Celebrating Father’s Day

FATHER‘S DAY FEATURE

L-R: John Hammond Jnr, John Hammond Snr, Samuel Hammond, Jake Hammond & Robert Hammond.

With Father’s Day just around the corner, it seemed an appropriate time to look at the impact dads can have on their children’s sporting lives and in particular, bowls.

Without entering into the old nature versus nurture debate, we thought we’d ask some questions that could shed some light on how to keep the love of lawn bowls continuing on through the generations.

Recently, we caught up for a chat with one bowling family who seem to have done just that. Some of our readers may already know, or have crossed paths with, the Hammond family from Roma. The Hammond name is almost synonymous with Roma Bowls Club, so let us introduce you to the three main players who shared their bowls family story with us.

John Hammond Snr is where it all began (he thinks from about 40 years ago). John wears many hats and he is ‘Dad’ to Robert, and ‘Pop’ to John Jnr. But John Snr has other roles too and, as the secretary/manager of Roma Bowls Club, he is a lynchpin member of the club and chances are you will find him there, whether it be in a club meeting, behind the bar or on the bowling green itself.

Robert Hammond is John Snr’s son and a father himself to John Jnr. In his bowling life, Robert has risen to the level of Roma’s first State representative and his love for the game is obvious.

John Hammond Jnr is Robert’s son and his enjoyment of bowls and his competitive spirit are fierce. When

L-R: Ty Jesberg, Jake Rynne, John Hammond at the 2019 Junior State Championships Grant Sharpe and Stella Palmer with John Hammond in Roma after he won one gold and two silver medals at the 2019 Junior State Championships

this issue goes to print, he will be active on the green as he has been selected to play for U25 in the QLD v NSW Test Series in August.

To start the ‘bowl’ rolling, so to speak, we asked John Snr how he first took up the sport of lawn bowls. Did he start bowling on his own or was he introduced to it by his dad?

To John Snr’s knowledge, his dad never played bowls. Instead, he was introduced to the sport by a couple of work colleagues and tells us that he was “a member of the club for about six months before I even rolled a ball”.

When Robert asked his dad how he, as his son, became interested in bowls, John Snr’s response was:

“Well, I used to come over here to the club, you used to come over here, your mother used to come over here and your brother used to come over here and eat our Freddo Frogs and watch us playing bowls. And it was just a natural thing that you got into it as well as myself.”

Robert was then asked how he got his son John Jnr (Johnny) involved in bowls and it was a similar story.

“By that stage we had moved to Toowoomba and John’s mother used to bring him over to watch me play the premier league, playing for South Toowoomba Tigers at that stage. We used to get large crowds and John used to love turning up and getting his face painted as a tiger and running around the green cheering for the Tigers. One thing led to another, and he actually got to play his first real game before he played a normal game. He ended up representing the U18 Darling Downs because

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they were one short when playing a seniors’ game, so Johnny got to represent the U18 Downs when he was a six-year-old as a fill in. That was his first game of lawn bowls!”

We then asked the trio what it meant to each of them to bowl with their dad/son/grandson.

John Snr (Pop) said:

“It means a great deal to me and makes me very proud to have bowled with them both. Representing Roma in the pennants with three generations of Hammonds was a proud moment. Also, to have been successful in many club and district division championships is a bonus.” Robert Hammond was presented his Queensland Team uniform for 2018 by BQ CEO Brett Wilkie.

Photo by David Bowden.

When asked if he currently had much opportunity to play with Robert & John Jnr, John Snr replied:

“Nowadays, probably not as much as in the past, but there is still the future and I have been proud on every occasion that I have had the chance to play with either or both of them.”

When asked if he currently had much chance to play with his Dad and Pop, John Jnr replied:

“Not so much at the moment as Dad is currently playing for Toowoomba. But Dad and I play every carnival together. No doubt, in the future we will go back to our old club triples team of me, Pop and Dad.”

When asking John Jnr (Johnny) what it means to him to bowl with his father and then his grandfather, Johnny says:

“It’s a great honour to bowl with the people who taught me the game and it’s been a pretty good journey learning from them both, even though I think I’ve topped them now! Playing with these guys and growing up and playing all my club championships with them, being taught the sport and how to grow up makes me quite chuffed.”

