squads for national pathways EVENT ANNOUNCED

By Val Febbo, Bowls Australia

The next generation of Australian bowls talent will be on full display at the National Pathways Event, with confirmation of the four squads of young stars set to battle it out on the Gold Coast in July.

Four teams will converge on the Sunshine State, with each consisting of seven players across the Right at Home Emerging, Pathways and Para Jackaroos squads. The event will simulate international formats in order to give the next generation of bowlers a chance to hone their skills in the same conditions that have seen the greats before them flourish.

Team One boasts an in-form line-up, with Queensland’s Kira Bourke one of the headlines after a magnificent Multi-Nations campaign where she would clinch a bronze medal in the women’s singles event. Joining Bourke is Victoria’s Sophie Kurzman, who recently claimed the women’s triples title at the Victorian Open with Kate Argent Bowden and Triss Doolan. Cohen Litfin will line up with the pair, also in ominous form following an exemplary opening three months of 2023 in which he and Nathan Black clinched the division one title at the Burnside Pairs before going on to take a silver and bronze at the Multi-Nations a fortnight ago. Victoria’s Tyson Cromie and South Australian Tyson Wilson have also been included in the team. The para contingent in the squad will be Western Australia’s Calvin Rodgers and Victoria’s Lucas Protopapas.

Team Two sees Litfin’s Burnside Pairs partner in Black named in the line-up alongside his fellow South Australian in Grace Moloney, who will also be participating in next month’s World Bowls Indoor Championships in Warilla. Emerging Jackaroos Jessie Cottell and Beau Prideaux will join the contingent, with Cottell herself no stranger to the national stage having helped the Melbourne eXtreme to the BPL15 final last year as a mid-tournament fill in and reaching the women’s pairs semifinal at the 2022 Australian Open. Western Australian Jack East is the final member of the open contingent, with the para duo of Victoria’s Alison East and Queensland’s Brett Sellars rounding out the lineup.

Team Three will boast the experience of ACT stalwart Chloe Morrison, who has represented her state at an abundance of tournaments on the national scale. Morrison will be joined in the squad by Queensland Pathways Jackaroo Kane Nelson, who was another dual medallist at the Multi-Nations with a silver in the men’s triples and a bronze in the fours. Tasmania’s Lauren Banks has been named in the team, with the

21-year-old bringing some significant national experience to the side having already won a silver medal at the Australian Championships.

In addition, Banks will be taking part in next month’s World Bowls Indoor Championships at Warilla. New South Wales’ Michael Phillips and Victorian Brendan Gallagher round out the open players, and will be joined by para bowlers Matt Barrie and Cooper Whitestyles. Whitestyles claimed the men’s para pairs title with Damien Delgado at the 2022 Australian Open and will bring an abundance of confidence to the event. Team Four consists of a star-studded line-up including an in-form Nick Cahill, who took home a silver medal in the men’s singles at the Multi-Nations, to Aaron Teys in the decider. Cahill also represented Australia at the World Bowls Under-25 Indoor Championships in December where he claimed a pair of silver medals, and joining him on that tour was Brianna Smith who herself secured the women’s singles title in the UK. Smith and Cahill will again be teammates on the Gold Coast, and joining them will be Queensland’s Chris Rosanes, who is no stranger to high level events having played in four Bowls Premier Leagues for the Moreton Bay Pirates. Rosanes, like Nelson and Litfin, was another dual medallist at the Multi-Nations with a silver in the triples and a bronze in the fours.

Former Australian Championships gold medallist Kate Matthews has also been included in the squad, as has Kyle Hansen to round out the open members of the team. 2022 Australian Multi-Disability Championships Clover Lester Encouragement Award recipient Jodie Nikolic has been named within the team, as has Victorian Josh Barry, to make up the para component of the lineup.

National Coach Gary Willis is looking forward to the event and the experience it will give to some of the future Australian stars of the sport. “This National Pathways Event is something we have looked forward to for a really long time – we can’t wait to give Australia’s next generation the chance to excel in conditions similar to the sport’s showpiece tournaments,” Willis said. “The teams are all evenly matched and it will be interesting to see how they all mix and gel together in their pursuit of success. When looking at the players selected, it is hard not to get excited for the future of the sport across the nation, with an abundance of talent scattered across the entire field.”

