Bowls: School attendance shows big appeal

Forty-four secondary school students competed in a pairs and singles competition at Bowls Whangarei greens, and for some it was their first attempt at the game and they competed very well.

It was great to see attendances from Ruawai College, Pompallier College, Whangarei Girls' and Boys' High Schools, Kamo High School and Tikipunga High School at the recent event.

This tournament was used as a talent identification day for selection in the Northland Secondary Schools' representative team to play at the regional event in September.

Winners on the day included WBHS's Trevor Attwood in the singles. Savanna Lauder (WGHS) was second while Cory Bellamy (Ruawai College) was third. In the pairs, Anna Goodman and Leah Botica (WGHS) took the honours, ahead of Clayton Wihongi and Jayden Tunstall-Whalley (Tikipunga HS, in second, and WBHS No 1 team of Jack Hutchinson and Kahu Read in third place.

Eddie turns a corner

A Corner to Corner competition winner was found when club champions played off at Kensington greens last Saturday. The players were led on to the green by a bagpiper, and after three very close rounds of competition, the Northland/Far North representatives to compete in the New Zealand finals were Eddie van den Bergen of Onerahi Club, and runner-up Monty Wynyard of Opononi.

Van den Bergen received a new set of bowls as his prize. This competition was a collaboration between Bowls NZ and their sponsor Grants to support the bowling clubs of New Zealand.

The winner of the New Zealand final will receive $3000 for their own club. Well done to all the clubs who took part and to Bowls NZ and their sponsor for their support of this event.

Hayley's in the Kitty

The Kitty Hawks Under-20 National Finals will be held in Auckland this weekend. Hayley Phillips from the Kensington club is competing in this event and we wish her all the very best for this tournament.

Umpire delight The Umpires Association would like to thank all those teams who supported their annual tournament held at Kensington greens and congratulate the winners and runners-up - both teams were from Hikurangi Club. Well done to you.

Reminders

The Centre Open tournament programme for next season has been distributed to all clubs. Any changes to dates or events required should be forwarded to centre by April 15.

Two events are left on the centre calendar for this season. Entries are being accepted for the Junior Open pairs to be played at the end of the month. This will be followed by the Northern Region 1-5 Year Interclub competition to be held at Hikurangi greens on May 5. Northland will be represented by the Mangawhai Club.

Official business

Would you like to become an umpire, technical officer or measurer? Maybe you would just like to learn the laws of the game. Classes will begin next month and names of those wanting to do these courses are now being taken. Please contact Betty on 4343677 for more details.