Bowls Australia's 2014/15 Annual Report by BowlsAustralia

2014-15 Annual Report

2 2014-15 Annual Report

contents

ceo and president’s report. ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 STATE AND TERRITORY ASSOCIATIONS...................................................................................................................................... 13 BOWLS AUSTRALIA BOARD DIRECTORS, STAFF & COMMITTEES............................................................................ 14 BOWLS AUSTRALIA board. ................................................................................................................................................................ 18 AUSTRALIAN SQUADS.............................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Australian Sports Commission message.................................................................................................................... 24 AUSTRALIAN PREMIER LEAGUE REPORT................................................................................................................................... 26 PARTICIPATION report. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 28 HIGH PERFORMANCE report.......................................................................................................................................................... 32 events report.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 COMMONWEALTH GAMES REPORT............................................................................................................................................... 38

commercial operations report........................................................................................................................................... 40 AUSTRALIAN OPEN REPORT. .............................................................................................................................................................. 42 HONOUR ROLL.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 46 Finance report........................................................................................................................................................................................ 48 Sponsors and Club Partners................................................................................................................................................. 79

2014-15 Annual Report 3 2013-14

CEO & PRESIDENTS REPORT

Des Skinne President

s President and CEO of Bowls Australia (BA), it gives us great pleasure to provide a joint review of the past year highlighting the achievements and successes of 2014/15, and to extend our appreciation to the numerous individuals and organisations that have contributed to the growth and development of Bowls in Australia over this period.

Bowls in Australia Strategic Plan During the year BA and STAs continued their commitment to work towards the delivery of one plan for the sport. The 2013 – 2017 Bowls in Australia plan sets the framework for our structure and staffing to deliver on this plan. The BA staffing structure and the staffs’ individual KPIs are closely aligned with the strategic initiatives listed in the plan. 4 2014-15 Annual Report

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One of key mechanisms to deliver on this strategic plan has been the formation of working parties – the Capitation and Revenue Stream, Marketing and Brand, Good Governance Working Party and Bowls Connect have wide ranging representation from BA, STAs and other stakeholders. We thank those representatives for their very important contribution.

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Preparations for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games was a major priority in that year for not only the high performance department, but also all BA staff and Board Directors. Significant investment in preparing our players on similar conditions offered up in the Northern Hemisphere occurred in the lead up to the Glasgow Games. Whist the results were not to the level that we had hoped for and

expected, we would like to thank the Australian Jackaroos team who represented us with distinction at this coveted multi-sport event held in the international spotlight. Our thanks extend to National Coach Steve Glasson OAM and High Performance Coordinator Peter Brown for their over and above efforts to ensure that the players and coaches had the best possible preparation under trying conditions. Following the Glasgow Commonwealth Games a review occurred as part of the normal process following a major benchmark event. This has led to some changes to the operational structure and program delivery to prepare for the next benchmark event, the 2016 World Bowls Championships in New Zealand. National Training Centre Coach for NSW/ACT Gary Willis was appointed National Assistant Coach following this event and will provide assistance to National Coach Steve Glasson moving forward, in addition to his NTC responsibilities.

The Sports Tally 2014 The Australian Sports Commission made available The Sports Tally 2014 document during this period, which reviewed the significant achievements across Australia’s high performance sporting landscape, and provided an annual health check on sports in receipt of Australia’s Winning Edge funding. The Sports Tally articulated the following in their review of BA’s high performance program. Australia is ranked number one in world bowls and produced a strong performance in line with expectations at the benchmark event in 2013. The focus of the high performance program continues to be on developing individual athlete plans, monitoring and exploring technological advancements in order to keep their world number one status. Bowls Australia (BA) has made a number of positive changes to its governance and is proactive in its discussions with stakeholders in the pursuit of greater alignment

with the ASC’s mandatory governance principles. A new strategic plan was released in late 2013 with support from all state associations. BA has implemented and executed a successful participation strategy. Regular participation has increased, however the decline in full active members remains a concern. BA is responding by diversifying its product offering in an attempt to attract new members. It was very pleasing that BA was provided a rating of 4/5, “performing well in all areas; above target”, for progress as a National Sporting Organisation across the interrelated areas of high performance, participation and governance – alongside Netball as the only two of 18 sports to earn an “above target” ranking.

2015 Australian Open The 2015 Australian Open was the result of more than two years’ worth of planning and development by numerous Bowls Australia staff and Board Directors. We would like to acknowledge the original steering committee that contributed greatly to the creation of this event – Pat Buller, Lynsey Clarke, Todd Simmons, Nigel Smith, Steve Glasson, Robyn Smith (Ausrapid) and Neil Dalrymple. The world’s most lucrative tournament, offering $225,000 prize money, attracted nearly 2,000 participants to the Gold Coast region for 13 days of competition, concluding with two days of Fox Sports live broadcast action. New champions were crowned, and it was particularly pleasing to see 18 year-old Ellen Ryan from 2014-15 Annual Report 5

Cabramatta and 21 year-old Aaron Teys from Warilla shine brightest on the national stage against international calibre athletes to secure the $18,000 women’s and men’s singles titles respectively. The sport of bowls is certainly in a healthy position on the green with young champions like these coming through the high performance pathway system. We would like to express our appreciation to Tourism and Events Queensland and the City of Gold Coast, together with the host clubs and hundreds of volunteers, who assisted with the planning and staging of this event.

World Junior Championships Western Australia’s Kristina Krstic etched her name into the sport’s history books in March, 2015, becoming the first person to secure both international under-25 titles consecutively. Krstic capped off a stellar World Junior Championships campaign at the Gold Coast’s Broadbeach Bowls Club after seven days of heated hostilities with a fairytale finish, earning the ultimate accolade in both disciplines on offer. Despite a star-studded field of combatants from 13-nations, the 19 year-old cut a swathe through the sport’s only under-25 international tournament. Pairing with NSW’s Ben Twist to secure the mixed pairs title in an edgeof-your-seat blockbuster against traditional on-green rival New Zealand. Just a few hours later in the singles, Kristina had again triumphed on the sport’s biggest stage for under-25 competitors, but at the expense of defending titleholder and fellow Australian Chloe Stewart. 6 2014-15 Annual Report

We congratulate Kristina Krstic and Ben Twist on becoming world junior champions, and their national teammates Chloe Stewart, Dylan Fisher, Renee McPharlin and Kelly Richards on their valiant efforts.

Trans-Tasman The Australian Jackaroos once again did the nation proud in the annual Trans-Tasman test series, claiming the overall honours for a fourth consecutive year. The green and gold stranglehold over the fiercely contested annual event continued in Burnside in March 2015, with the Australian senior team completing its assignment of retaining the Overall Trans-Tasman Trophy despite dropping the final test in both the men’s and women’s events. We would like to congratulate Bowls NZ on their live streaming

of this event, which provided thousands of bowlers from around the globe with access to coverage as it happened.

2020 World Championships and other significant international events It is very pleasing to report that during this period, a number of significant international events have been secured by BA, none more important than the 2020 World Bowls Championships, which will be staged on the Gold Coast as a legacy to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. An agreement with Tourism and Events Queensland and the City of Gold Coast, World Bowls and BA confirmed the event would be held in the state of Queensland for the first time since the event’s inception in 1966.

In a major coup for the sport nationally, the Gold Coast has now acquired both of the sport’s pre-eminent international events on the horizon, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2020 World Bowls Championships, as well the sport’s most lucrative open tournament in the Australian Open, Collectively this will award more than $1,125,000 in prize money and attract more than 20,000 participants over its five year duration. Broadbeach Bowls Club, Musgrave Hill Bowls Club and Club Helensvale have been handpicked to simultaneously stage the World Bowls Championships, given the necessity of eight bowls greens to accommodate the 240-player draw. As a consequence of securing the sport’s pinnacle event, a number of ancillary international events will also head to the Gold Coast in the 2014-15 Annual Report 7

preceding years. The annual Trans-Tasman test series between Australia and New Zealand will take place on the coast for a three-year period, from 2017-2019, in addition to the 13-nation 2019 Asia Pacific Championships, the Southern Hemisphere’s qualifying event for the World Bowls Championships.

Australian Premier League The second staging of the Australian Premier League was headlined by the addition of two new licensees joining the competition; the Moama Bowling Club based Murray Steamers and the Club Helensvale aligned Gold Coast Hawks. The second year of the revolutionary APL competition featured 20 hours of live broadcast 8 2014-15 Annual Report

coverage - five hours each night - with an additional nine replays shown over three Fox Sports channels on the days after, totalling 45 hours of replayed vision, providing unprecedented access for bowls aficionados and sporting enthusiasts in general to watch all the action as it happened. The precision demonstrated on the Club Pine Rivers surface by all eight teams was testament to their player’s skill and ability, but I would like to congratulate the Moama Bowling Club and their team, the Murray Steamers and their team of Michael Walker, Ryan Bester and Alex Marshall MBE together with Coach Zane Mikin-Laurie for becoming the first expansion team to claim the title. The Adelaide Endurance franchise, owned by Bowls SA, should also be commended for reaching its second consecutive final in the

$110,000 prize-money event.

Launch of Jack Attack and Jr. Jack Attack Coinciding with the second edition of the Australian Premier League was the launch of BA’s new national participation program Jack Attack. Jack Attack is a program aimed at getting more of the general public involved in the sport of lawn bowls by offering a fast paced, competitive but social format of the sport. Former women’s world number eight tennis player Alicia Molik was introduced as the ambassador of the program during the Jack Attack pro-am event broadcast live on Fox Sports during APL02, alongside Crackerjack star Mick Molloy, Rugby League legend Alfie Langer and Steve Glasson.

within the operations of World Bowls that we believe need to be urgently addressed. They were Membership, Finance, Events and the Strategic Direction of the organisation for the future. In addition, we provided a number of solutions that could be implemented collectively by World Bowls and the Member National Authorities over the next 12-18 months. As the largest bowling nation in the world, we feel it is important that Australia continues to play an active role in all World Bowls activities and not just hosting events. We acknowledge the election of Karen Murphy and appointment of Colleen Gilbert from Australia on the World Bowls Board and we look forward to developing a strong working relationship with them both.

