Outdoor Annual Meeting
Ahead of the forthcoming outdoor season, I would like to invite all outdoor members to our Annual Pre-Season Meeting. Please note that I have changed the date for this meeting from Thursday 29th February to Tuesday 27th February at 7pm in the Restaurant. Please arrive by 6.30pm, as we will use this as an opportunity to collect membership fees (card only).
Please make every effort to attend this meeting as we have a number of things to discuss and agree on the night, including:
Nomination
- Captains / Vice-captains: We will be looking for Men’s Captain and Vice-Captain and a Ladies Vice-Captain. Catherine Pike has been nominated as Ladies Captain to succeed June Pengelly.
- Selectors – We are looking for 2 Men’s selectors as both Tony Hulbert and Alan Pullin will be standing down. as selectors for the Men; for the Ladies, we are looking for 1 other as Lyn/Iris stand down as their term comes to an end.
- Committee – Captains x 2, Vice-Captains x 2, Competitions Secretary, 2 x Ladies, 2 x Men (plus Director and Secretary)
- Competitions Secretary – Verly has confirmed that she is willing to continue as Competitions Secretary
- BW Ladies Rep – Ann Roberts-Phare has agreed to act as our rep
- Norwest Ladies Rep – Lyn Brown has agreed to act as our rep
- BW Men’s Rep – Alan Pullin has agreed to act as our rep
Proposals
- New outdoor shirt design
- Any others? Please advise me asap
If you are willing to stand for any of these roles, please add your name to the nomination sheet displayed on the Outdoor Section noticeboard.
Outdoor Membership Renewals and Affiliation to Bowls England/Wiltshire
I am assuming that you will be renewing your membership for next year. As a playing member, you are automatically affiliated to both Bowls England and Bowls Wiltshire. Indeed, anyone who steps onto the outside rink to play bowls needs to be affiliated to our governing bodies. Affiliation to both bodies costs the Club £11 per member and needs to be submitted by the end of February, which is well before we have collected membership fees from all our members. If you are NOT planning to play outdoors during the 2024 season, then please let me know, before the end of February. Thank you.
Bowls England / Bowls Wiltshire Competitions
Entries for the Ladies Competitions have been submitted to Bowls Wiltshire. The deadline is January 30th, so if there are any additional ones to be made, then please contact me asap.
Bowls Wiltshire Mixed Competition Entry Forms – download link below. If you are interested in playing in the Mixed Double Rink, Officers Triples, or Australian Pairs, please complete the attached entry form and submit it to me with the appropriate entry fee asap. Deadline for entries is January 30th.
Bowls Wiltshire Men Competitions – If we have any men in the club, who wish to enter any of the Bowls England / County competitions, please see me urgently as entries need to be submitted by January 30th. These include the 2-wood Singles, Singles, Pairs, Triples, Fours, Senior Fours, Champion of Champions, Unbadged Singles, Over-60 Triples and the Tourist Trophy. Further information is available on the notice board.
Bowls Wiltshire Ladies County Matches
I have posted a number of availability sheets for the following County matches on the Outdoor Section notice board. If you are interested in playing in any of these matches, then please sign up.
- BWL vs Oxfordshire at Witney Town BC Tuesday 21st May 2024 – deadline 12th April
- BWL vs Warwickshire at Supermarine Tuesday 18th June 2024 – deadline 17th May
- BWL vs Glamorgan at Box Wednesday 19th June 2024 – deadline 17th May
- BWL vs Hampshire at Pewsey Vale Wednesday 26th June – deadline 17th May
- BWL vs Berkshire at Three Mile Cross BC Friday 2nd August – deadline 20th June
- BWL vs Surrey at The Old Dean Bowls Club Tuesday 6th August – deadline 20th June
- BWL vs Gloucestershire at Painswick Falcon BS Friday 30th August – deadline 20th June
- BWL vs Swindon & District at Haydon Wick Wednesday 4th September – deadline 16th August
- BWL vs Norwest League at Chippenham Park Tuesday 10th September – deadline 16th August
- BWL vs BWM at Wroughton BC Wednesday 11th September – deadline 16th August
- BWL John’s Trophy Squad Trial at Devizes Saturday 4th May at 1.30pm and Tuesday 7th May at 6pm – deadline 3rd April
- Southwest Counties League: BWL vs Cornwall at Tiverton West BC Tuesday 14th May - deadline 3rd April
- Southwest Counties League: BWL vs Somerset at Amesbury BC Wednesday 12th June - deadline 15th May
- Southwest Counties League: BWL vs Worcestershire at Highworth BC Wednesday 3rd July - deadline 15th May
- Southwest Counties League: BWL vs Devon at South Petherton BC Thursday 18th July - deadline 15th May
- Southwest Counties League: BWL vs Dorset at Branksome Park BC Wednesday 24th July - deadline 19th June
Dates for Your Diary
- We are planning to open the Outdoor Green from Monday 15th April, in line with previous years and subject to the greenkeepers’ approval.
- First matches take place on Tuesday 23rd April as the West Wilts (White Horse) League gets under way.
- We anticipate holding our Outdoor Open Day on Saturday 27th April and will be looking for volunteers to help organise the day. We encourage you to ‘bring a friend’ along to try out our fantastic sport.
- I have also booked in a Coaching Day with the Bowls Wiltshire Coaches on Saturday 22nd June. This is aimed at all bowlers and is an opportunity to improve our skills and techniques under the watchful eye of the County’s top coaches.