At the Summit bowls club in the Zone 3 Pennant final in 2021 when Chinchilla and Roma met. L-R: John Hammand Jnr and his dad Robert, Robert’s Dad John Hammond Senior, Gerard Bellgrove and Dad Peter, Des Obst (91 years old) and his son Kingsley, David Jones and his Dad Peter.

At this stage of the intervies, John Snr (aka ‘the old fella’) interjects and says he “thinks the Hammonds are just getting better with each generation!”

When it comes to the nitty gritty of discussing what they each hold as their highest bowling achievement and proudest moment, John Snr goes first.

“Although I haven’t won a State Championship, I have contested a few. My proudest moment was seeing the three of us representing Roma and contesting the State Pennant Championships on two occasions. I am also proud of John Jnr representing QLD at almost 20 years younger than when his Pop first started bowls.”

Robert and John Jnr then remind Pop of when he proved himself at the ‘Black Opal’. The Black Opal is a prestige tournament played in Lightning Ridge. Greg John, John Snr, Robert and Jimmy Keleher were equal winners in 2016. It was 20 all on 20 ends on the 20th anniversary and was washed out. In 2017, the team were equal winners again with a washout 4-way split. This was the biggest tournament win for John Snr against quality Australian players and he would have been player of the match.

About his proudest moment, John Jnr said:

“My proudest moment would definitely be winning the Maranoa triples with Dad and Pop. Growing up with these guys and winning it when I was 14 was pretty good. My personal best achievement would be at State titles in the U18 triples; winning gold in the triples, silver in the singles and silver in the fours all in the same year. Also, running close to being the U18 singles champion.”

On the same subject, Robert said:

“I think I am in a pretty lucky and unique situation where my Dad has shown me how to play bowls and shown me how good he was. When I first started playing bowls, they used to say Dad was the #1 bowler (and they used to call him #1 mongrel). He was the one to beat in the clubhouse and everyone strove to be as good as my father. That was my goal, to be as

Felicity Hammond showing how it’s done, age 11 (Robert’s daughter)

Samuel & Jake Hammond at the 2022 Junior Championships (John Snr’s sons)

good as my father and my coach, who was Brian Spinks. And then work took us away and Dad was still in Roma, so I got to teach my son how to play and raise a young fella and get him up and going. When we all moved back to Roma, we got to play together again. I couldn’t be any prouder about getting as good to beat my Dad. Then I had to teach my son how to do the same thing!”

Robert was also optimistic when asked if they still had the opportunity to all play together.

“Not at the moment. We are all leading busy lives, with Dad still managing the club. But we have played plenty together in the club and we will play plenty together in the future.”

About his highest bowling achievement, Robert says:

“It would have to be winning the State Pairs in about 2017. Close to that, is representing Queensland against NSW and also in the Australian Sides in Darwin.”

Robert’s proudest moment was “the first time the three of us played together and won together in the triples, and also in a fours tournament, but the triples was pretty special”.

John Snr is proud that Robert and Johnny were selected to play for Queensland.

“A lot of work and years of bowls go into that, and we are all pretty proud of them.”

When asked what they would suggest dads at bowls clubs do to encourage their children to play bowls, it was a unanimous response.

John Snr urged:

“First of all, bring them to the bowls club! Get them started young. I think it just runs in the family from then on. Fathers get their sons to play, and their sons get their sons to play, and it just carries on from generation to generation. I think that’s the good way, probably one of the only ways, you will increase the membership for bowls in Queensland and in Australia, by getting families involved.”

But they all agreed “Don’t force it on the kids to come and play”.

The Roma team at the 2021 State Pennant with Robert Hammond (back row, third from left), John Hammond Snr (front left) and John Hammond Jnr (front row, third from left)

When asked if there was: anything else they thought Queensland Bowler readers would be interested to know about their family bowling journey, Robert replied:

“We are lucky to have three of us: John Jnr, John Snr and myself, who have, or are about to, represent Queensland at the highest level. But we are also proud to represent Roma. We are proud of where we come from, and we are proud of who we represent.”

And there are more Hammonds now involved in the sport than just the two Johns and Robert. Young Jake and Samuel play in U15 and young Felicity is playing bowls now.

“There’s more of us to come and there will be more stories to write about because we have more children coming!”

Indeed, the Hammond bowls family story is by no means over! When talking to them, a true sense of family bond comes through, as well as respect for each other and a great measure of family competitive spirit.

For the record, we are told: “John Jnr has beaten John Snr but John Jnr hasn’t beaten his dad.”