Increase in ASC funding

To date we have had more than 70 clubs sign up to become Jack Attack host clubs across the country, which exceeded our initial expectations, with a great response from Gold Coast clubs in particular. We will continue to develop and promote the program to encourage a wider uptake moving forward. Aligning with the Australian Premier League and Jack Attack is Jr. Jack Attack, which was also rolled out during the 2014/15 financial year. Jr. Jack Attack is designed to enable school children to participate in an engaging format, which is both fun and inclusive, and that can be conducted on a range of surfaces including greens, carpets, concrete, wooden floors and just about anything else that is flat, eliminating the restrictions of requiring a bowling green to

introduce new audiences to the sport. Jr. Jack Attack is part of the Australian Sports Commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sporting Schools Program, which provides funding for schools to select a sport, of which bowls is one of 32. Bowls will be delivered to school children before, after or during school hours.

World Bowls review and recommendations During the year, the President and CEO prepared a paper entitled Rejuvenating Bowls on a global scale and this was designed to openly, honestly and without blame, identify and acknowledge the current situation and impediments to growth facing bowls on a global scale. We identified four key areas

The Australian Sports Commission introduced a new participation funding categorisation model in 2015. As a result, BAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funding for participation increased from $546,800 to $625,000 and is set to increase to $650,000 in 2016/17. This funding will continue to be very important in supporting our Regional Bowls Manager program across Australia.

Partnerships We would like to acknowledge the loyal support and generous contribution from the Federal Government through the Australian Sports Commission and Australian Institute of Sport, in particular the ASC Chair, John Wylie, the ASC Board and CEO Simon Hollingsworth, who have provided invaluable advice and support to our organisation over this period. Sincere thanks also to President Sam Coffa AM, former CEO Perry Crosswhite AM and the 2014-15 Annual Report 9

Board of Management of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association for their continued support of bowls and our High Performance program. We welcome Craig Philips as the new CEO of the ACGA and look forward to working with him. Specifically we acknowledge the assistance and funding provided by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association to BA for athletes in the 2015 NextGEN AUSComGames Squad program. We thank and acknowledge Tourism and Events Queensland and the City of Gold Coast for their support of the Australian Open and ancillary events. We continue to build strong relationships with each State and Territory Association and during 2014/15 period we have worked collaboratively on a number of projects and initiatives that will continue to develop over the coming months and years, and we thank their Presidents, Boards, Chief Executive Officers and all their staff for their support. A special acknowledgement to our broadcast partners, Fox Sports and SkyTV NZ, for their support and efforts in bringing bowls into the lounge rooms of fans around the country and abroad. To our valued sponsors and corporate partners who are outlined in the Commercial Development section of this annual report, we extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation for these partnerships and look forward to continuing to develop our relationships with you well into the future. Special thanks to Bowls Australia’s Board of Directors, staff, national committees and volunteers for their continual commitment and dedication to the growth and development of the sport and brand of bowls in Australia. 10 2014-15 Annual Report

We wish to acknowledge World Bowls President John Bell, CEO Gary Smith and especially Australian Directors Karen Murphy and Colleen Gilbert together with the other directors for their efforts over the past 12 months.

of the first Australian women’s team to play South Africa in a test match, in 1967, and would go on to don the green and gold uniform representing Australia on 101 occasions throughout an illustrious career.

Bowls Australia also extends its thanks to all of our National Merchandise Program licensees for their ongoing contributions throughout the past year.

Her distinguished international career spanned almost two decades and included contesting the Women’s World Bowls Championships in 1969, 1977 and 1985; where she finished on a high-note, claiming the world triples crown.

To the clubs and volunteers who have contributed to the hosting of national and international events over this period, we thank and congratulate you on your tireless contribution to the sport.

In Memoriam Throughout the past year, bowls communities throughout Australia have lost many loved and respected friends and members and we offer our prayers and thoughts to those clubs and bowls families. Finally, Bowls Australia wishes to pay its respects and offer its sincere sympathies to the families of Geoff Oakley, Norma Massey OAM and Trevor Roach AM.

Geoff Oakley Cap number 60, Geoff Oakley’s international highlight came when he donned the green and gold uniform for Australia at the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games, where his pairs team finished in fourth place with nine wins and four losses. Following a stellar playing career, Oakley was appointed as the Australian Men’s Coach and Manager, a position he held from 1999 to 2004, which included supporting the playing contingent as Team Manager at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Norma Massey OAM Norma Massey was a member

She was acknowledged for her service to the sport of lawn bowls as a player at local, state, national and international level and through executive positions with bowling organisations, when she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, in 2007. Massey further solidified her position as one of the sport’s preeminent players when she was inducted into BA’s inaugural Hall of Fame in 2011, in the 1975-99 Athlete category.

Trevor Roach AM Trevor Roach served as Vice President of Bowls Australia in 1999, before taking over the reins as President on October 12, 2000 - the same day that saw a decision passed from the Boards of the Australian Men’s Bowling Council and the Australian Women’s Bowling Council to become a unified body - and he continued in this position until the amalgamation was finalised in 2002. During this time he was also a delegate to the World Bowls Board, and served as the President of BA during the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. An avid member of Launceston Bowls Club, Roach was the first Tasmanian to be elected to the top position since the open election format was introduced.

2014-15 Annual Report 11

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State and Territory Association contact details Bowls ACT

54 McCaughey Street Turner ACT 2602 PO Box 6105 O’Connor ACT 2602 Ph: 02 6257 3560 Fax: 02 6257 4229 exec@bowlsact.org.au

Bowls NT

GPO Box 728 Darwin NT 0801 Ph. 08 8947 5125 bowlsnt@bigpond.com

Bowls QLD

72 Pickering Street Enoggera QLD 4051 PO Box 476 Alderley QLD 4051 Ph: 07 3355 9988 Fax: 07 3855 0010 admin@bowlsqld.org

Bowls SA

3A Rowells Road Lockleys SA 5032 PO Box 59 Brooklyn SA 5032 Ph: 08 8234 7544 Fax: 08 8351 8220 reception@bowlssa.com.au

Bowls TAS

6a Forster St, Invermay Tasmania 7248 P.O. Box 4041 Invermay, 7248 Phone: (03) 6331 7436 Fax: (03) 6331 7435 exec@bowlstasmania.com.au

Bowls WA

1st Floor, 158 Main Street Osborne Park WA 6017 PO Box 123 Osborne Park WA 6917 Ph: 08 9340 0800 Fax: 08 9242 1866 enquiries@bowlswa.com.au

WOMEN’S BOWLS NSW

7th Floor, 309 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: 02 9267 7155 Fax: 02 9267 7254 reception@womensbowlsnsw.org.au

ROYAL NSW BOWLING ASSOCIATION Level 5, 309 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A2186 Sydney South NSW 1235 Ph: 02 9283 4555 Fax: 02 9283 4252 rnswba@rnswba.org.au

bowls Victoria

Suite 7, 32-36 Camberwell Rd Hawthorn East 3123 PO Box 6080 Hawthorn West VIC 3122 Ph: 03 9861 7100 Fax: 03 9813 4199 bowlsvic@bowlsvic.org.au

2014-15 Annual Report 13

Nigel Smith Bowls Australia Board Director

board directors, staff & COMMITTEES

Michael Catlow Independent Member Neil Dalrymple Bowls Australia Chief Executive Officer

Board Appointed Committees National Officiating Advisory Group:

State Consultative Body: Des Skinner Bowls Australia President (Chair) John Fisher OAM Bowls Victoria President Graeme Bridge Bowls Victoria Chief Executive Officer Vince Beard RNSWBA President Greg Helm RNSWBA Chief Executive Officer Robyn Procter Women’s Bowls NSW President Nicky Bethwaite Women’s Bowls NSW CEO Ron Chambers Bowls Queensland Chair (to February 2015) John Dawson Bowls Queensland Chair (from February 2015) Doug Evans Bowls Queensland Chief Executive Officer (from August 2014 to May 2015) Graham Leeks Bowls WA President

Steve Tomlin Bowls Tasmania Executive Officer (to June 2015) REBECCA VAN ASCH Bowls Tasmania Chief Executive Officer (from June 2015) Stan Smolski Bowls NT President Carolyn Smolski Bowls NT Executive Officer (to February 2015) Lee Farrell Bowls NT Executive Officer (from February 2015)

Audit, Risk and Policy Committee: Jewel Buchanan Bowls Australia Board Director (Chair) Des Skinner Bowls Australia President Louise Witton Bowls Australia Board Director Lindsay Bridgland Independent Member

Tony Sherwill Bowls Australia General Manager Bowls Operations (Chair) Ian Irvine (QLD) John Dawson (QLD) Andrew Lynn (NSW) BETH YOUNG (SA) David Madigan (Convenor - Bowls Australia Education and Training Coordinator)

National Coaching Advisory Group: Steve Glasson OAM Bowls Australia National Coach (Chair) Julia Walsh (VIC) Gary Willis (NSW) Jaewyn Norton (WA) Greg Bostock (QLD) David Madigan (Convenor - Bowls Australia Eduction and Training Coordinator)

National Selection Panel: Steve Glasson OAM Bowls Australia National Coach (Chair) Kelvin Kerkow OAM Dave Stockham

Ken Pride Bowls WA Chief Executive Officer

CEO Performance and Remuneration Committee:

Janice Kelly OAM Bowls SA President

Des Skinner Bowls Australia President (Chair)

Mark Easton Bowls SA Chief Executive Officer

Darryl Clout Bowls Australia Board Director

APL Management Committee:

Kevin Antoine Bowls ACT President

Kathryn Bailey Bowls Australia Board Director

Kate Lyttle Bowls ACT Executive Officer

Nominations Committee:

Melanie Rutley Bowls Australia General Manager Commercial Operations

Garry Bevan Bowls Tasmania President

Des Skinner Bowls Australia President (Chair)

