Nambour’s 90th anniversary

The Nambour Bowls Club celebrated its 90th Birthday on Sunday 14 August 2022 with an Open Fours event. Teams from across the Sunshine Coast region filled the two greens. Visiting bowlers from as far afield as Tasmania and New Zealand also enjoyed the special occasion. The Nambour Bowling Club was formed in August 1932 when a group of local businessmen headed by the local Shire Chairman Mr J T Lowe decided a bowling club would be a great asset for the town at a time when the unemployment rate in Australia had reached 32 percent. Within one year of its formation, the club had successfully established a bowling green and modest clubhouse facilities, which were officially opened during an official Queensland Bowls Association visit on 5 June 1933. Times were tough in the 1930s, but dedication and commitment from its founding members demonstrated what can be achieved through teamwork, a trait which remains today as the club relies heavily on its volunteer members. The Nambour Bowling Club joined nearby hinterland clubs Mapleton and Palmwoods as the only bowling clubs on the North Coast. Following the formation of a fourth club at Maroochydore, members of the Nambour Bowling Club established an inter-club competition. One member supplied a pennant flag and the first inter-club competitions were played at Nambour in 1937 between all four clubs. This year, 2022, also marks the 85th anniversary of the Pennants Competition on the Sunshine Coast. The ladies decided in 1938 that it was time to form the Nambour Ladies Bowling Club. The now amalgamated Nambour Bowls Club has progressively evolved since those pioneering days offering two excellent bowling greens with modern shade structures and lighting for night bowls events.

Official opening of the club in 1933 (featuring the men)

Nambour Ladies Foundation Members in 1938

Club Patrons Mavis Balkin & Jack Ingham share in cutting the cake watched by fellow Life Members Graham Morton (Chairman), Ray Capper (Former Secretary) and Margaret Thorogood (Catering). Other Life Members also attending the event were Joan Ormes and Lyle Gibson.

Contributed by Graham Morton

The honour of cutting the 90th Birthday cake was extended to Nambour Bowls Club Patrons Jack Ingham and Mavis Balkin. Mavis is a Life Member who has made an extraordinary contribution to the sport for almost 70 years. She started bowling in the 1950s at Mapleton after her non-bowling Gympie based father Percy Melville bought her a set of bowls. Years later in what was regarded as a first for the sport, Mavis and her father served concurrently as Presidents of the Nambour Ladies’ and Men’s Clubs respectively during 1973. Mavis is currently serving as President of the Sunshine Coast District Ladies Bowls Association and continues to amaze everyone with her commitment to the sport. The club is also planning to swing into action with Bowls Queensland’s Come and Try Day sessions soon, with a focus on stimulating membership and attracting more younger people into the sport.

South Toowoomba BC is “Ever Looking Forward”

We all know lawn bowls has a level playing field, that is, regardless of your age and gender (male, female or other). If you can roll a bowl from one end of a rink to the other, you can be competitive. Little more than 10 years ago, South Toowoomba Bowls Club (STBC) combined the Men & Ladies’ Bowls Clubs, modifying the constitution to include committees for both Men’s & Ladies’ Division plus a management board. Then, one year ago they changed their constitution replacing the two Divisions and the board with a management committee. All the financial members of the STBC were eligible to nominate to be in the management committee. The management committee would be responsible to encourage and help all members (men and women) equally with social and representative bowls, and other bowls events. This year STBC have now introduced the club’s inaugural “Open Singles Championship,” open to all their members regardless of age or gender; the first club in the Toowoomba Bowls District to do so. The winner of each section plus the next best, goes through to the 2nd round, forming 3 sections of 3 players. The winner of each section goes through to the final round, where they play each other. • First Round Winners: Dudley Schefe, Trevor Green, Roley Wilson, Alby Say, Liz McCleary, Gerard

Dwan, Brad Fiedler, Tim Wilson plus Terry Arthur. • Second Round Winners: Dudley Schefe, Liz McCleary and Brad Fiedler. The final round was held on 14 August, which was a fabulous day for both the weather and the bowling. The first game was Dudley v Liz and Liz just had the edge on Dudley, winning with a +5 margin. The next game was Brad v Dudley – again a high standard of bowls. Brad drew 4 lovely shots to win the game with a +1 margin. Third game was Brad v Liz, which became the final as they both had one win each. They didn’t let us down, the breeze had picked up, the green was quickening and the nerves had kicked in. What a great game, Liz won by 1 shot, giving her two wins and a great way to end the championship. From all the feedback we received, I am sure we will be doing an Open Championship again next year, and with more participants!

