Bowls: Bay View team will be full of confidence

Bay Hope: Bay View's Bev Withers will be one of the more fancied Hawke's Bay skips in action this weekend. Photo/Supplied

If work behind the scenes guaranteed bowls skips tournament titles Bay View's Bev Withers would be a finalist in just about every outing.

But this is never a factor. Previous experience, the ability to cope under pressure and the ability for everyone within their respective skip's team to get on with each other are usually the factors which determine who takes home the silverware.

Those boxes will be ticked when Withers and her team, which includes Judy Richards at three, Judy Graham at two and lead Stathea Caccioppoli starts play in Bowls Hastings' annual Invitation Women's Fours tournament today. Withers has won six Hawke's Bay centre titles and numerous club titles.

Withers, Richards, Graham and Barbara Clark finished third-equal at the National Clubs Championship Fours in Dunedin in April. That performance should give the Bay View quartet plenty of confidence for this weekend's 16-team event which will have $2000 in prizemoney up for grabs.

Richards, a former netball and tennis teammate of Withers, has played in bowls teams with her for the past 12 years.

"Bev is just as hard a worker on the greens as she is off it. She keeps us going and the good coaching set up run by Beryl Skidmore at our club is another reason why we did well in Dunedin," Richard said.

"We haven't played in this weekend's event for a while now so we're looking forward to the tough competition it has," she added.

An orchard owner in Bay View for 28 years with her hubby, former Napier CIB boss Bill Withers, Withers, had a dilemma when retirement approached. She didn't know whether to join a tramping club or a bowls club.

Bowls got the nod and her clubmates were delighted with the choice. Withers has been secretary and president of the club's women's section, she is a long-time match committee worker and in 2015 was awarded life membership.

A Bowls New Zealand umpire, Withers, is also chairperson of Hawke's Bay Bowlers Delegates Association.

Bowlers from throughout the North Island have entered this weekend's event. Defending champions Elaine Wiggins and Glenys Riddell of the host club and the Manurewa pair of Karen Forest and Miriam Pedley will attempt a second consecutive title.

Whangarei's Ann Muir will play in the tournament for the third time. She was given a Queen's Service Medal for services to bowls and the community in Monday's Queen's Birthday Honours list.

She played three in a New Zealand four which won a bronze medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada. Current Bowls Hawke's Bay president Colleen Ferrick played two in the team which also included skip Adrienne Lambert and lead Marlene Castle.