Daryl Rogers Bowls Australia Finance Manager

14 2014-15 Annual Report

Beth Quinlan

Neil Dalrymple Bowls Australia Chief Executive Officer (Chair)

Brett Wilkie Player Representative

Andrew Larratt Independent Member (Chair)

Kate Lyttle Bowls ACT Executive Officer

Paul Leeds Independent Member

Tony Sherwill Bowls Australia General Manager Bowls Operations

Greg Helm RNSWBA Chief Executive Officer

Wayne Turley Bowls Australia Board Director EUGENIE Buckley Bowls Australia Board Director

Australian Open Advisory Committee: Neil Dalrymple Bowls Australia Chief Executive Officer (Chair) Roxanne Bell Bowls Queensland Events Coordinator Mick Round Gold Coast/Tweed Bowls Association Carmel Gibb Gold Coast/Tweed Bowls Association Nigel Smith Bowls Australia Board Director Mark Casey Bowls Australia Regional Bowls Manager (South East Queensland) Melanie Rutley Bowls Australia General Manager Commercial Operations Scott Collins Tourism and Events Queensland Ray McNab Gold Coast City Council

Hall of Fame Committee: Errol Bungey Hall of Fame Inductee (Chair) Des Skinner Bowls Australia President Jewel Buchanan Bowls Australia Board Director Sam Clough Roma Dunn Hall of Fame Inductee Betty Collins OAM Hall of Fame Inductee

Strategic Plan Working Parties National Development Advisory Panel:

Garry Dillon Bowls Australia National Participation Manager

Courtney Allouche RNSWBA Office Manager Aaron Delaporte Bowls WA Operations Manager

Josh Thornton Bowls Australia Regional Bowls Manager (North East Victoria)

Kate Wingrove Women’s Bowls NSW Operations Manager

Simon Morrison Bowls Australia Regional Bowls Manager (Tasmania)

Selam Woldemichael Women’s Bowls NSW Administration Manager

Michael Beaumont RNSWBA Development Manager

Sally Baker Bowls Queensland Membership Officer

Nicky Bethwaite Women’s Bowls NSW CEO

National Bowls Brand Working Party: Doug Evans Bowls Queensland Chief Executive Officer (Chair) Cheryl Strong Bowls NSW Marketing Manager Chris Lee Bowls Tasmania Board Director Kate Lyttle Bowls ACT Executive Officer Melanie Jones Bowls Australia Board Director Robyn Procter Women’s Bowls NSW President Karen Ferguson BCiB Chief Executive Officer Melanie Rutley Bowls Australia General Manager Commercial Operations Neil Dalrymple Bowls Australia Chief Executive Officer

Bowls Connect Working Party: Melanie Rutley Bowls Australia General Manager Commercial Operations (Chair) James Thai Bowls Australia IT Systems Coordinator Luke Brown Bowls Victoria IT Coordinator

Lyn Grenfell Bowls SA Member Liaison Erin Haines Bowls SA Operations Manager

Capitation and Revenue Stream Working Party: Ken Pride Bowls WA Chief Executive Officer (Chair) Neil Dalrymple Bowls Australia Chief Executive Officer Melanie Rutley Bowls Australia General Manager Commercial Operations Tony Sherwill Bowls Australia General Manager Bowls Operations Greg Helm RNSWBA Chief Executive Officer Mark Easton Bowls SA Chief Executive Officer Michael Classon Bowls Victoria Finance Manager (to January 2015)

Good Governance Project Working Party: Nicky Bethwaite Women’s Bowls NSW Chief Executive Officer (Chair) Eugenie Buckley Bowls Australia Board Director John Boultbee Independent Member 2014-15 Annual Report 15

Kate Lyttle Bowls ACT Executive Officer Meghan Albert Bowls Australia Operations and HR Manager Kathryn Bailey Bowls Australia Board Director Darryl Clout Bowls Australia Board Director Linda Muir ASC Project Manager Merrilee Barnes ASC Lead, Participation and Integrity

Staff NEIL DALRYMPLE

Shane Moon Regional Bowls Manager (Northern and Western SA) (from February 2015) Ian Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Regional Bowls Manager (Southern and Eastern SA) Barrie Lester Regional Bowls Manager (Eastern and Southern Metro/Gippsland, Victoria) Josh Thornton Regional Bowls Manager (North East, Victoria) Paul Holtschke Regional Bowls Manager (Western and Northern Metro/Geelong)

Bowls Operations

Peter Nixon Regional Bowls Manager (Western Victoria)

Tony Sherwill General Manager Bowls Operations

Simon Morrison Regional Bowls Manager (Tasmania)

Garry Dillon National Participation Manager

Mark Casey Regional Bowls Manager (South East Queensland)

Chief Executive Officer

Steve Glasson OAM National Coach Peter Bevan Regional Bowls Manager (North East, NSW) David Inglis Regional Bowls Manager (Riverina, NSW) Mark Whiteman Regional Bowls Manager (Newcastle and Central Coast, NSW) Chris Wallace Regional Bowls Manager (Sydney Metro, NSW) Peter Fahey Regional Bowls Manager (ACT and South East NSW) (to August 2014) Andrew Howie Regional Bowls Manager (ACT and South East NSW) (from October 2014) Clive Adams Regional Bowls Manager (Perth/ Fremantle, South Coast & Northern WA) Richard Law Regional Bowls Manager (Northern and Western SA) (to November 2014)

16 2014-15 Annual Report

Colleen Orr Regional Bowls Manager (NT) (Part-time) Danielle Costabile Bowls Operations Coordinator (to December 2014) Diana Nicolaci Bowls Operations Coordinator (Part-time) (from March to May 2015) Danielle Montague Bowls Operations Coordinator (Part-time) (from January to February 2015; from May 2015) Holly Simmons Education and Training Coordinator (to July 2014) David Madigan Education and Training Coordinator (Part-time) (from August 2014)

Faye Luke National Training Centre Coach (SA/NT) (Part-time) Therese Hastings National Training Centre Coach (WA) (Part-time) Gary Willis National Training Centre Coach (NSW) Brett Wilkie National Training Centre Coach (Queensland)

Commercial Operations Melanie Rutley General Manager Commercial Operations Andrew Holmes Communications and Marketing Manager (to September 2014) James Thai IT Systems Coordinator Campbell Derrick NMP and Licensing Coordinator Aidan Davis Communications and Digital Coordinator Kelsey Cottrell Communications Coordinator (Parttime) (from November 2014) Stephanie Waters Marketing Coordinator (Part-time) (from February 2015) Melissa Holland Events Coordinator (to March 2015) Jakub Syslo Events Coordinator (from March 2015)

Operations Daryl Rogers Finance Manager (Part-time) Meghan Albert Operations and HR Manager Linda Moli Finance Coordinator

Robbie Dobbins National Assistant Coach (to November 2014)

Jakub Syslo Operations Coordinator (to February 2015)

Peter Brown High Performance Coordinator

Danielle Montague Operations Coordinator (from March to May 2015)

Mark Cowan National Training Centre Coach (Victoria/Tasmania)

Fran Troon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Operations Coordinator (from June 2015)

2014-15 Annual Report 17 2013-14

BA BOARD

Experience Life Member - Newcastle District Bowling Association Chairman/President and Life Member - Beresfield Bowling Club Former Vice President - NSW Zone 2 (Newcastle) Former State Councillor and Board Member - Bowls NSW NSW Zone 2 (Newcastle) Match Committee Australian Sports Medal 2000

Special Responsibilities

s) Skinner Dermot (De President Chairman /

Chair - CEO Performance and Remuneration Committee Member - Audit, Risk and Governance Committee Chair - Nominations Committee

QUALIFICATIONS Australian Institute of Company Directors – Fellow Diploma - Agricultural Science

EXPERIENCE Former Managing Director QAF Meat Industries Former Managing Director Bunge Meat Industries Former Chairman Diamond Valley Pork

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member - Australian Open Advisory Committee Member - Nominations Committee

Nigel Smith

QUALIFICATIONS General Nurse, Midwife, Mothercraft

EXPERIENCE Former President - NSW Women’s Bowling Association Former District President - Northern Suburbs Women’s Bowling Association Former President - Dural Country Club Women’s Bowling Club Former founding President - NSW Child and Family Nurses Association

ana Jewel Buch

18 2014-15 Annual Report

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Chair - Audit, Risk and Governance Committee

EXPERIENCE Director - The Neutral Bay Club, NSW (16 consecutive years) Chair of the Board - The Neutral Bay Club (six consecutive years) Office Manager - Zenith Media, Australia’s largest media consultancy (10 years) Represented NSW: 2004-2012 Represented Queensland: 2013-present

Louise Witto

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member - Audit, Risk and Policy Committee

EXPERIENCE Metropolitan Director - Bowls SA for (three years) Board representative to the SA Match and Program Committee Member – Bowls SA Hall of Fame Selection Committee Previous employment at Indoor Cricket Arenas - introducing pilot sports to lift participation

Kathryn Bail

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member - CEO Performance and Remuneration Committee Member - Good Governance Project Working Party

QUALIFICATIONS Masters of Law Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Commerce

EXPERIENCE Principal at Suiko Consulting Former CEO - Brisbane Roar Football Club Former CEO/Tournament Director - ICC Women’s World Cup Australia 2009 Former General Manager, Legal and Business Affairs Roles at International Cricket Council, Football Federation and Australian Rugby Union

kley

c Eugenie Bu

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Australian Premier League Management Committee Good Governance Project Working Party

QUALIFICATIONS Australian Institute of Company Directors (Residential) Course

Darryl Clout

EXPERIENCE Vice President – International Softball Federation; Former General Manager Department of Sport & Recreation NSW Former Executive Board Member NSW Softball Association Former President Softball Australia Former Board member of NSW Institute of Sport SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES CEO Performance and Remuneration Committee

2014-15 Annual Report 19

EXPERIENCE Director Turley Enterprises Pty Ltd 2006 Commonwealth Games men’s triples gold medal Bowls Coordinator Taren Point Bowling Club Joint owner – Wayne Turley & Claire Duke’s Aero Bowls World

y Wayne Turle

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member - Australian Premier League Advisory Committee