Contributed by Rodney Scollen

The three finalists L-R: Dudley Schefe, Liz McCleary, Brad Fiedler Winner Liz McCleary

By Alan Thorp, Medical Classifier IBD Athletes competing in the sport of lawn bowls involving different disability groups require classification to play and compete at State, national and international levels. Players do not require to be classified if competing at club or district level. The disability groups are: • athletes with a visual disability. • athletes with a physical disability. • athletes with a intellectual disability.

WHY CLASSIFY ATHLETES WITH A DISABILITY ?

Classification systems provide for fair and equitable competition at all levels.

WHO CAN BE A CLASSIFIER ?

In the classifying process there are two classifiers involved who work as a team. Medical Classifier - can be appointed from the following professions once having completed and successfully attained all the necessary requirements: • Medical doctors • Physiotherapists • Occupational therapists, or other health professionals with required medical knowledge, including anatomy, physiology and pathology. Technical Classifiers - can be appointed if • experienced in competitive bowls. • an accredited coach • an accredited umpire/official. Note: Medical and Technical classifiers classify bowlers with physical disability only. Bowlers with a visually impairment are classified by optometrists and bowlers with an intellectual disability are classified by psychologists. CLASSIFICATION PROCEDURE FOR BOWLERS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITY

1. Minimal Disability: A bowler must provide evidence of their medical condition which leads to their functional limitations. An International Bowls for the Disabled Inc. (IBD) Certificate of Diagnosis form must be completed by the athlete’s doctor prior to the classification being performed. 2. In order for the classification process to occur, the athlete must have an eligible condition.

Classification will not proceed unless this evidence has been provided as identified on the Certificate of Diagnosis. Once established that an eligible condition exists, then the following will occur (I will only briefly outline the procedure at this stage just to give a small view of what’s involved). 3. The athlete must consent for the classification to take place (signed form consent for classification). Next, they must have a thorough understanding of the IBD

classification process involved. It is important that they understand the IBD classification involves a bench test (medical) and a bowling action (technical) test, plus observing the bowlers first performance in competition for a classification to be complete. • Bench test: (medical) - the IBD classifier will examine all relevant movements and muscle groups.

It is also important that the athlete understands that athletes are put into classes according to their level of function not according to their diagnosis/ disability. The bench test is only performed by medical classifiers, but technical classifiers can be in attendance if approved by the medical classifier. • Technical test: (on green) - a technical classifier accesses the athletes functional strength and balance in the delivery of the jack and a bowl. Numerous tests are required in this process and are performed on both ambulant and wheelchair bowlers. • Once having been observed in their first performance, both classifiers in consultation will allocate the athlete a class of B5 to B8 and a status.

The athlete at this stage would either be given a card showing these details if the classification was conducted with an International Classifier in attendance, and, if not, they would be given a form showing details if classified by a National and

Technical classifier only.

SUMMARY

I have given a brief overview without going into many other formalities involved in the process of classification. Lawn bowls is an all inclusive sport and having been involved recently with the State Multi-Disability Championships at the Chermside Bowls Club, I hope many more people with a disability get the enthusiasm with our wonderful game, and have a go. I encourage those people with the necessary qualifications to seriously think about becoming a medical or technical classifier. In Queensland, we are seeking more classifiers and if you are interested please contact Bowls Queensland for further details. I can assure you that once you commit it will be a wonderful experience, the Multi-Disability athletes are extremely talented and wonderful people to work with. Bowls Queensland: Phone (07) 3354 0777 or Alan Thorp 0482678297.

Alan Thorp with bowler Serena Bonnell, who won a silver medal in the recent Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham (para women’s pairs with Cheryl Lindfield).