GETTING TO KNOW JOHN KIRKPATRICK

Many readers will have met John during the years he has been BQ’s Umpire Committee Co-ordinator. If you know John, then you will be familiar with his dedication and dry wit.

Born in Millmerran, John first took up bowls at the age of 25 while living in Mackay. Mackay Bowls Club was the first club John joined as a favour to the local undertaker at the time. John remembers that in those days it was men only, the president was a local businessman named ‘Williamson’ and both of the lovely bar staff were called ‘Rhonda’. Over the years, John has belonged to Mackay, Goondiwindi, Warwick, Charleville, Innisfail and Springwood Bowls Clubs and is currently a member at Capalaba. Membership at these clubs has moved in line with his 40-year role as a policeman.

Amongst his bowls experiences, John has won four club competitions, played in State titles, met some good and honest people with “good competitive spirit and when the game’s over, they say let’s have a beer and forget about it”. Overall, he credits bowls with helping him make ‘lifelong friends’.

When he first completed the umpire’s exam, there were 100 questions and you had to get 90% right. Nowadays, the onus is not quite as daunting and accreditations are carried out by a process of quizzes, matching correct answers with questions.

Giving something back to the sport was what motivated John to take up a volunteer role with Bowls Queensland. He has been an umpire for close to 50 years and has answered many questions from people across the State over those years, which has kept his brain active. He would like to give a shout-out to Cath Crowe at BQ for her assistance in making his job easier over the years.

When asked what he thinks about bowls today, John feels that the sport is still the same as when he first started playing.

“The unfortunate part about it today is that a lot of people, including the younger brigade, are time-poor, and a game of bowls can take a few hours to play.

“Most clubs are doing barefoot bowls now, which is a form of bowls.”

John has noticed over the years that when bowls is taken up as a junior, most young people move away from the sport towards other interests and family time, but come back to it later in life and comment on how much they had missed the game.

John has some advice for people thinking about taking up bowls.

“Bowls is one of those sports you can have a lot of fun with and make many friends,” he said.

“Bowls clubs would not survive without volunteers, so don’t be frightened to put your hand up and do a job that puts something back into your club.”

John has many interesting and funny stories to share, gleaned from years of playing bowls. This is just one of John’s stories:

“Many years ago, while playing in a two-day bowls tournament in Toowoomba, we played a team from Ipswich and had a very comfortable win.

Whilst having lunch, the lead of the team from Ipswich commented to the rest of his team “when we’re on the way home, as we cross the Bremer River, stop in the middle of the bridge so I can throw my bowls into the river”.

Our lead, in a somewhat sympathetic voice said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”. With that, the player from Ipswich said, “why is that?”. Our lead replied, “the way you played, you would probably miss the river!”

FUNDING is open! don’t miss out

The Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport Funding has released more funding opportunities, many of which could be suitable for clubs and bowlers.

Any organisation wishing to apply for sport and recreation funding must first register in the Sport and Recreation’s Grant Registration Portal (GRP): https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/sports/funding/grants-portal If your organisation is registered and you have an account, ensure that your Grant Registration Portal contact details are up to date.

Funding is available as below:

FairPlay Vouchers “Empowering you to move”

Round 8 now open for parents, carers and guardians to apply for a voucher valued up to $150 for their child (between the ages of 5 and 17 years), which can be used towards sport and active recreation membership, registration or participation fees with registered activity providers. You must be resident in Queensland to be eligible to apply for this grant.

Apply here: https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/sports/funding/fairplay/apply

Closing March, 29 2023 (or earlier if fully allocated).

Emerging Athletes Program - Ongoing

Supports eligible young athletes, coaches and officials aged 10-18 years with financial assistance to attend state, national and international events.

Apply here: https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/sports/funding/emerging-athlete-pathways

First Nations Sport and Recreation Program – Round 2 - Opening soon (April 2023)

Aims to provide physical activity opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout Queensland.

Guidelines for all programs can be found on the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport funding and grants website: https://www.dtis.qld.gov.au/sport/funding-programs

For more information, please contact North Coast office on (07) 5459 6176 or email: sportrecnorthcoast@dtis.qld.gov.au