EXPERIENCE Five test matches and 61 one-day international cricket matches for Australia between 1997 and 2005 Including two World Cup titles and two Ashes wins Victoria’s most capped female cricketer with 142 games for her state; Regular cricket commentator with STAR Sports (IPL) and Sky Sports (UK), Channel Ten (Big Bash), Channel Nine (Womnes’ int), BBC & ABC Radio Talent management specialist with Elite Sports Properties.

es Melanie Jon

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member National Marketing and Brand Working Party

EXPERIENCE Director – NW Gilbert Pty Ltd Chairperson – Bowls Victoria Championship Committee Former Board Director – Kew Heights Bowling Club Various management positions with medium – large size businesses

bert

Barbara Gil

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member – Audit, Risk and Policy Committee

QUALIFICATIONS Diploma Financial Services (Insurance Broking) Qualified Practicing Insurance Broker (QPIB)

EXPERIENCE Manager Sports and Services – Gow-Gates Insurance Brokers Director – Young Professionals in Racing 1998 Commonwealth Games men’s pairs gold medallist

Brett Dupre

20 2014-15 Annual Report

SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES Member – CEO Performance and Remuneration Committee

IT’S NOT CHANGE

IT’S EVOLUTION PROUD APPAREL PARTNER OF BOWLS AUSTRALIA

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AUSTRALIAN SQUADS

Australian Jackaroos Women

men

Lynsey Clarke (Capt) (Club Helensvale)

Matthew Baus (Raymond Terrace)

Kelsey Cottrell (St Johns Park)

Mark Casey (Club Helensvale)

Anne Johns (St Johns Park)

Dylan Fisher (Fitzroy Victoria)

Karen Murphy (Cabramatta)

Matthew Flapper (Ocean Grove)

Carla Odgers (Lalor)

Barrie Lester (Mulgrave Country Club)

Natasha Scott (Raymond Terrace)

Mathew Pietersen (St Johns Park)

Samantha Shannahan (Club Merrylands)

Nathan Rice (Club Helensvale)

Kristy Thatcher (Tweed Heads)

Wayne Ruediger (Grange)

Claire Turley (Cabramatta)

Aron Sherriff (Ettalong Memorial)

Rebecca Van Asch (Invermay)

Brett Wilkie (VC) (Club Helensvale)

22 2014-15 Annual Report

Australian Under-18 Squad girls Elizabeth Allen (WA) Dawn Hayman (NSW) Tayla Morison (VIC) Ellen Ryan (NSW) Connie-Leigh Rixon (QLD)

boys Jayden Christie (VIC) Joshua Corless (VIC)

Australia ‘A’ Squad Chloe Stewart (Kyneton)

Jono Davis (NSW) Nic Gosley (QLD) Dylan Skinner (NSW)

Kristina Krstic (Manning Memorial) Renee McPharlin (Balaklava) Bolivia Millerick (Gin Gin) Sean Ingham (Broadbeach) Scott Thulborn (Adelaide) Aaron Wilson (Brighton) Matthew Ayres (Manning Memorial)

2014-15 Annual Report 23

Message from the Australian Sports Commission (Australia’s Winning Edge sports) The past year has seen considerable success and progress for Australian sport on the world stage, for the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and our elite sport partners and athletes. The Government’s 2014–15 investment of nearly $120 million continues to be refined to ensure funding is aligned to sports with the greatest potential to contribute to Australia’s Winning Edge 2012–2022 targets and maximise our chances at success. Since Winning Edge was launched, the AIS re-allocated $20 million of high performance funding among sports and boosted direct athlete funding (dAIS) by $3.6 million or 40 per cent. The Sports Tally 2015 — the annual report card for Australian sports — revealed promising signs as we gear up for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, while highlighting some of the challenges presented by our performance at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. In March the Commission launched Play.Sport.Australia. — our plan to help NSOs build participation in sport and make sure all Australians enjoy its benefits. Sports have the opportunity to attract more than 4.5 million Australians into their communities. It’s important that we work together to ensure that more Australians, particularly young Australians, participate in sport more often and that we have strong organisations that deliver the products and opportunities Australians want. Some highlights in 2014-15 included: • Personal excellence — The most significant athlete wellbeing program in AIS history, incorporating myAISPlaybook — a new high performance athlete learning and development platform. • AIS Sports Draft — Athletes selected in this fast-tracked development came together at the AIS to share their journeys as they transition to Olympic or Commonwealth Games sports. • AIS Centre for Performance Coaching and Leadership — More than 45 coaches graduated from the centre, providing development and mentoring for our brightest coaches and administrators. As our attention starts to focus on Rio and the major events leading up to the Games, I look forward to the ASC teaming up with your organisation to help put our athletes in the best possible position and enhance our chances of success. John Wylie AM Chair Board of the Australian Sports Commission

24 2014-15 Annual Report

Winning partnership Proudly supporting Bowls Australia The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) invests in sport at all levels in Australia. We work with Bowls Australia to ensure Australian bowls players excel in the international sporting arena whilst increasing participation in bowls. Bowls Australia is one of many national sporting organisations partnering with us to achieve Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Winning Edge.

2014-15 Annual Report 25

AUSTRALIAN premier league REPORT

he second instalment of the Australian Premier League was once again staged at the magnificent Club Pine Rivers in Brisbane. Two new franchises came on board to round out the competition to an eight-strong league, with the Murray Steamers and Gold Coast Hawks joining the six original licensees to battle it out in the eagerly anticipated second iteration of the revolutionary $110,000 competition. The APL was developed to be the catalyst for participation growth in

26 2014-15 Annual Report

the sport by showcasing bowlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; highest and most credentialed players in a modern format that would catch the eyes of potential new participants. The fast-paced format has been rolled out to over 70 clubs around the country under the banner of Bowls Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new participation program, Jack Attack. Two sets of five ends with a tie-break if necessary only takes 70 minutes to complete, which is perfect for people with busy working lives to be initiated to bowls. After two fantastic instalments of APL the sport has not only managed to break through some of the stereotypes associated with bowls, but it has also contributed to an increase in participation across the country.

APL02 BIGGER AND BETTER APL02 showed signs of outclassing the inaugural event

before play even got under way; two hot new licensees that were highly rated prospects in the competition, elite players were moving between teams, the world’s best bowler was set to ignite the competition, Mick Molloy had signed up for a second APL behind the microphone and the now permanent fixture ‘Wayne’s Can Bar’ was ready to cheer home defending champions and local hopes XXXX Brisbane Gold. 24 of the hottest names in bowls had signed up for APL02 and it was the newcomers, the Murray Steamers who were installed early favourites to claim the $40,000 first prize, and their team of champions didn’t disappoint. The headlines read, Murray Steamroll Adelaide for APL02 trophy, and that is exactly how the world’s best player Alex Marshall MBE, 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ryan Bester and Moama Bowling Club champion Michael Walker did in their inaugural year in the competition; blasting past twotime finalist Adelaide Endurance in a thrilling final. The international heavy-hitters Marshall and Bester lived up to expectation while Michael Walker was a surprise packet in the competition, well and truly holding his own against the world’s best bowlers. Alex Marshall MBE was named MVP for APL02 after excelling every time he stepped out onto the Club Pine Rivers surface and gaining the support of keen spectators in awe of his talents. Messenger News Adelaide Endurance, the licenced team of Bowls South Australia stuck with their tactic of playing home-grown South Australian bowlers in their side, and once again the ‘reds’ contested an APL final.

APL01 MVP Scott Thulborn, Australian Jackaroo Wayne Ruediger and SA representative Simon Dorr defied odds when they breezed past some of the highly rated teams in the revolutionary event. Solargain Perth Suns made their second consecutive semi-final and this time it was without Australian Jackaroo Brett Wilkie. Local star Clive Adams and former Northern Ireland international Jeremy Henry once again wore the tangerine strip and were joined by Western Australian Bowler of the Year and APL debutant Tom Mitchell. Solargain were great supporters of the Perth Suns with many representatives from their company making the journey to Club Pine Rivers to cheer on their chargers, whilst back in the west plenty of support came from licensee holder Bowls WA, who like Bowls SA, showed faith in their local talent, selecting two WA stars, Adams and Mitchell, in their line-up. Our friends and rivals from across the ditch, the New Zealand Blackjacks, had another stellar APL making the semi-final with their three highly rated Blackjacks; Jo Edwards, Ali Forsyth and Shannon McIlroy. Sky Sports NZ were great supporters of the APL and also

beamed the 16 hours of live action back into New Zealand. Defending champions XXXX Brisbane Gold were unable to replicate their 2013 performance that saw them claiming the spoils in the inaugural APL, whilst new kids on the block, the Gold Coast Hawks’ introduction to the revolutionary APL was memorable despite finishing mid-field. Blundstone Melbourne Roys were represented by Australian Jackaroos Dylan Fisher and Matthew Flapper along with Scottish international Graeme Archer but the team couldn’t fire in APL02 and neither did the star studded side of Australian greats Karen Murphy, Steve Glasson and Aron Sherriff despite having a large supporter base cheering on the BCiB Sydney Lions. It goes without saying without the support of Fox Sports we would be unable to showcase 20 hours of live bowls on prime time television and we thank them for their continued support in broadcasting the APL. The Australian Premier League will be staged for a third time from November 10-13 at Club Pine Rivers and will again be broadcast live on Fox Sports in Australia and Sky Sports in New Zealand.

2014-15 Annual Report 27

PARTICIPATION REPORT

here is genuine excitement with the progress made this year in the Participation team.

our clubs are sustainable and

Sincere thanks go to National Participation Manager Garry Dillon, the programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coordinators, Danielle Costabile and Danielle Montague, as well as Education and Training Coordinator David Madigan in the office who have worked tirelessly to ensure the sport continues to grow.

sportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest achievements and

Thanks also to our Regional Bowls Managers who have again worked diligently in the field ensuring that

National Coaching Advisory Group

28 2014-15 Annual Report

successful well into the future. The RBM program is one of our having our dedicated team at the beck and call of our clubs is a huge win. Sincere thanks and appreciation must be afforded to our volunteer committees, such as the National Officiating Committee, the and the National Development Advisory Panel.

