Update 24^th September 2012.

This coming Weekend 29^th and 30^th.

Saturday 29^th Infracon any gender Handicap Pairs.

Sunday 30^th Judy Bailey Ladies Trophy (Daylight Saving starts).

Tony Jensen’s - Bowling on 24^th September 2012.

The test for any sport in today's environment is membership and it is an area that Bowls is tested to the limit.

We are all aware that club member numbers overall are dropping but underlying that is what I perceive to be an even more serious issue and that is an aging membership. While this guarantees participation at the roll-up level and half day tournaments it further tests the competitive level of the sport.

Many of our old timers tell me they still love an outing at bowls but are not up to more than a half day. This disqualifies them from interclub and most club championships. It is purely a guess but I would estimate that about 65-70 % of all bowlers in our centre are aged over 70 and there is a substantial percentage of those who are octogenarians. Our club has 96 members shown in the handbook but only three are under 60 and but one is under fifty.

The affect is not only playing on the green but also in ability to assist at working bees on the greens and with other manual tasks around a club. What will the result be in five then 10 years? I don't have the answers and I don't see any real attraction to younger people in the game we are currently providing.

• Palmerston North have a fundraising tournament for the Rescue Helicopter on Sunday 7 November and it is pleasing to see a fours format for a change. I still regard it as the blue ribbon event but we play it rarely these days. The cause is one that touches most of us at some stage and the Any Gender format means all bowlers can participate.

• The standard of greens at the beginning of any season is a question all competitive bowlers like answered and I was delighted by Northern's number two when I played their pairs on Saturday. I was even more chuffed at the green Clint Corlett presented for Johnston Park's opening the previous week. It was the best I had seen at the club in many years and the equal of anything about. Men might like to test it for themselves at our Classic fours on 6 October, another format that is growing in popularity.

• Pahiatua tell me they had four new ladies to opening day which is massive for a smaller club. They also report their green was very true so perhaps that club will be resurgent this season.

• Craig Morgan from Palmerston North Club will switch attention from the greens to lanes in October when he is part of a Special Olympics team for a Trans Tasman tournament in Cairns. Spares and strikes will replace touchers and we wish him all the best of success.

• Some clubs have been running "Have a go" days and while no one else has reported to me Johnston Park attracted eight potential members last Sunday and are confident more than half will convert to members.

• Don't forget the Nationals are in Taranaki this season and it is a splendid opportunity to make the tournament part of your season. Even to play one or two events is fantastic experience and there is nothing quite like the experience of drawing a New Zealand representative first up. There have been many examples over the years of huge upsets so put your reputation on the line and enter.

Forward news to tony.jensen@aon.com. If you don't tell me your club news I can't report it.

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony.

Update 10^th September 2012.

Hi Everyone!

Winter is a goneburger and the new season is upon us along with the usual amounts of wind for this time of the year.

Have a great season and I will catch up with you all on the Greens.

From Captain Paul.

Saturday September 15th   OPENING DAY  

Play will commence at 1pm weather permitting.

Drawn Triples are our preferred choice and names in by 12pm.

Club Handbook

Will be available at Opening Day.

Social night

Next social night will be on Friday 21^st September at the clubrooms.

Details will be on notice board.

Tony Jensen’s - Bowling on 10^th September 2012.

The warm feeling of the sun on your back is a sure sign the bowling season is upon us and I would expect most clubs will formally open their seasons in the next three weeks.

While the new season has not officially begun our women's  five year and under side has already played in and won the annual hexagonal tournament at Wanganui. This is a splendid effort as they were in very good company with Wanganui, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki and Kapiti Coast. Manawatu made a clean sweep of the first round and then held their form sufficiently to retain the lead throughout the weekend.

The five year and under grade is one where Manawatu has struggled in recent years but this result would suggest these women have come of age. For the record the team was Michele Welsh, Trish Didham, Lindy Crawford, Beryll England, Ailsa Lindsay, Glenda O'Connor, Sophie Fisher, Caitlin Thomson, Tania Harris and Christina Bryan. Watch those names in the future.

It is now well known we have a very different looking Bowls Manawatu executive and they have certainly produced a radically changed programme for the season. The most fundamental change is that Open Events will no longer be the contests that go on to  Regional and National finals.

Champion of Champion events will all be decided before the end of February and the winners will go forward to the regional finals. This will dramatically change our Club seasons and effectively mean that the bulk of club titles will need to be decided this side of Christmas.

A point that worries me is that as there are far fewer pathways to a centre title we will see one or two very stacked teams in each club and ordinary club bowlers are likely to feel they are only cannon fodder to the elite and not bother to enter. Time will tell but with falling memberships change has to happen. It will certainly mean big gaps in playing opportunity in the late summer and autumn but clubs need to be aware that is opportunity.

Interclub will also be played pre- Christmas and again interest will centre on the number of Division One entries. We had only three in the women's competition and four in the men's last season and I am not anticipating much change. With Division Two also going through to a New Zealand title many clubs are targeting where they can be more competitive. I hear Te Kawau and Ashhurst men will combine for a Division two team this year and I commend the initiative. Regulations for the competition allow for clubs with fewer than 20 members of one gender to combine with a similar club. Clubs need to have their interclub entries in by 30 September so we will know soon enough the make-up of the event. I see five days have been put aside for interclub which seems extraordinary to me. We had it all over in two days last season.

• There will still be some open centre tournaments held and the mixed 2-4-2 over Labour Weekend is the first of these to be contested. I commend the effort in attracting one of the game's greats Peter Belliss to enter. Unfortunately I won't be able play the event this year or early interclub as I have an appointment at Old Trafford that will take precedence.

• When in Scotland earlier in the year I had the fortune to visit the Marchmount Bowling Club in Dumfries. I pulled into a Bed and Breakfast only to look over the fence and see bowls being played. The club has but one green but 195 full playing members. When I enquired how they can get through a full programme with but one green they were a little puzzled by the question. The brief answer was they maximise daylight and players are told don't enter if you can't play when required. A few of our posers could use such discipline.

I also admired the way they got on with the game. The skips gave precise and immediate instructions and all players crossed over briskly. Eighteen ends of fours were played by nine o'clock.

• Bowls Manawatu has entered the world of social media by introducing a Facebook. Apparently 150 have already joined for news and chat. Not for this old-fashioned ludite but I'm sure it has a place. No doubt a few tantrums will be played out.

• Takaro ran a very successful winter competition on Saturdays and believe it or not they never lost a day through weather. I came off the bench to fill in a few times and thoroughly enjoyed the outings.

Email news to tony.jensen@aon.com

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony!