslie, Martin

Billam and Gary McKeough from Pennant Hills on winning the Zone 10 Reserve Fours.

Both teams were deserved winners and did their clubs proud. Thank you to NBC

Sports Club for the excellent job in hosting this event.

Finally I would like thank Tim Cunningham and his committee on the fantastic job the

Match Committee have done to date. The amount of time and effort that this committee

puts in is extraordinary and Tim is always looking at ways to improve systems and get

results quickly. Tim’s dedication to his position is second to none and he is a great

asset for Zone 10.

7. SECRETARY’S REPORT

Handover - from previous executive has been smoothly conducted, with all banking

changes effected and statutory notices sent to Fair Trading as required.

I would like to thank Tim Cunningham for his assistance in setting up new outlook email accounts and managing various updates of the Zone website during my settling in period.

Club contact lists have been distributed and I thank the club delegates who have responded to my emails. The information I’ve received has now been updated on the Zone Website and I recommend club delegates take a few moments to browse the contact lists and come back to me if you see an omission or error.

Calendar dates have been locked in for future management meetings. All meetings are being held at Hills Bowling Club at 7pm on the following dates.

Wednesday, 13th April 2016 Wednesday, 8th June 2016 Wednesday 10th August 2016 Wednesday 12th October 2016 Wednesday 14th December 2016 Wednesday 8th February 2017 (AGM)

BowlsNSW - As mentioned by Brett, the Zone Executive met with Greg Helm on 3rd February 2016. Issues tabled with Greg on behalf of Zone 10 clubs are reproduced below and we are happy to say that Greg and BowlsNSW President, Vince Beard will attend our upcoming management meeting to address some of these issues personally so please make an effort to get your management committees in attendance at the upcoming meeting.

In bullet point format the following topics were canvassed with and by Greg;

1. BowlsNSW feels Zone10 not properly represented at State Council meetings eg

limited input, no reports, passive interest in discussions & outcomes. 2. Fixed Fee model has been re-thought by BowlsNSW and the changes will be

reflected in advices to individual clubs. 3. Zone Executive expressed concern that better communication throughout the

review process would have been more ideal.

4. Zone Executive expressed concern that Ron King’s attendance at our October management meeting resulted in limited feedback to BowlsNSW Board.

5. Clubs, delegates & members feel BowlsNSW is elitist, Sydney CBD centric, expensive, not visible, fails at customer service and is more focussed on champions (not grass roots players).

6. Greg explained the challenges facing the sport with declining participation, government dis-interest, grants etc. Greg also explained that all BowlsNSW directors are actively interested in the game at all levels and are voluntary positions (no honorariums paid) and certainly not elitist. The Association owns the CBD asset so no big rental outgoings.

7. Zones need a better understanding of the working model of BowlsNSW. 8. Zone Executive stated the overall strategy of big hike in fees, attached to a fixed

fee methodology including dead/retired or non-active bowlers statistics was flawed in its design and sell pitch and perhaps the revised model and some positive, face to face feedback can quell the anger.

9. The Zone is still awaiting a response to our last letter sent as a reply to the BowlsNSW letter dated 3rd February 2016.

10. Zone 10 clubs, Zone Treasurer and Zone Match Committees are severely frustrated with the slow response by BowlsNSW in managing membership registrations/changes etc. We feel this is your shop window for grassroots people and whatever the causes at your end, clubs are seeing a massive fee increase followed up by poor performance standards and poor customer service yet some seem to jump the queue.

11. State Match Committee confirmation & finalising of draw slow given start to season 12th March.

In the interest of ensuring we have better communication between Zone 10 and BowlsNSW, I have taken the liberty of reproducing the working brief that BowlsNSW issued in conjunction with the Fixed Fee model and this is included as an addendum to this management report.

Banned Players - The Zone executive has approved recommendations from the Match Committee in respect to banned players. Please ensure all players are aware of the rule which will be applied to all Zone 10 Championship Fixtures viz;

All bowlers entering Zone 10 Championship Fixtures are advised that once a finals venue has been decided, games will not be transferred to suit the interest of a banned player or players. In sectional play, the match committee will seek to source appropriate venues.

The sport of bowls will return to free-to-air

television after a four-year hiatus, with a new

weekly program titled “The Bowls Show” to air

on SBS and SBS on Demand.

