WARRNAMBOOL Bowls Club bowls co-ordinator Paul O’Donnell says a scheduling clash which has impacted numbers for its annual Australian Day ladies’ pairs competition is “disappointing”.
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O’Donnell said 20 teams registered for the three-day competition, which started on Wednesday but was impacted by heat on Thursday.
He said it was about eight teams less than previous years with a Bowls Victoria-Bowls New South Wales test match rostered at the same time.
“After we’ve set our dates, they’ve lobbed a test match on us,” O’Donnell said.
“We lost up to 16 players and also the Victorian under 25 squad is going up there, so they’ve done a bit of damage to us as far as numbers go.”
O’Donnell said the fixturing issue would encourage Warrnambool to look at “South Australia and perhaps Tasmania to get support from them rathering than relying on Bowls Vic”.
He said January was the ideal time for the club to run the competition.
“It’s the only time we could fit it in and it’s holiday season and the biggest disappointment is it’s probably the second-richest tournament in Victoria for ladies,” O’Donnell said.
“To not get the support we need to promote ladies’ bowls is pretty disappointing.”
Bowls Victoria it was difficult to squeeze in all events.
“Selected dates are the result of a collective decision made between states who are playing in a test; these dates vary from year to year,” marketing and communications manager Bronwyn Slatter said.
“We have a large group of female state players and not all have been selected to play in this week’s test match.
“It’s at the discretion of the players which events they choose to enter.
“Most players have full-time work commitments which also affect their availability to play in weekday events. This is not something Bowls Victoria has any control over.”
Play started earlier than orginally scheduled on Thursday due to the hot weather forecast.
They hit the greens before the temperature hit 38 degrees, forcing the early cancellation.
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Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