The National Pathways Event runs from July 11-13, 2023, on the Gold Coast. Full teams below:

Team One:

Kira Bourke (QLD)

Sophie Kurzman (VIC

Tyson Cromie (VIC)

Tyson Wilson (SA)

Cohen Litfin (QLD)

Calvin Rodgers (Para WA)

Lucas Protopapas (Para VIC)

Team Two:

Grace Moloney (SA)

Jessie Cottell (NSW)

Jack East (WA)

Beau Prideaux (NSW)

Nathan Black (SA)

Alison East (Para VIC)

Brett Sellars (Para QLD)

Team Three:

Chloe Morrison (ACT)

Lauren Banks (TAS)

Michael Phillips (NSW)

Kane Nelson (QLD)

Brendan Gallagher (VIC)

Matt Barrie (Para ACT)

Cooper Whitestyles (Para QLD)

Team Four:

Kate Matthews (NSW)

Brianna Smith (NSW)

Chris Rosanes (QLD)

Nick Cahill (QLD)

Kyle Hansen (NSW)

Jodie Nikolic (Para WA)

Josh Barry (Para VIC)

The Queensland Representative Team Trials were held in April at Club Tweed. Players were considered for the Open, Under 25, 40-59 and Over 60 age groups to represent QLD in 2023.

Thank you to Club Tweed for their support of this event.

Umpire with Joan Brotherton

Changes to the laws of bowls: New law book released

We have a busy month ahead with the State District Sides and State Championships being played on the Sunshine Coast as you receive the May Bowler. I wish you all the best and, most of all, enjoy your bowls.

As the new Laws of the Sport of Bowls Crystal Mark Fourth Edition will be used, I will continue to advise the various law changes or comments in future columns.

Last month, I covered Laws 37.1.3 and 37.1.5.3. These two laws involved a bowl in its original course deliberately displaced, or stopped, by a member of the team who delivered the bowl, and a player lifting a bowl at rest on their rink to allow their team’s bowl in its original course to pass.

The laws when you can stop a bowl legally are:

Law 37.6 – Bowl displacement by a bowl from a neighbouring rink:

37.6.1: If a bowl at rest on the rink is in danger of being moved by a bowl from a neighbouring rink, any player at the head must choose whether to:

37.6.1.1: lift the bowl at rest to allow the other bowl to pass and then replace it, as long as this action would not influence the outcome of the head; or

37.6.1.2: stop the bowl from the neighbouring rink. (This is the law I suggest you use).

37.6.2: If, during a Singles game, a bowl at rest on the rink is in danger of being moved by a bowl from a neighbouring rink, the marker must stop the bowl from the neighbouring rink.

37.6.3: If a bowl that has been stopped was in its original course and was delivered on a bias that would have taken it back into its rink of play, it must be replayed.

Two other new laws that many players would need to be aware of that can affect their games are:

Law 5 – Starting the game:

5.1: Trial ends:

5.1.1: Before the start of play in any game, or before continuing an unfinished game on another day, one trial end must be played in each direction. At the discretion of the Controlling Body, trial ends may also be permitted when an interrupted game has been moved between a vegetation surface and a synthetic or indoor surface.

Law 29.3 – Changing bowls:

29.3.1: If a player changes their set of bowls during an uninterrupted game, or during a game that has been stopped as described in law 33 and continued on the same day, the game must be forfeited to the opponent unless:

29.3.1.1: the player changes their set because a bowl has been damaged (see law 31); or

29.3.1.2: the game has been moved between a vegetation surface and a synthetic or indoor surface.

Therefore, if a game is unfinished, interrupted and continued on the same day and moved to a vegetation surface, synthetic or indoor surface – two trial ends and change of bowls is now allowed. Another law that is important and needs to be observed is:

Law 13 – Possession of the rink:

13.1: Possession of the rink will belong to the player or team whose bowl is being played.

13.2: As soon as each bowl comes to rest, possession of the rink will transfer to the opposing player or team after allowing for marking a toucher as soon as it comes to rest.

13.3: A player must not deliver a bowl before the previous bowl comes to rest and possession of the rink has transferred to the opposing player or team.

13.4: If the umpire, either by their own observation or an appeal by one of the skips or opponents in singles, decides that a player has delivered a bowl before the previous bowl has come to rest, or the players in possession of the rink are being interfered with, moved or distracted in any way by their opponents,

13.4.1: the first time this happens the umpire must:

13.4.1.1: warn the offending player, while the skip is present, and

13.4.1.2: tell the coach, if they are present, that the player has received a warning.

13.4.2: on each occasion after this, the umpire must have the bowl last played by the offending player or team declared dead. If that bowl has disturbed the head, the opposing skip or opponent in singles must choose whether to:

13.4.2.1: replace the head.

13.4.2.2: leave the head as altered, or declare the end dead.

I hope that the above new laws explain the changes and all members understand what is required. I will continue to update this column in Queensland Bowler magazine in the months ahead, so all members are aware and are updated on all the new laws. Please do not hesitate to contact the BQ Umpire Committee if there are any queries or issues with which you need assistance.