Bowls Australia & SBS have announced a

partnership to bring the sport of bowls back to

the masses with an hour-long magazine-style

program that will also feature highlights of the

sport’s marquee events, every Sunday

afternoon, 1pm on SBS. Commencing on May

15 and running for 20 consecutive weeks until

September 25, The Bowls Show will bring the sport back to free-to-air television for the first

time since 2011, when it concluded a 30 year relationship with the ABC

8. CORRESPONDENCE INWARDS

BowlsNSW - Grade 1 Pennant on-line results system

BowlsNSW - 2016 Senior Inter-Zone Sides Championship

BowlsNSW – 2016 Rookies

BowlsNSW – 2016 intended players and clearances

BowlsNSW – Confirmed Zone 10 Match Cttee pennant grading’s

BowlsNSW – Revised fixed fee calculations for zone10 clubs

Michael Schwarcz – CV & EOI for vacant committee positions

Various clubs- updated contact listings

Westpac – Debit cards approved for B Hughes, M Barton, N Muir

NSW Fair Trading – Statutory Acknowledgement re Form A9 & A12

BowlsNSW – Various approvals for use of mechanical bowling arms

PL Stonewall – Zone Pennant flags

BowlsNSW – G Helm response to Zone 10 Executive letter, 9th Feb 2016

9. CORRESPONDENCE OUTWARD

Greg Helm CEO BowlsNSW – Issues impacting Zone 10 clubs

Expressions of Interest for various committee positions

GA Miller – follow up order for Zone championship medals

NSW Fair Trading – Change Public Officer and Forms A9, A12

10. TREASURERS REPORT – 3 MONTHS TO MARCH 2016 Key points are as follows:

ZONE BALANCE SHEET:

The Term Deposit for $50,000.00 has been rolled over for 4 months until 18th April

2016 at 2.75%.

Debtors of $240 relate to Metro Grade 1 entry fees for Carlingford and The Hills not

paid by 31st March 2016.

ZONE PROFIT & LOSS - YEAR TO DATE:

Capitation Fees were not charged to clubs in March due to matters beyond our control but will now be invoiced in April.

Pennant entries are up on Budget.

Zone Fours entries are up on Budget.

Costs are generally in line with budget so there is little to report other than the need to purchase new Zone Bowls Stickers for $528 & this explains the cost variance in General Expenses

Warren Phillips Zone 10 Treasurer 31ST March 2016

ZONE 10 CAPITATION FEES FOR 2016

Due to the high number of outstanding membership changes left unprocessed by

BowlsNSW as at 29th February, 2016 the zone affiliation fee invoices were held over. This

means we are one month late receipting funds essential for management of zone

operations. These invoices have now been issued and on behalf of the Executive can I

ask that all delegates ensure payment is made at the earliest.

ZONE BALANCE SHEET

11. STATE COUNCILOR’S REPORT

Verbal report from Brett Hughes

12. MATCH/GREENS COMMITTEE REPORT

I would like to begin my report by thanking outgoing Zone Match Committee

Members Dennis Harmer, Mick Harry, Michael Schwarcz, and James Woods for

their efforts and their service to the Zone 10 Bowls Community. Many of these

gentleman served on the Match Committee for several years and their contribution to

Zone 10 is to be congratulated and was very much appreciated.

I also wish to this opportunity to welcome our new 2016 Committee of John Farr, Col

Lees, and Chris Wallace, all of whom have been working hard since their election in

December to continue the fine work of those committees that have come before.

In a pleasing buck to recent trends, I am very happy to be able to note that all of

Zone 10 competitions and events held thus far this year have had increased

participation from last year, some up in numbers by as much as 40%. Given the

doom and gloom speculation that seems to always surround our sport, it is nice to

have something positive to report and I wish to thank the Zone 10 Membership for

embracing these events.

2016 State & Reserve Fours Championships

The 2016 State Fours Championships was played in its entirety at the NBC Sports

Club, who also hosted the Finals of the 2016 Reserve Fours Championships. NBC

Sports, through the hard work of Brett Hughes and the NBC Sports membership, did

a fantastic job as hosts and I wish to thank their membership for the excellent job

they performed. I would be remiss if I did not also mention the work of the NBC

Sports greens staff, whom, under the supervision of Head Greens Keeper Shannon

White, managed to provide 3 greens of high quality on which these championships

could be played, which, given the earliness of the season, was no small task - well

done and thanks.

