Scottish John’s Gaelic Cup

Popular member, John Keating, was man of the day on April 2 when Scottish John’s Gaelic Cup was played at Scarborough Bowls Club.

When John found out two years ago he had cancer, his life was turned upside down. That’s when Scarborough bowlers stepped in and became his support team.

“Everybody here is so good. All of the guys got behind me and said: ‘we’re going to look after you’. I had nine weeks of radium treatment and the chef here brought me food every day to make sure I was fed. Other blokes organised lifts for me to get to the hospital.

“Last year, I had it in my mind that I wanted to put something on to give back to everybody here, and it will go on until I am not around anymore.”

That was the day before John went in for treatment last year and was the start of ‘Scottish John’s Day’ sponsored by John to thank his bowls support team.

Club volunteer, Karen Valentine, had organised Scottish pipers to surprise John. They made a grand entrance and played memorable Scottish tunes and John couldn’t believe it.

“I was shell-shocked!” he said.

The ‘Scottish John’s Gaelic Cup Day’ tradition of three games of men’s two bowl triples continued again this year thanks to John’s sponsorship. Scottish drizzle had been forecast for the day, but instead blue skies shone on the 60 bowlers represented in 20 teams.

Bowlers came dressed up in Scottish gear and John had some shirts made up with a Scottish flag motif for the men who helped him organise the day. The Scottish flag was raised up the club’s flagpole for the day in John’s honour.

When John lived at Dayboro, he used to play bowls at the club there, but a severe neck injury ended his bowling days. However, he enjoys watching the game and being part of the camaraderie at the Scarborough club. He loves that bowlers are all mates.

“Out on the green they are playing against each other and either beat them or get beaten. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, they come in, have a beer together and are best mates,” says John.

‘Lang may yer lum reek’, John! (Translation: Long may your chimney smoke, meaning ‘Long may you live’).

Clubs Queensland award winners

Congratulations to Club Pine Rivers as the club once again secured its place as the top bowls club in the State, winning Best Bowls Club award for the second year running at the recent Club Queensland’s Awards for Excellence. This award recognises a bowling club for the outstanding standard of grounds and facilities offered to members and guests, as well as a strong promotion of the game of bowls to the community and development programs to support this.

Club Pine Rivers CEO Steve Ratcliffe said the win was a team effort. “I’d just like to say a big thank you to our team and our board. We are so lucky to have such an amazing group of people here at Club Pine Rivers who all love this club and that really shows,” Steve said.

Bribie Island Bowls Club won the Heart of the Community award, which is for supporting the far reaching effects of education.

Stress, stress and more stress. Why? Why?

By Alan Thorp

After visiting many clubs in many districts throughout Queensland over the past eight years, the most common question I get confronted with is: How do I control my stress and nerves whilst playing our wonderful game of bowls?

Without hesitation, the first thing I say is “forget about everything other than the moment and only concentrate on the things you can control”. After having made this statement, I generally get an occasional flutter of the eyes or a serious response along the lines of : Well, what do I do? How can I address this and control my body’s reaction to the feelings of butterflies in my stomach, the pounding of my heartbeat and an overall feeling of nausea?

I give the athlete a simple explanation of why the body is experiencing such emotions and sensations. I emphasise it’s natural to have such feelings, but what matters is how we deal with them during and after the game.

My next question is to find out if the individual has read the many articles that I have written for the Bowler l under the title Mental Aspects Of Bowls

These articles covered topics such as centering, mental imagery, visualisation and mindfulness. In most cases, to my delight, most bowlers have read these articles, and this enables me to briefly revisit one or two of the mentioned topics, all of which have an enormous impact on an athlete’s preparation prior to competing in any competition.

More often than not, I ask the person to revisit the articles on mindfulness that concentrate on the now (moment). I reemphasise the importance of breathing techniques, stating that breathing exercises take control of stress, promote relaxation and focus, which are all key elements of a bowler performing to their optimum. I soon gather that most develop a period during a game where they feel things are slipping away and, as a result, they generally become stressed about the situation and get more stressed about being stressed. Most athletes who have not had the opportunity to practise particular stress relief techniques will find the more they try to resist the sensations, the more they increase and the worse they feel and perform.

Having said that, let’s now observe a breathing technique I believe is the most valuable for quick stress relief during a game of bowls. I have covered this in a previous article however for those who may have forgotten it is referred to as the centering breath or in my article called Centering.

1. Sit or stand in a relaxed position, ensuring your back is straight, your feet are shoulder width apart and flat on the ground, legs slightly bent at the knees (if standing).

2. Always breathe through your nose, inhale making sure that your belly expands and you don’t raise your shoulders. To check you are doing it right, place one hand on your belly and one on your chest. When breathing in, the hand on your belly should move out and when you exhale this same hand should move in.

3. Now breathe out through your mouth.

You have now successfully completed the breathing technique referred to as the centering breath. Some tips to remember:

• Think of the air going into your lungs, meaning that you are not concentrating on things around you or worrying about distracting thoughts, only concentrating on your belly expanding whilst breathing in due to the muscles expanding in your stomach.

• As you breathe out, tighten the throat so a slight noise is heard while at the same time experiencing at the end of the exhalation the calmness and stillness of the sensation.

• Remember to practice this breathing technique several times a day and you will soon start to automatically take a deep breath in stressful situations as they occur during a game, which I can guarantee will relax you and contribute significantly to your overall performance.

I hope this article helps all those bowlers who experience stressful situations on the green.

I encourage all to get copies of my previous articles on Mental Aspects of Bowls. You can find past issues of the Queensland Bowler on the BQ website.

Upcoming Courses

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