Without such knowledge and expertise we would not be in the position that we are, being able to keep pace with the changes in our sport and the community needs. The assistance of our working parties covering some very important strategic initiatives, such as the Capitation and Revenue Stream Working Party, has been most welcome and above all, fruitful. The future is bright with everyone associated with these working parties, with the joint initiatives of Bowls Australia and the State and Territory Associations contributing to shared success. Of course, we are also grateful and appreciative of our friends at the Australian Sports Commission who support many of the programs conducted by Bowls Australia nationally. Below are some of the key achievements and commentary of the 2014-15 financial year.

Achievements: Education and Training: • Launch and implementation of user-friendly umpire accreditation and reaccreditation methods; • Commenced development of e-learning portal; • Collaborated with NOAG to review domestic rules and regulations for the Laws of the Sport review Crystal Mark III.

Regional Bowls Manager program • The 15 regionally based RBMs completed well over 6,500 visits in the last year; • In doing so they travelled in excess of 650,000kms to reach almost 1600 of Australia’s 1927 registered bowls clubs; • This year we were involved with clubs gaining over $3.2million in funding to improve the sport and facilities of bowls in local communities.

General Development: • A significant increase in regular (greater than 4 times) participation of 15.4% to 570,782 annually; • Roll out of Jack Attack program with over 70 registered clubs nationally taking up the opportunity to get a new social format of the game into their community. • Over 600 Jr. Jack Attack kits sold, with the addition of a new bowl design tested and produced to support the Australian Sports Commission’s Sporting Schools program.

Achievements: Over the past 12 months Bowls Australia has overseen the launch and implementation of the New Officiating Structure. State and Territory based Certificate IV accredited Trainer and Assessors trained scores of Presenter and Assessors across Australia and updated them on the new course for Markers, Measurers and National Umpires. Our P&A’s have taken the new course through metropolitan, regional and remote parts of the country to accredit and re-accredit our officials. Feedback on the new resources’ course structure and delivery has been tremendously positive, which is a credit to those that have designed courses and to those who are executing delivery at the coalface.

In preparation for the Australian Open’s move to the Gold Coast, Bowls Australia trained over 160 Markers in the South East Queensland Region, with refresher courses also presented in the lead up to the event. The volunteer officials at these clubs embraced the course and provided invaluable support to the biggest bowls event of its kind. Also occurring during this period, Bowls Australia commenced a review of its educational tools and began investigating the options available for e-learning education. Many sports are introducing coaching and officiating courses that are a blend of online and practical sessions, partly because an online course can provide levels of flexibility both in delivery and modality. 2014-15 Annual Report 29

introduced easy to follow templates for club planning, including strategic and business plan templates, club booking forms, sign-in booklets as well as a template club facility usage logbook. These resources have assisted a large number of clubs and with each success are driving more clubs to appreciate the value of their use. Our junior participation kits are now readily available across the country, branded Jr. Jack Attack In liaison with STA’s and the National Officiating Advisory Group domestic rules and regulations were updated and edited for entry into the Laws of the Sport of Bowls Crystal Mark 3 Edition. As always discussion around the rules of the sport were met with passion and persuasion from members across the country.

RBM program: Our RBMs have worked hard for the last year resulting in many significant successes. This extends not only to those in the field but also to our office staff who support them; over this period we farewelled Danielle Costabile and welcomed Danielle Montague to replace her. The past year has seen our community-based employees cover more than 650,000kms and make over 6,500 visits to clubs, regions, schools and government organisations.

sharp increase in the participation of our game with 570,782 participants taking the opportunity to play our sport regularly, with a further 306,960 participating on a non-regular basis.

and featuring colourful and

The sport’s new participation product, Jack attack, which had undergone a pilot phase, was officially unveiled during the second iteration of the Australian Premier League, with clubs adopting it with gusto.

Australia’s entry to the newly

The target of 50 clubs taking up the new format in the first year was quickly reached, with 86 clubs across the country now enjoying the benefits of connecting with new participants.

number of coaches to handle the

Following on from our learnings through the pilot program we have had in excess of 3,000 individual players and clubs with stunning results.

the numerous volunteers and staff

educational activity cards, they have been a huge hit with both schools and clubs around the nation. These kits are supporting Bowls formed Sporting Schools program, which has the ability to get our sport into many of the over 9,000 schools around Australia. We are currently training a vast needs of the schools and we hope to see the value contributed to the sport from this over the years to come. In closing, we would like to thank at clubs who value and appreciate the RBM program. The acceptance at club, zone, region and district levels has been

Their ability to connect clubs with the community has been seized upon by more and more of our clubs nationwide with remarkable results.

The pilot phase produced some amazing and valuable results, such as one club having a 48% increase on bar sales, dozens of new members in addition to a near 100% positive response, which has been replicated and in some cases surpassed by the new program.

This past year we have seen a

In this past year, we have

roots level of the sport.

30 2014-15 Annual Report

highlighted by the many articles of success we are reading in State and Territory magazines and websites and we hope to further highlight the wins in the future and continue to spread the good work currently being done at the grass

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HIGH PERFORMANCE REPORT

uch appreciation is extended to the Australian Sports Commission, Australian Institute of Sport and Australian Commonwealth Games Association for their continued support, guidance and assistance with our HP Program through many aspects such as research, funding, program enhancement, innovation and services. Following the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Bowls

32 2014-15 Annual Report

Australia conducted a robust review of the HP Program. Those responsible for heading the review included – Des Skinner Bowls Australia President Neil Dalrymple Bowls Australia CEO Nigel Smith Bowls Australia Board Member Tony Sherwill Bowls Australia General Manager – Bowls Operations

Ray Dorsett High Performance Advisor – AIS The AIS also conducted an extensive survey including every person who participated at the Games, be it they were an athlete, coach or support staff. The results of this survey significantly added factual evidence to support the results achieved, the event itself, the positives and negatives. This clearly provides a clear determination of where we can head in the future and what can be implemented to ensure Australia remains at the top of the tree on the international bowls stage. As part of the review process, individuals also formally reported and met with the review panel. Those involved included: Lynsey Clarke Jackaroos Captain Brett Wilkie Jackaroos Vice Captain

Faye Luke National Team Manager Peter Brown National HP Co Ordinator Kelvin Kerkow National Selector Robbie Dobbins National Assistant Coach Steve Glasson National Coach An executive report with recommendations was then formulated and direction was given to those responsible for implementation. In brief, some of the recommendations included: • National Coach to spend more time with players • Culture of the team to be further enhanced • Contracted players to be more accountable • Leadership group qualities and performance to be reviewed,

formalised and embedded • All HP members to meet and exceed expectations and standards as set by the HP Staff Much of this is well and truly in action however many aspects will never reach a point of finalisation as Australia will forever have the desire, aspiration and commitment to be an industry leader and therefore the bar will continue to get higher.

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS Since the Commonwealth Games, exposure to International competition has been fairly quiet with all the focus now geared towards the 2015 Asia Pacific Games in NZ in November/ December, leading up to our benchmark World Championships in Christchurch in 2016. Australia contested the TransTasman Test Series at the Burnside Bowling Club and

claimed the men’s and overall series trophies; whilst a new look women’s team narrowly missed out against their New Zealand counterparts. The newly named National Squad will return to Christchurch in October to finalise the line-up for the Asia Pacific Championships. Congratulations to those who have been rewarded for their efforts in making the squad, albeit the overall indication of depth makes these decisions very difficult. The squads are: Women’s Squad Lynsey Clarke (QLD) Kelsey Cottrell (NSW) Anne Johns (NSW) Kristina Krstic (WA) Karen Murphy (NSW) Carla Odgers (VIC) Ellen Ryan (NSW) Natasha Scott (NSW) Chloe Stewart (VIC) Rebecca Van Asch (TAS) 2014-15 Annual Report 33

Men’s Squad Mark Casey (QLD) Matthew Flapper (VIC) Max Kleinig (SA) Barrie Lester (VIC) Ray Pearse (NSW) Nathan Rice (QLD) Wayne Ruediger (SA) Aron Sherriff (NSW) Brett Wilkie (QLD) Aaron Wilson (VIC) Special Invite to New Zealand camp (October) – Jamie-Lee Worsnop.

Mixed Pairs Bolivia Millerick & Scott Thulborn

the opposite end of the scale,

Mixed Fours Dawn Hayman, Bolivia Millerick, Ben Twist & Scott Thulborn

will make her international debut

Coach Faye Luke (SA & NT NTC Coach) Hong Kong Classic (November 7 to 15, 2015) Women’s Singles and Women’s Pairs Kristina Krstic (WA) & Karen Murphy (NSW)

Western Australia’s Kristina Krstic at the very same event.

HIGHLIGHTS Highlights from the past 12 months include:

Commonwealth Games Women’s Triples Silver Medal Lynsey Clarke, Karen Murphy

In addition to the above squads, the following teams have been selected for:

Men’s Singles and Men’s Pairs Nathan Pederson (SA) & Corey Wedlock (NSW)

Merdeka International (Malaysia) (October 1 to 6, 2015)

Kristina will earn her first cap (No.83).