The Reserve Fours comprised 22 teams, an increase of 7 from 2015, and was won

by the Pennant Hills side of B. James, D. Leslie, M.Billam & G.McKeough defeating

P. Nolan, M. Shiel, A. Vassallo & M. Moseley from Toongabbie.

The 2016 State Fours had 36 entries and was won by Merryland’s P. Williams,

M.Phillips, P.Webb and Z. Trbara over runners-up C. Couchman, M. Barton, S.

Nelson & C. Maythers from Wentworthville Leagues.

Complete draws, results and reports of this event are available to view on the Fours

Championship page of the Zone 10 Website.

Pennants

There were 84 teams entered in Zone 10’s section of the 2016 State Pennants,

which means each weekend we have no less than 1008 players competing,

awarding Zone 10 the 2nd highest Pennant participation in Sydney and the fourth

highest in the State.

The new Online Reporting System is now being utilised by all but two clubs and,

according to the majority of feedback, has been quite well received. There have

been a few minor technical glitches surface through its use in the early rounds and I

would like to thank clubs for their patience and perseverance as these have been

worked through. These issues now resolved, it is hoped it will be smooth sailing

henceforth. The reporting software has made it possible to post individual rinks

results on the Web as well enabling timely updates of the result tables which is

generally completed by 6pm of the evening of the concluded round.

Result recording to the papers this year has thus far been unsuccessful, once due to

an issue at AAP where our recorded results were not published, and twice due to

Zone 10 Match technical issues with result recording (one of the glitches previously

mentioned that have now hopefully been resolved). It is expected that all results

received electronically via the Online Scoring System by 6pm will be published in the

Sunday Papers for the remainder of the season.

Venues for the playing of the Zone 10 Pennant Finals have been confirmed as

follows:

Castle Hill Bowling Club – 2 grades Greenlees Park Bowling Club – 1 grade The Hills Club – 2 grades West Pennant Hills Sports Club – 1 grade As Zone 10 Match are endeavouring to allocate finals to neutral venues this year, a

decision on which grades will be played at which venue will be made closer to the

conclusion of Sectional Play.

Veterans and Super Veterans Day

Brush Bark Bowling Club was the venue for this year’s Veterans Carnival and I

would like to thank the volunteers, caterers and staff, Peter Murphy in particular, for

their tremendous effort in running a terrific, well organised day.

There were 90 entrants into the event, up almost 30 percent on last year, which is a

fantastic result. Congratulations to 2016’s oldest participant, Morrie Slade from Brush

Park who, at a spritely 92 years of age, was still full of beans at the presentation

ceremony despite having played 21 ends of bowls. Well done Morrie.

Tim Cunningham

13. SELECTION COMMITTEE REPORT

It is great to see a few new faces on the Zone 10 selection panel with four

new faces. Unfortunately Matthew Cashmore from Carlingford Bowling Club

tendered his resignation due to his heavy work commitments but we thank

him for the input and time he put in over the 8 weeks he was on the

committee. The selectors asked the Zone 10 Executive to approach Neil

Burkett to join the Selection committee which he accepted. The committee

now consists of Chairman Brett Hughes (NBC Sports Club), Craig Maythers

(Wentworthville Leagues) Peter Stankevicious (Toongabbie), Peter Murphy

(Brush Park) & Neil Burkett (Merrylands Bowling Club)

We have a good programme in place for our Senior Sides and over the past

month we have been working hard on organising some more competitive

games for the Zone 10 Open and B grade to get us in a good position for the

Inter-Zone in September. We have organised additional games against Zone

12 and also a Quad game against NTC, ADF & NSW over 60 team

The Zone 10 Senior team has only had one trial but has plenty set down to

play. Selectors will met next week to discuss the teams for the Inter-zone

which need to be submitted to Bowls NSW by the 13th of April.

Brett Hughes

Chairman of Selectors

14. UMPIRES COMMITTEE REPORT

During 2014 the biggest change in training umpires was the RNSWBA producing a

new Umpires Educators Register. This register now provides a useful and

comprehensive list of every person who is authorised to conduct umpire accreditation

and re-accreditation in NSW. The umpires from Zone 10 included on the register were

previously Level 2 Umpires. This group have undertaken presenter and assessor

training and have trained Zone 10 umpires for many years. It also provides plenty of

accredited educators to train umpires and measurers. The emphasis for accreditation

is now on competency rather than exams.

