IMPORTANT – ZONE 10 CALENDAR 2023-24
Dear Zone 10 Clubs
Please see attached proposed DRAFT Calendar for the 2023-24 bowling season.
It is imperative that your respective Bowls Committee members and stakeholders consider this proposed calendar closely and I would suggest comments will be discussed and hopefully an agreement made at the next Delegates Meeting on Monday 3rd April.
That being the case, any correspondence wishing to propose something different to this draft should be emailed to the Zone Coordinator (zone10bowls@gmail.com), so it can be circulated to all affiliated clubs prior to the meeting.
There are primarily two main points of discussion: –
A) The State Open Pennants
Bowls NSW suggested in their original document that metropolitan State Open Pennants should commence on Saturday 17th February 2024 and that to accommodate the usual 10 rounds that at least one double-header would be required.
The Zone 10 Match Committee are alternatively proposing a six (6) round competition (sections of 4) commencing on Saturday 16th March. We have done this for the following reasons: –
- To assist affiliated clubs to get their greens back into play from renovation in a reasonable amount of time. Taking pressure off clubs and greenkeeping staff to rush greens back or clubs not having enough rink space to accommodate all their sides.
- To help affiliated clubs and members by not having to crowd the calendar with double-headers which we know from past experiences can be quite unpopular with a number of clubs and for individuals wanting to do other things on a Sunday. If we were to have the usual 10 rounds, then one or two double-headers would be required.
- Another bonus to clubs is giving more additional weekends back to affiliated clubs thereby giving them more opportunities to run events that are more pertinent to their needs. eg. tournaments, club championships and / or more opportunity for pennant trials.
- With Men’s Single Gender Pennant still on the calendar for at least one more season, the vast majority of affiliated members will get more rounds of pennant play throughout the season potentially. Thereby, not necessarily losing the total number of matches played.
B) Single Gender Men’s Pennant (SGP)
Whilst most professional bowls administrators were in agreement that Bowls NSW would remove the SGP from our programme, that has not been the case. Those in the know suggest they want the SGP to disappear, but do not want to be the one’s to make that decision.
You only have to look at when the proposed state final dates (Tuesday through Thursday with a possible day of travel either side), proposed in May 2024 and even the 6-week period from the start of May to the end of the Australian Open…it’s absolutely unbelievable.
Therefore, the Zone 10 Match Committee is proposing that the SGP, for this year, take place as a midweek competition, in place of the Z10 Midweek Pennant. Six rounds commencing from Wednesday 13th September and the last Final being on Wednesday 8th November. Proposed starting time is 1pm for all Divisions, unless otherwise agreed by clubs.
We realise this does not suit the working man, but as the old saying goes, you cannot please everyone. To play this event on a Saturday would require nine weekends out of action. With Bowls NSW now putting the State Championship Finals on during the first couple of weeks in March 2024, we really have to play our Zone 10 State Championships throughout August to November in 2023 to get them all done.
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Cameron Curtis – Zone 10 Coordinator
e: zone10bowls@gmail.com | m: 0412 089 833 w: zone10.bowls.com.au