Bronze Medal

Coach Therese Hastings (WA)

(Directors Bruce Jones & Peter

It is important to mention that our iconic Australian women’s representative Karen Murphy will earn an unprecedented 500 test caps whilst competing in Hong Kong - a feat never reached by any other Australian Bowls representative. However, at

Men’s Singles

Dawn Hayman (NSW), Bolivia Millerick (QLD), Ben Twist (NSW) & Scott Thulborn (SA) Team Line Up Women’s Singles Dawn Hayman Men’s Singles Ben Twist (Defending Champion)

34 2014-15 Annual Report

& Kelsey Cottrell Vision Impaired Mixed Pair Joy Forster & Tony Scott Scott) Bronze Medal Aron Sherriff Men’s Fours Bronze Medal Wayne Ruediger, Brett Wilkie, Nathan Rice & Matthew Flapper

World Junior (Under 25) Championships 2014 Women’s Singles Gold Medal Chloe Stewart Men’s Singles Gold Medal Dylan Fisher Women’s Singles Silver Medal Kristina Krstic

World Junior (Under 25) Championships 2015 Women’s Singles Gold Medal Kristina Krstic Women’s Singles Silver Medal Chloe Stewart Mixed Pairs Gold Medal Kristina Krstic & Benjamin Twist

World Cup Women’s Singles Bronze Medal Jamie-Lee Worsnop

Merdeka InternationalMalaysia Men’s Singles Gold Medal Benjamin Twist The year just gone could indicate a big changing of the guard. Examples are: Australian Indoor Women’s Singles Champion – Jamie-Lee Worsnop (17 years) Australian Open Women’s Singles Champion – Ellen Ryan (18 years) Australian Open Men’s Singles Champion – Aaron Teys (21 years)

Much of the above success can be attributed to not only the talents of each respective player, but also the National NTC Program. This component of the HP Program continues to evolve and credit must go to Faye Luke (SA/NT), Therese Hastings (WA), Mark Cowan (Vic/Tas), Brett Wilkie (Qld) & Gary Willis (NSW/ACT). Gary has also assumed the role of National Assistant Coach following the retirement of Australia’s most noted and experienced coach, Robbie Dobbins. And with that, congratulations to Robbie for all his efforts and contribution to bowls, through playing, administration and coaching. Robbie’s input has proven invaluable.

Our High Performance Coordinator Peter Brown is a proven worka-holic who continues to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our sport. Peter drives all manner of components of the program and is an integral member of the HP Team. The NTC Programs themselves also receive support from STAs which is vital to their ongoing success. In NSW, the Cabramatta Bowling Club is the country’s leading Centre of Excellence which regularly hosts camps, squad training days, a variety of competitive events and assists selflessly with resources and venue that is second to none.

2014-15 Annual Report 35

EVENTS REPORT

2014 Australian Indoor Championships The 2014 Australian Indoor Championships were again run at Tweed Heads Bowls Club, hosting 32 men and 32 women for the pinnacle Indoor event within the nation. Former England representative David Holt emerged victorious in the men’s discipline,

defeating Australian representative Brett Wilkie in a tiebreak. Emerging St. John’s Park bowler Jamie-Lee Worsnop defeated Kay Moran in the Women’s discipline, making it a St. John’s Park double. All of the semi-finals and finals were televised on Fox Sports and our newly crowned champions bagged 90 ranking points each.

2014 Australian Champion of Champions Taren Point Bowls Club in Sydney was the venue for the 2014 Australian Champion of Champions event. South Australian qualifier and Messenger News Adelaide Endurance star Scott Thulborn reigned supreme in the men’s event, defeating his Solargain Perth Suns rival Tom Mitchell (WA) in the final. Former Australian representative and current NSW representative Katrina Wright defeated Sue Coultas from SA to qualify for the World Champion of Champions event to be staged at Club Helensvale in November 2015. Queensland dominated the pairs disciplines with Steven McNamee and Jason Andrewartha combining to win in what happened to be the last event they played representing their club Tantitha that was destroyed in the Queensland floods only months prior to the event. Toowoomba’s Jo Worsley and Tracy Foster took out the Women’s Pairs against the more experienced combination of international stars Kay Moran and Karen Murphy from Cabramatta Bowling Club.

36 2014-15 Annual Report

2014 Australian Under18 Championships The brightest young stars in the sport descended on a sunny and humid Nightcliff Bowls Club in Darwin to contest the Australian Under-18 Championships with a strong NSW outfit looking to defend their titles in the boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and overall trophies from the 2013 Championships in Perth. In what was an extremely tight competition, the NSW girls managed to defend their title after winning gold in the pairs and triples; however the NSW boys were upstaged by a strong Victorian side who claimed gold in the singles and fours. A consistent performance by

both their boys and girls teams saw Queensland take home the overall trophy, having finished runners-up in both events. At the completion of the championships, 10 juniors were selected in the Australian Under-18 Squad with four of these talented youngsters later representing Australia at the Trans-Tasman in Christchurch, New Zealand.

2015 Australian Sides Championships The Yokine Districts Bowls Club in Perth greeted teams from each state for the annual Australian Sides Championships. Despite torrential rain throughout the four days of play some fantastic bowls

were played, with the Alley Shield title being decided at the very last minute following a titanic struggle between ACT and SA. Earlier in the event SA had defeated hot favourites NSW; however in the final game of the tournament, ACT upstaged the front runners to send the trophy back to NSW. A fantastic team performance saw NSW dominate the championships claiming the Alley Shield, their fifth consecutive Marj Morris Trophy and the overall title. Australian Jackaroos Aron Sherriff (NSW) and Natasha Scott (NSW) skipped the best performed rinks with their teams of Matt Miles, Andrew Howie, Matt Baus, Kelly Richards, Ellen Ryan and Anne Johns. 2014-15 Annual Report 37

commonwealth games REPORT

ur Australian contingent returned home from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with one silver and three bronze medals after a tough outing in the sport’s most prestigious international event. Historically Australia has battled in the Northern Hemisphere, with conditions that are strikingly different to those that our elite bowlers are used to playing on in Australia.

38 2014-15 Annual Report

Melbourne’s Maribyrnong Bowls Club hosted the Australian Squad in the lead up to their Games campaign, and was kind enough to prepare a green that specifically replicated the surface conditions the green and gold contingent would face in Glasgow for their trial camps. The nation’s strongest performance came from the three most experienced members of the team, Australia’s most capped

international bowler Karen Murphy, Australian Jackaroos captain Lynsey Clarke and the youngest ever Australian representative, Kelsey Cottrell. The trio combined in the women’s triples and contested Australia’s only gold medal playoff in the bowls event, succumbing to England’s Sophie Tolchard, Ellen Faulkner and Sian Gordon in a one-sided final despite a valiant attempt. The first medal of the Games came from our vision impaired mixed pairs team of Tony Scott and Joy Forster along with their directors Peter Scott and Bruce Jones who were considered a strong chance to medal before the games as the current world blind bowling champions.

After going down to Scotland by four in the semi-final, Foster and Scott bounced back against the Kiwis in the bronze medal play-off, claiming their spot on the podium with a three shot victory over Christine Foster, David Stallard, Peter Blick and Susan Curran. After a strong performance from the Australian men at the Eight Nations Invitational event in Glasgow in August 2013, the Jackaroos had put the rest of the nations on guard prior to the Commonwealth Games, but were met with hostile opponents at the biggest event on the bowling calendar. The men’s triples combination of Wayne Ruediger, Nathan Rice and Matthew Flapper came agonisingly close to a medal after going down to South Africa on the last end of their semi-final encounter and then faced a tough Wales outfit in the bronze medal play-off. Paul Taylor, Marc Wyatt and Jonathon Tomlinson proved too good on the day, defeating the Australian men 16-13 in a high quality hit-out.

The Australian men were playing well enough to gain a spot on the podium and in the second week of competition all the pieces of the puzzle came together, with the trio securing a bronze medallion for their efforts.

the coveted singles gold medal.

In the men’s fours, Wayne Ruediger, Brett Wilkie, Nathan Rice and Matthew Flapper claimed revenge over Wales by knocking them out of contention in the quarter-finals and setting up a semi-final showdown with home town favourites Scotland.

Although Australia didn’t return with gold, the nation and the bowling community are proud of the individual and collective efforts of the players and high performance staff and look forward to a home ground advantage for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Broadbeach Bowling Club.

In one of the highest quality men’s fours games to ever to be played on the international stage, certainly worthy of a final, Scotland was simply too good and left the Australians back in familiar territory, playing off in the bronze medal match. In their second bronze medal playoff Australia went into the match as hot favourites against the relatively in-experienced Indian side; however the match came down to the last bowl with the Jackaroos holding on to the bronze medal by the smallest of margins, 15-14. Aron Sherriff contested Australia’s last medal play-off, which was a Trans-Tasman affair against New Zealand’s Shannon McIlroy in front of British royalty; Prince Edward was in the stands to witness both men’s singles medal matches and it was Australia’s three-time International Bowler of the Year who delivered the goods in a do or die encounter. Earlier, Sherriff had escaped with a spectacular come-frombehind victory in the quarter-final against Malaysia but was unable to overcome Scotland’s Darren Burnett in the semi-final, with the Scotsman then going on to claim

Sherriff’s medal made it three bronze and one silver for the Australians in a memorable Commonwealth Games played at one of the most spectacular bowling venues ever utilised.

2014 Australian Commonwealth Games Team Women Lynsey Clarke Kelsey Cottrell Karen Murphy Carla Odgers Natasha Scott

Men Matthew Flapper Aron Sherriff Wayne Ruediger Nathan Rice Brett Wilkie

Para-Triples James Reynolds Tim Slater Tony Bonnell

Vision Impaired Mixed Pairs Tony Scott Joy Foster Peter Scott-Director Bruce Jones-Director

2014-15 Annual Report 39

B Commercial Operations REPORT

owls Australia would like to acknowledge the great support it has once again received from its sponsor family. The organisation continues to receive terrific support from our principal sponsor, the Australian Institute of Sport, who provides Bowls Australia with funding to ensure they have the capacity to create a sustainable sport through best practice governance and administration, intellectual property ownership, athlete management and support structures and general accountabilities. Importantly, the winning partnership highlights the commitment to ensuring Australian athletes excel in the international sporting arena, and increasing Australiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; participation in bowls. During this period, our partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland and the City of Gold Coast flourished, with the staging of the first Australian Open in the Gold Coast region a truly monumental milestone for the sport in this country. Over 1,700 players participated in the $225,000 event over the 13 days of competition, held across 12 clubs, made possible from the valued support given by Tourism and Events Queensland and the City of Gold Coast, as well as the assistance of hundreds of volunteers who contributed to the success of the tournament. Bowls Australia look forward to working closely with these stakeholders to deliver the event over the next four years. Once again the organisation has been well supported by Fox Sports, who continue to allow the bowls and sporting communities to tune in to watch the sport in the comfort of their living rooms, with the Australian Open broadcast live

40 2014-15 Annual Report

in 2015 for the first time since its inception, presented alongside the made for television product, the Australian Premier League. During this period, Bowls Australia were pleased to announce BLK as its official apparel partner for the next three years. The new partnership will see internationally renowned sportswear manufacturer BLK - #beyondlimitsknown - provide state-of-the-art apparel for personnel at all levels of Bowls in Australia, including Bowls Australia’s high performance squads and staff members, while clubs across the nation will be able to enjoy a new range of club team wear. Bowls Australia also announced a new partnership with New Age Caravans and unveiled Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation as its new official charity partner for a twoyear period. BA continued to benefit from its

existing partnership arrangements with Aero Bowls, as the sport’s preferred bowls manufacturer, Domina BCiB, MakMax, and Asics, and we thank them for their involvement and contribution to bowls in Australia. The National Merchandise Program activity during the period was

strong, with the end of financial year NMP results finishing with sales at $6,184,804, an increase of 1.5% on the previous year. BA revenue finished at $736,496, an increase of 1.6%. Both sales and revenue totals were the largest achieved since the start of the NMP in 1996.