We have continued to process candidates through 2015 for accreditation and re-

accreditation. The following were successful – 2 measurers, 5 umpires and 21

candidates for re-accreditation. The disappointment we have experienced is that we

have received no recognition/response from the RNSWBA on the success of these

candidates. No umpire cards have been received. However, the Zone 10 Umpires

Committee always sends letters to the successful candidates in recognition of their

success.

We have continued to process candidates in 2016. The following were successful:

John Skidmore – West Pennant Hills

Richard Knapp – Burwood Diggers

Anthony Hyem – Greenlees Park

Kenneth Douglas – North Epping

It is our intention to continue the Umpires Meetings in 2016. These meetings will take

place at Rydalmere Central Bowling Club in the Green Room.

Thursday, 21 April…………... 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm Thursday, 14 July……………11.00 am –1.00 pm Thursday, 20 October ……… 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm

Would you please notify your club members of these meeting details?

Les Watkins

Chairman of Umpires

15. JUNIOR ACADEMY REPORT Last meeting, we had pleasure in reporting recruitment of three juniors from Greenlees

Park. Since then, a further two juniors, Ian Norman and Nick Shiel have joined us from

Toongabbie Club, attending the last training day on Sunday 28th February. All Zone

juniors have entered the Junior Championships commencing on Friday 15th April.

METROPOLITAN SHIELD Held at Fairymeadow Club on Sunday 13th March – Zones 10, 12, 13 & 16

Very fast greens tested our new recruits but they handled it extremely well. We were

successful in 2 matches, defeating Zone 12, with 2 wins +11 shots up then defeating

Zone 13, with 2 wins +15 shots up then unfortunately going down to Zone 16, (-2 wins

+5 shots) with Zone 16 going through undefeated and taking out the shield for 2016.

Results, Zone 10 vs Zone 12 – Won with 2 wins Plus 11 shots

Callum Sinclair, Angus Crowden, Robert Supala, Billy Harkins Won 15-10

Joshua Cotton, Jack McShane, Andrew Watkins, Jordan Peisley Won 17-15

Ian Norman, Lachlan Koziollek, Michael Phillips, Louise Cronin Lost 11-17

Results – Zone 10 vs Zone 13 – Won with 2 wins plus 15 shots

Billy Harkins Team Won 17-6

Jordan Peisley Team Won 22-14

Louise Cronin Team Lost 9 -13

Results – Zone 10 vs Zone 16 – Lost with 1 win minus 5 shots

Billy Harkins Team Lost 9 -16

Jordan Peisley Team Lost 10-17

Louise Cronin Team Won 16-7

Overall it was a great outing for the teams who represented Zone 10 and we finished

with 2 zone wins plus 21 margin and congratulations to all the players finishing a

credible 2nd place.

Special Congratulations to Luka Houze (Age 13) The Hills Club

Luka was selected for Metropolitan Shield and also played in the finals of Club Fours

at the Hills Club on same day so he elected to play in Club Fours final. His side went

down by 1 shot in the final. Luka received great publicity next morning on Radio 2GB

noting a player on the winning side aged 79 and Luka 13 shows bowls is a sport for

all ages.

My special thanks to Ted Lean for his efforts during the Metropolitan Shield also

team arrangements for the upcoming Junior Championships.

Bill Sutcliffe

Academy Co-ordinator

16. GENERAL BUSINES

17. NEXT MEETING – 8th JUNE 2016

18. MEETING CLOSED

Annual Bowling Membership Fees - Clubs are required to register ALL Bowling Members, entitled to play bowls at the club by virtue of joining in a ‘bowling membership category’.

