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.