2014-15 Annual Report 41

australian open

significant incentive for the quality of international raiders that filled the fields.

he 2015 Australian Open was without a doubt the biggest and best yet and certainly lived up to the expectations of being the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest festival of bowls.

globe, resulting in entrants from 12 different countries, which contributed to the biggest ever field of participants entering for their chance at a slice of the lucrative $225,000 prize purse.

With the transformation from a high performance focused tournament to a more inclusive event that caters for anyone who wants to compete, in the lead up it was important to deliver the message that the 2015 Australian Open was open to people of all ages and abilities, with participants encouraged to combine playing in the 13 day festival of bowls with a short respite in the idyllic Gold Coast region.

After spending 10 years in Victoria, the announcement that the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier tournament would relocate to the Gold Coast until 2019 was embraced by bowlers from all corners of the

The increase in prize money from AUD$125,000 to AUD$225,000 saw the Australian Open take over the mantle as the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s richest bowling event, surpassing the PBA World Indoor Singles, which was a

In partnership with the City of Gold Coast and Tourism and Events Queensland it was an easy sell to potential participants to combine a wonderful beachside holiday with playing in a world class event;

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there is no doubt the relocation to the nation’s most popular tourist destination contributed to the vast increase in tournament participants. With over 2,190 entries, bowlers competed in 18 different events across 12 magnificent bowling clubs in the Gold Coast region, with all the finals staged at Broadbeach Bowling Club; the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bowls host venue. Bowls Australia would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the 12 bowling clubs, Broadbeach Bowls and Community Club, Club Helensvale, Musgrave Hill Bowling Club, Gold Coast Bowls and Community Club, Southport Bowling Club, Paradise Point Bowling Club, Mermaid Beach Bowling Club, Burleigh Heads Bowling Club, Club Benowa, Robina Bowling Club, Mudgeeraba Bowling Club and Tugun Bowls and Community Club for their continued support and tireless efforts in preparing their greens, providing

volunteers, entering scores and for the generous hospitality their members and staff extended to all Australian Open participants. While the success players achieved on the green was widely publicised, the unsung heroes of the competition were undoubtedly off the green, with the event’s band of volunteers consistently going above and beyond to ensure participants and guests of the Australian Open were well looked after, and without their diligent efforts the Australian Open would simply not have been possible. The 2015 Australian Open was the first time SportsDesq was used as the sole source of finding results and pending fixtures, with the push toward using this technology embraced by most as a clear and concise way of finding all event information. New champions were crowned and it was the young stars from NSW who stole the show; Ellen Ryan and Aaron Teys reigned supreme in the coveted singles

events, pocketing a cool $16,000 for their efforts and winning over the respect of thousands of spectators who either viewed their finals live from Broadbeach or tuned into the live broadcast on Fox Sports during the final two days of competition. Queenslanders Emma Brown and Noelene Dutton created history when they won back-to-back women’s pairs titles; the first pairs combination in the 11 year history of the Australian Open to win consecutive finals. Two of Queensland’s finest, Robbie Wild and Sean Baker made it a double for the Sunshine State in the pairs discipline, winning $15,000 and etching their names into the Australian Open history books. The men’s and women’s fours finals took place on a lively Friday night at Broadbeach Bowls Club where large crowds were treated to two spectacular finals, which were won by the South Australian team of Steven Dennis, Nathan Pederson, Wayne Ruediger and 2014-15 Annual Report 43

Scott Thulborn on their skip’s final bowl; and just as extraordinarily the team of Samantha Noronha, Natalie Noronha, Carla Odgers and Natasha Scott also claimed a stunning victory with the final delivery of the match.

$18,000 prize money on offer were James Reynolds, Joshua Thornton, Debra McGarry, Tiffany Brodie, Crystal Martin, Dennis Wormald, Marian Morrison, Peter Uther, Joy Foster, Brian Taylor and Nathan Appleton.

The Under-18 singles showcased how strong the future of bowls looks with the quality of games over their two days of competition equalling the standard shown in the open aged events.

The Australian Open was the last National Ranking event for the year and results from the tournament impacted heavily on the outcome of the Aero Bowls Male and Female Bowler of the Year.

Queenslanders again dominated the winners’ circle with Jacob Nelson defeating Commonwealth Youth Games representative Jono Davis, and Capalaba’s Sophie Young toppling ACT’s Jessica Hogan.

Heading into the Australian Open, Australian Jackaroos captain Lynsey Clarke was leading fellow Australian Jackaroo Natasha Scott by the narrowest of margins and after the best Australian Open performance for Scott to date (fours champion, pairs round of 16 and singles round of 16), the Raymond Terrace champion skyrocketed into top spot to collect the $3000 winner’s cheque courtesy of Aero Bowls at the upcoming Bowls Australia Awards & Hall of Fame Night.

The multi-disability events were incredible to watch, with inspirational athletes demonstrating the highest of skills throughout their three days of play. Whilst all should feel like winners for the performances they put up during the event, those who claimed gold and a slice of the 44 2014-15 Annual Report

Canadian representative Ryan

Bester, who now resides at Broadbeach, went into the Australian Open as the country’s top ranked male bowler and that is where he remained courtesy of making the coveted singles final and picking up a further 120 points to extend the lead on his nearest challengers. At the conclusion of the world’s biggest festival of bowls, a player survey was sent to all participants to encourage constructive feedback about the running of the event and over 500 responses were received and will be analysed anonymously as preparation for the 2016 event begin. The dates for the 2016 Australian Open have been set; June 11-23 is when thousands of bowlers from around the globe will again descend on the Gold Coast to take part in the world’s richest bowls event. Entries will open before the end of 2015, with this year’s record for the most participants expected to again be broken.

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honour roll REsults

2014 NATIONAL CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS – TAREN POINT (NSW) Singles: Scott Thulborn (SA), Katrina Wright (NSW) Pairs: Steven McNamee and Jason Andrewartha (QLD), Jo Worsley and Tracy Foster (QLD)

2014 AUSTRALIAN PREMIER LEAGUE – CLUB PINE RIVERS (QLD) Winners: Murray Steamers

2015 AUSTRALIAN SIDES CHAMPIONSHIPS – YOKINE DISTRICTS (WA) Alley Shield: NSW Marj Morris Trophy: NSW Overall title: NSW

2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 12 GOLD COAST CLUBS (QLD) Singles: Aaron Teys (NSW), Ellen Ryan (NSW)

ANNUAL NATIONAL EVENTS 2014 AUSTRALIAN INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – TWEED HEADS (NSW) Singles:

Pairs: Isaac Rayner, Jono Davis (NSW), Ellen Ryan, Dawn Hayman (NSW) Triples: Gerrin Jenke, Tyson Wilson, James Bodnar (SA), Michaela Bailey-Nelson, Connie-

David Holt (NSW),

Leigh Rixon, Tiffany Murray (QLD)

Jamie-Lee Worsnop (NSW)

Fours:

2014 AUSTRALIAN UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIPS – NIGHTCLIFF (NT) Singles: Jay Bye-Norris (VIC), Elizabeth Allan (WA)

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Jayden Christie, Curtis Hanley, Ben Cotter, Joshua Corless (VIC), Tiffany Brodie, Cody Sylvester, Elisa Rigoni, Tayla Morison (VIC) Boys’ title: Victoria Girls’ title: NSW Overall title: Queensland

Pairs: Robbie Wild and Sean Baker (QLD), Emma Brown and Noelene Dutton (QLD) Fours: Steven Dennis, Nathan Pedersen, Wayne Ruediger and Scott Thulborn (SA), Samantha Noronha (NSW), Natalie Noronha (NSW), Carla Odgers (VIC) and Natasha Scott (NSW) Under-18: Jacob Nelson (QLD), Sophie Young (QLD) Physical disability singles: Josh Thornton (VIC), Debra McGarry (QLD) Multi-disability pairs: Josh Thornton (VIC) & James Reynolds (VIC)

Vision impaired singles: Dennis Wormald (QLD), Joy Forster (QLD)

Men’s pairs: Matthew Baus, Mathew Pietersen – silver

Mixed pairs: Chloe Stewart and Dylan Fisher (VIC) - fifth

Vision impaired mixed pairs: Marian Morrison (QLD) and Peter Uther (QLD)

Women’s pairs: Carla Odgers, Kelsey Cottrell – silver

2015 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – BROADBEACH (QLD)

Hearing impaired singles: Brian Taylor (Logan City, QLD), Tiffany Brodie (VIC)

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (SCO)

Intellectual disability singles: Nathan Appleton (QLD), Crystal Martin (QLD)

Australian representatives: Lynsey Clarke, Kelsey Cottrell, Karen Murphy, Carla Odgers, Natasha Scott, Matthew Flapper, Aron Sherriff, Wayne Ruediger, Nathan Rice, Brett Wilkie, James Reynolds, Tim Slater, Tony Bonnell, Tony Scott, Joy Foster, Peter Scott - Director, Bruce Jones - Director