For fees payable after 1st June 2015, clubs will be billed $60 inc GST per Bowling Member, and $30 inc GST per Junior Bowling Member. There will be NO Multi-­­Membership or Junior Multi-­­Membership fee incurred for any person who is a member at two or more clubs simultaneously. A person may join or be a member at two or more clubs; however that person will only pay fees to be registered with Bowls NSW at their Declared Club – i.e where they are eligible to play Association Events. Clubs remain responsible for establishing appropriate fee levels for membership at their own club. District and Zone fees are invoiced and paid directly to the District/Zone Club Affiliation Fee - The Club Affiliation Fee is no longer applicable. This fee ranged from $20 to $300 depending on a club’s 3 year average membership at 31st March each year. Club Clearance Process - The Club Clearance process will remain in place and any member wishing to change their declared club (for the purpose of playing championships) will still be required to make application on the relevant form and pay the required fee in accordance with the COP. Example - A member currently with Club A as his declared club wishes to transfer to Club B. George has been a Bowling Member of Club A for 5 years, and renews his 2015/2016 membership in June each year. He is then registered with Bowls NSW by Club A and is ‘financial’ up to the end of Club A’s financial year ending June 30 of the following year. However later in the year, George decides that he would like to join Club B and play pennants for them in the next season which starts in February. Club B has a financial year ending 31st December, so George applies for membership at Club B and pays the appropriate Membership Fee as by the Club in December. Under the current procedure - George would join Club B as a Multi-­­Member, and pay the club the relevant multi-membership fee. Club B would then register George with Bowls NSW who would bill the club at the end of the month for this ‘new registration’ of a multi-­­member. George would then be registered with Bowls NSW at 2 clubs, appearing as a FULL member at Club A (as his declared club) and a MULTI-­­member at Club B. To be eligible to play for Club B in Association Events, George would be required to complete a club clearance form, have it signed by Club A, and then lodge that form with Bowls NSW with payment of $11. This clearance process would only change George’s eligibility to play Association Events from Club A to Club B. His status as a full member at Club A and a multi at Club B would remain unchanged until 30th June the following year unless he requested a ‘change of status’. If George allowed his membership at Club A lapse at June 30 the following year (and was not registered at any other club), his status with Bowls NSW would automatically revert to FULL membership at Club B, and would be charged the Full Membership amount at Club B when their membership was due in December. The proposed new process would be - (Manual process)

George would download a CLEARANCE & TRANSFER FORM from the website, and ask CLUB A to sign the declaration to state he is not under any term of suspension and does not owe the club any money. George would present the signed CLEARANCE & TRANSFER form to CLUB B upon applying for membership. The CLEARANCE & TRANSFER form will indicate to Club B that; George is currently registered with Bowls NSW until the end of CLUB A’s financial year. George intends to transfer his registration with Bowls NSW and his declared club to Club B. c. That Club A has approved this transfer. Once Club B has accepted George’s membership at the Club, Club B completes the membership transfer process by lodging the Clearance & Transfer form with Bowls NSW for processing – (WITH/WITHOUT FEE -­­ THIS MAY ALLOW CLEARANCE FEES TO BE INVOICED MONTHLY RATHER THAN PAID UP FRONT) The Bowls NSW administration staff would process the clearance and transfer George’s membership from Club A to Club B, and include the cost of the clearance & transfer in the monthly billing for Club B (fee amount to be determined) As a result of transferring membership from Club A to Club B (noting different financial year ends) George would remain financial with Bowls NSW until the end of Club B’s financial year at 31 December. George would be included in the annual return for Club B and billed accordingly. After transferring membership to Club B, George would no longer appear on Club A’s membership listings from Bowls NSW, even if he potentially may retain his membership of Club A. It is anticipated that the Bowls Connect IT System will eventually automate this process and allow both clubs to request and approve transfers online.

WHAT DOES BOWLS NSW DO FOR ME?

The recent decision to increase the membership fees has again reignited the question that ultimately never seems to have a satisfactory answer for those who ask it. “What does ‘The Royal’ do for ME?” “What do I get for my affiliation fee?” Directors, administrators, employees and volunteers of Bowls NSW are often faced with these questions and at times are held personally accountable for the various things that Bowls NSW is perceived NOT to be doing for that individual or for ‘the regular bowler’. With approximately 44,000 individual members, 550 clubs, 16 Zones and 35 Districts it is fair to say that the expectation of what Bowls NSW ‘should’ be doing varies greatly across the State. So what is Bowls NSW doing?? What Bowls NSW does can essentially be broken up into 4 areas;;

1. Core Services & Events 2. On Demand Services 3. Innovation, Promotion & Marketing 4. Advocacy

Core Services and Events General Member Enquiries

Bowls NSW Office open during business hours, 8.30am-5pm

Any member can contact and seek information/advice via phone/email. Membership Database Administration

Processing of all new applications, deletions, player clearances and updates on a daily basis. Management of pennant grading’s, coaching and officiating accreditations

Updating of Membership Listings online for Clubs, Districts, Zones to access.

Operational Committees – Match, Coaching, Umpires, Juniors & General Services

Match Committee controlling body for all Association Events, rulings, handling of variations, appeals etc under Conditions of Play.

Coaching & Umpire Education course scheduling, applications, course materials and presenter & assessors.

Events & High Performance

Inter Club Competition - NSW State Pennants, Club Challenge.

State Championship Events for Open, Over 60s, Under 18s, Presidents graded 4 & below.

Representative events – Inter-­Zone Open, Over 60s and Under 18s. City vs Country

NSW State Sides – Open, Over 60s, Under 25s and Under 18s.

Promotion/Recruitment Events – Aloha Barefoot Bowls, NSW Rookies, NSW Under 25 Singles Multi Disability Events

Communications

Distribution of information across multiple communication channels including Website, BowlsBox, Facebook, Twitter, Email

Production of Bowls NSW Magazine.

On-Demand Services

As a member demand driven organisation, a large part of what we do for individual members, clubs, districts and/or Zones is dependent on what service the individual member, club, district or Zone requires at the time.

A wide range of enquiries are handled every day at the office, with some of the services provided including;;

Club Advisory Committee Services

Business and strategic planning

Recruitment and Marketing Resources

Non adversarial dispute resolution, mediation and facilitation

Constitution updates

Policies and Procedures

Corporate Governance training

Trained Member Protection Information Officers (MPIO)

Training of presenter and assessors

On green purposeful practice sessions

Social Media training

Face to Face Club Visits – Development Team & Regional Bowls Managers

Funding Grant Application assistance

All Members have access to the service of Bowls NSW any time, with services being offered FREE OF CHARGE.

Innovation, Promotions & Marketing Bowls NSW are constantly seeking to find new ideas and innovations in which to invest to promote the sport and encourage new people to become involved and to help retain our existing clubs and members. Some of these have included;

Hardcourt Bowls Program – allowing bowls to be promoted in schools and at expos

Small Bowls loan program for Clubs

Expansion of the Rookies event to become a State wide event.

The Aloha Barefoot Bowls event.

The Travel Assistance Grant program – providing grants to offset travel costs for small clubs.

Attendance and demonstrations at Lifestyle, Sport and School Expos Advocacy Bowls NSW is responsible for liaising with a number of key stakeholders both within the sport and externally to represent the best interests of the sport and the members of NSW. Within the sports structure, Bowls NSW represents the members of NSW as a voting member of Bowls Australia, who in turn represents all bowlers in the Country at World Bowls level. Externally, Bowls NSW has close relationships with various tiers of local and state government including NSW Department of Sport and Recreation and the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing, as well as industry bodies such as the NSW Sports Federation, the Club Managers Association and ClubsNSW, where Bowls NSW is represented at a State Council level. These advocacy roles at times allow the sport of bowls to have input and influence on key decisions which could affect our clubs and our sport such as legislation changes, and grant funding allocations.

Who is Bowls NSW? Board The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategic direction and governance of Bowls NSW. Director positions are filled by volunteers who are elected to the Board by the Member Clubs. The current Board is made up of 7 Directors, all of whom hold or have held an active role at their respective Clubs in a Board or Management capacity. 5 Directors have also been actively involved in various roles at District and Zone level also. President Vince Beard Deputy President Lyle Keats Finance Director Ron King Directors Jay Porter Bob Moran Ian McKnight Barry Watkins Employees Bowls NSW currently employs 9 full time and 3 part time staff who fulfil various roles in 3 separate Departments, Bowls Operations, Communications and Marketing and Administration. Chief Executive Officer Greg Helm Executive Secretary Jennifer Hirama Bowls Operations Michael Beaumont, Chris Green, Andrew Lynn, Declan Kelly Administration Courtney Allouche, Shontelle McKeown, Santosh Gupta, Tracy Bannister Communications Cheryl Strong, Tricia Breuer Operational Committees The employees are supported by dedicated volunteers who are elected to Operational Committees including Match, Coaching, Umpires, Juniors and General Services. Districts & Zone Association District and Zone Associations also play an important role within the Association and are responsible for administering the sport in their local area in line with the Conditions of Play set down by Bowls NSW. Members vote for Club and District Delegates to represent them at District and Zone level, and each Zone is represented by a State Councillor who attends, reports and votes on behalf of the members at State Council. It is the responsibility of these elected delegates to ensure that accurate information is communicated both to and from Bowls NSW to the members. Where do our affiliation fees go?

What do I get for my affiliation?

Opportunity to play bowls at all Clubs across Australia and in any Bowls NSW Event.

Eligible to play in structured and organised competition

Access to all services of Bowls NSW as listed above.

A vote and a voice through your Club, District & Zone

Eligibility to hold any position at District, Zone and State Level and have influence on the direction of the sport.

Investment in the future of the sport