John Snr beat Robert when he was at his pinnacle representing Queensland, which still hurts, and he still reminds them about it.

John Jnr ends our chat on the optimistic note:

“We are going to win the State Triples when we play together!”

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Welcome to North QLD’s new RBM - Nick Twining

I am very proud to be representing Bowls Australia in the role of Regional Bowls Manager for North Queensland. This role will combine my love of the game and knowledge of business through my previous roles managing pubs and clubs. The North Queensland area is very big but I will get out to every club in my patch. I aim to provide help to every club by thinking outside the square and using my experience to give opportunity to clubs to grow their business.

SWOT analysis is very important as a self assessment for clubs to use. SWOT broken down equates to Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The idea of this tool is to be brutally honest and list key points under each heading. This would be a handy tool to include club members in too.

• Strengths: What sets your club apart from other businesses in your area? This may be recognising function space, having a large piece of land other than the green for events or being the only club within 20 km. • Weaknesses: What is a weakness for your club? This is important, and at the end of the goal period these should turning into Strengths or Opportunities. After visiting a couple of clubs last week, a theme was volunteers are uncommon and the same key people end up doing jobs year after year. What about advertising for volunteers? • Opportunities: What are the biggest opportunities? Have you reached out to your local high school, local businesses, local indigenous and other minority communities and other local sports teams, for example rugby, AFL and soccer clubs? What about a bowls/golf partnership? • Threats: Common threats are reducing or ageing membership, low number of younger members. The SWOT analysis should be run over a rolling 90-day period, although it doesn’t have an end date. When planning and reporting, it should be evaluated over periods between board meetings. I will often perform this during a visit to assist in setting a benchmark for the club. For clubs in my area, I look forward to meeting you and building a strong relationship with you all.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any assistance, at the details below.

RBM - NORTH QLD

Nick Twining 0429 213 207 ntwining@bowls.com.au RBM - CENTRAL QLD

David Barnes 0429 442 818 dbarnes@bowls.com.au RBM - SOUTH EAST QLD

Micheal Sorrensen 0447 507 040 msorrensen@bowls.com.au

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Excluding patrons from club premises

A recent Brisbane nightclub’s decision to refuse entry to a Papuan Australian woman has made headlines with articles indicating the decision is considered discriminatory. The nightclub has maintained its position, stating that it has a blanket policy against face and head tattoos at its premises. The issue is a timely reminder of the rights and obligations of licensed venues in relation to refusal of entry to the public. Under the Liquor Act 1992 (Qld), a licensed venue is given the right to refuse entry or require a person to leave the premises if the person: (a) is unduly intoxicated; (b) is disorderly; (c) is creating a disturbance; (d) is a minor (other than exempt minors); or if allowing the person to enter would breach a condition of the licence. In addition to the above, it is a well-established common law right of business owners to exclude members of the public from entering their business. This means that a business owner may be able to require any person to leave the premises or refuse admission to any person, without being required to provide a reason. However, the right to refuse admission of a member of the public does not necessarily apply in circumstances where the person is to be afforded natural justice. This would be the case where a person has a legitimate expectation that, upon payment of a charge, they will be admitted to the premises which has advertised as being open to the public. This is particularly important for clubs, where the majority of patrons are members of the club, and as a result, they have additional rights through their membership compared to the rights that a member of the public would have to enter a business premises. The right of exclusion may also be limited in instances where the exclusion would be in breach of anti-discrimination laws. Under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld), it is prohibited to discriminate against any of the following attributes: (a) sex; (b) relationship status; (c) pregnancy; (d) parental status; (e) breastfeeding; (f) age; (g) race; (h) impairment; (i) religious belief or religious activity; (j) political belief or activity; (k) trade union activity; (l) lawful sexual activity; (m) gender identity; (n) sexuality; (o) family responsibilities; or (p) association with, or relation to, a person identified on the basis of any of the above attributes.

It is important that any business ensures, in exercising their right to refuse or revoke admission, that the action does not either directly or indirectly discriminate against any of the above attributes. Clubs in particular need to also consider the rights that their members have to use and enjoy the premises. It may be beneficial to review club practices and procedures to ensure that the club does not unintentionally contravene the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld). If your club requires a review of its policies and procedures or finds itself subject to any claims under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld), please contact me, Matt Bradford, at (07) 3224 0353.