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS 2014 ASIA PACIFIC MERDEKA CHAMPIONSHIPS – BAYUEMAS (MAL) Australian representatives: Andrew Howie (NSW), Ben Twist (NSW), Anne Johns (NSW), Kristy Thatcher (QLD)

Women’s triples Lynsey Clarke, Karen Murphy & Kelsey Cottrell - silver medal

Men’s singles: Ben Twist (NSW), Dylan Fisher (VIC) Women’s singles: Kristina Krstic (WA) – gold, Chloe Stewart (VIC) - silver Mixed pairs: Kristina Krstic (WA), Ben Twist (NSW) – gold

2015 TRANS TASMAN – BURNSIDE (NZ) Development Women: NZ win 2 -1

Vision impaired mixed pairs: Joy Forster & Tony Scott (Directors Bruce Jones & Peter Scott) - bronze medal

New Zealand win Development Women’s Trophy

Men’s singles: Ben Twist - gold

Men’s singles: Aron Sherriff - bronze medal

Aust retain Development Men’s Trophy

Women’s singles: Anne Johns - silver

Men’s fours: Wayne Ruediger, Brett Wilkie, Nathan Rice & Matthew Flapper bronze medal

NZ win Overall Development Trans Tasman Trophy

Mixed pairs: Kristy Thatcher and Andrew Howie - bronze

2014 HONG KONG INVITATIONAL CLASSIC – HONG KONG Australian representatives: Matthew Baus (25, Raymond Terrace, NSW) and Mathew Pietersen (25, Cabramatta, NSW), Carla Odgers (24, Lalor, Victoria) and Kelsey Cottrell (23, St Johns Park, NSW) Men’s singles: Matthew Baus, Mathew Pietersen Women’s singles: Carla Odgers, Kelsey Cottrell

2014 WORLD CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS – CHRISTCHURCH (NZ) Men’s singles: David Holt (NSW) - fourth Women’s singles: Noelene Abe (WA) - seventh

2014 WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – BROADBEACH (QLD) Men’s singles: Dylan Fisher (VIC) - gold Women’s singles: Chloe Stewart (VIC) – gold, Kristina Krstic (WA) - silver

Development Men: Tied series 1.5 - 1.5

Open Women: NZ win 2 - 1 New Zealand win Women’s Trophy Open Men: Aust win 2 - 1 Aust retain Men’s Trophy Aust win Overall Trans Tasman Trophy

2015 WORLD CUP – Warilla (NSW) Men’s singles: David Holt (NSW) – silver, Jeremy Henry - bronze Women’s singles: Jamie-Lee Worsnop - bronze

2014-15 Annual Report 47

significant for the future of the sport.

finance report

he operating result for the 2015 year was a surplus of $43,911 compared with the $65,536 loss of the previous year. The 2014 result was of course adversely effected by the write off of $48,000 of obsolete rule book stock and the creation of a $62,000 provision for long service leave for employees.

• Maintained a strong public exposure of the game through the televising of three major events i.e. Australian Open, Australian Indoor Championships and the Australian Premier League. In addition, developed and expanded the use of new technologies such as “social media” and “image streaming”.

During the year, significant emphasis has continued to be directed towards developing and expanding game participation through many project initiatives as outlined in the Bowls in Australia Strategic Plan 2013 - 2017. Some of these initiatives were:

• Continued with the roll out of the Bowls Connect project which is targeted to provide various online services to members such as websites, competition management, membership management and E commerce product purchasing.

• Staging the largest lawn bowls participant and prize money event in the southern hemisphere with the 2015 Australian Open held on Queensland’s Gold Coast in June 2015. • For a second year, Bowls Australia showcased the new shorter version of the game, with the Australian Premier League staged at Queensland’s Club Pine Rivers in November 2014. This widely televised event attracted many of the world’s best players and has grown to 8 participating teams from Australia and New Zealand. • The introduction of Jack Attack bowls competitions to capture the growing participation in social, corporate and other non-pennant competition formats of the game. • The Regional Bowls Manager program deployed in all States and Territories, further develop the sport with new sport development initiatives and good club governance practices.

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• The ongoing development of elite bowlers with specialty training and coaching programs leading up to the forthcoming 2015 Asia Pacific Championships and 2016 World Bowls Championships.

Revenue Overall revenue increased by $343,000 during the year to be $6.10 mill. (2014: $5.76 mill.) Once again the capitation fee paying membership (mostly pennant players) numbers fell by 7% nationally during the year with major reductions in NSW (6%), Queensland (8%) and Victoria (10%). Other States and Territories had a similar decline. Yet the most recent national census (2014), indicates that “regular bowls participation” has actually increased by 5.6% and is particularly evident in the non-pennant, social programs. This “new shorter version” social game program is clearly seen to be the growth segment in Australia and

From a revenue point of view, Bowls Australia is set to move away from the capitation fee model for sourcing its major income and move to a fixed fee model. A revenue model based on a declining formal playing membership offset by “increasing member fees”, is no longer a sound basis for future revenue. Accordingly Bowls Australia supports the option to move towards a “fixed” fee model and is evaluating this option with State and Territory Associations for its introduction in 2016/17. This will introduce some stability and predictability into the major revenue stream of Bowls Australia and indirectly support a containment of fees paid by members at state, region and club level. Ongoing Grant support from the Australian Sports Commission/ Australian Institute of Sport provided $1.20 mill. (2014: $1.4 mill.) to be used for sport participation and high performance player/coach development. Additional projects relating to Sporting Schools and promoting Sport Capability were secured late in the financial year and will continue into next year. In a period following the Commonwealth Games in Scotland, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association has provided $0.2 mill to assist the high performance team with its preparation for the forthcoming 2018 Commonwealth Games. . Whilst lack of substantial sponsorship monies continues to challenge the sport, the new major sponsorship contract signed last year with Tourism and Events Queensland in conjunction with the City of Gold Coast has provided substantial funding for the much expanded Australian Open and similar high profile events to be held on the Gold Coast over the next 4 years. The National Merchandise Program continues to be a major revenue source to sport development as all the monies from this program are directed towards the deployment of Regional Bowls Managers throughout Australia. The year also saw significant revenue being obtained through the e-commerce store particularly from the sales of the new Crystal Mark rule book, training activity books, clothing and DVDs.

Event re-scheduling during the year did result in two of three major televised events occurring in this 2014-2015 financial year. As such, a higher figure of revenue is shown for this year compared with the previous period. A similar situation is reflected in the reported television production costs. Revenue from “other income” decrease during the year mainly due to a reduced recovery of management and administrative service costs from the Australian Premier League event held in Queensland and an increase in event entry monies associated to the larger Australian Open held in 2015.

Expenditure Overall expenditure has increased by $237,000 to be $6.06 mill. for the year. (2014: $5.82 mill.) During the year every effort was made to maintain the “general” sport development and high performance player and coaching training programs at the high level of spending reached in the previous year. During 2014-2015, the focus of spending has been directed more specifically towards the running of two major events: • The Australian Premier League, which was broadcast live on Fox Sports in November 2014, aimed at growing non-pennant, social competition bowlers, and • The larger Australian Open event held at the Gold Coast in June 2015. This event was designed to facilitate the participation of large numbers of different skilled bowlers. Held over 13 days and across 12 clubs and was televised and promoted with record prize money. As a consequence, the spending on Events and Television was $1.72 mill. being 64% more than the previous year. Spending on Game Development and High performance training has been maintained at 34% and 17% of total Bowls Australia spending respectively. Expenditure during the year was directed towards: • Game Development

- The ongoing management and funding of the activities of sixteen Regional Bowls Managers throughout Australia giving both support to bowling clubs and the development of the sport; - The development and roll-out of the “alternative playing version” of the game targeted to meet the needs of the growing social bowler market. This game is being promoted as Jack Attack. A registration fee is charged to adopt this product, however it comes with significant competition collateral and onsite guidance from the Regional Bowls Managers; - In addition, a junior sport introductory product has been designed and manufactured. It is being sold and marketed as Jr. Jack Attack. - Coaching and officiating training and accreditation programs and activity support publications. • High Performance - Spending in this year of post Commonwealth Games was eased, however some increase has occurred towards the forthcoming 2016 World Championships. - Various training camps held and attendances of squad members at international events in Australia, New Zealand and other countries. - Specialty sport science and technology studies were undertaken; - The development and leadership of game “trainers and coaches” has continued. • The development and rollout throughout Australia of the Bowls Connect program and its training and support for associations and clubs. This relates to websites, membership, competition and event management. Six national events were again held during the year including the 2014 Australian Premier League event and the 2015 Australian Open. Other events managed and funded by Bowls Australia were the Australian Sides Championship, Australian Indoors Championships, Australian

Under-18 Championships and the Australian Champion of Champions events. More spending was directed towards promoting the sport both through mainstream traditional media and social media. A ‘very active and informative’ web site has been established and Bowls Australia is energetically participating in Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Ongoing cost management has continued to be directed towards reducing governance and administration costs. Governance costs have continued to decline with effective meeting schedules and electronic communication practices, resulting in lower travel expenditures. Similar attention has been given to administration costs particularly in the area of containing office site costs and reducing staff untaken leave.

Balance Sheet and Cash Resources Bowls Australia continues to maintain and operate under a strong financial balance sheet. Liquid assets continue to represent a major proportion of total assets. A significant amount of the trade debt shown in the balance sheet relates to the billing of deferred and income in advance for 2015. Both the Board and management continue to focus the spending of most of the revenue earned, into the areas of sport development / participation and player progression, whilst maintaining financial security through its investment of reserves in secure financial assets. A tight credit management policy has continued to be maintained with trade debtors and in particular those related to the national merchandise program. Accumulated funds have continued to be around $1.22 million at year end, which provides Bowls Australia with a sound and liquid financial base for the future. Daryl Rogers Finance Manager August 2015

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bowls australia limited acn 65 427 736 644 financial report for the year ended 30 june 2015

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