BOWLSLINK

This year has seen the adoption of BowlsLink increase across Australia, with more competitions than ever and adoption in NSW and parts of Queensland.

BowlsLink continues to be developed and implemented by a working party comprised of Bowls Australia and State and Territory Association (STA) employees.

Mobile Apps

This year saw the release for two mobile apps to complement the BowlsLink system.

The BowlsLink Scoring app, designed to be used by players competing against one another to score end-by-end, requires both teams to enter the results for an end before the next end become available to score. If the score entered do not match, a warning is displayed and must be corrected to continue.

The app also allows third party marker scoring, so a non-player is able to score end-by-end, this has been successfully used on a number of occasions including the Australian Open finals.

The second app released was the Bowls Now app, which aggregates bowls news from the national body and all STAs, becoming a central hub for all bowls news. This app also includes access to a nationwide results portal, where users can find any competition results within BowlsLink, access to the online store, video replays on demand and and a broadcast schedule for all matches within the competition system that are designated as being streamed.

Membership System

The national membership system has continued to be improved and enhanced throughout the year, and this program of continuous improvement will continue into the coming year as we respond to feedback from users and new requests from STAs.

Conveniently, all members are able to access their own data online through the system. This enables members to update their details and see results, enter competitions run through the online competition system available to all clubs in participating STAs.

Competition Management

Pleasingly, this year the online competition system was successfully used to run over eighty percent of Pennant competitions in New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria, as well as numerous state/territory, district/region and club events.

This year has seen the development of a new results portal providing easier viewing for members, which was launched in conjunction with the Australian Open.

Elsewhere testing has been conducted on the use of a scoring app for mobile devices which will provide an easy platform for members to update scores with options for end of game and end by end scoring. based on feedback and forward planning, to ensure the system continues to evolve and deliver the best possible product for the sport moving forward.

BowlsLearn

As part of the ongoing improvements, BowlsLink has been integrated with BowlsLearn (a new Learning Management System for the sport), allowing members to access courses and complete online components. This will lead to more members being able to complete courses at their own pace, before attending on the green sessions where required for the completion of certifications.