It’s makeover time

NEW GREENS FOR BUNDABERG A NEW LOOK FOR THE WAVES

The Waves Sports Complex in Bundaberg has been given a new lease on life following the completion of its big renovation project which was finished off last month.

The club now features an all-new gaming area featuring a gaming lounge with a trendy bar included in the design, the renovation included an extension to the gaming room and a reduction of machines in the venue from 221 to 180. The renovations have also added a new cashier, new designated outdoor smoking area, new card swipe members access, new carpet, gaming bases, gaming privacy screens and new lighting. Chief executive Brendan Royall said It’s a big, exciting project for The Waves team and one that has been on the list of things to do since 2018.

“We decided to renovate the gaming room as it was the last area of the club that hadn’t been refurbished since our major redevelopment in 2009-10,” Brendan said. “The board and management conduct strategic planning every two years and the gaming renovation was an ‘action item’ that was decided on at our 2018 strategic planning workshop.” The club’s members have also been treated to two new state-of-the-art synthetic bowling greens which have only recently been completed. The Waves Men’s Bowls Club president Keith Jobling says the upgrade to synthetic greens was one of the biggest investments the club had seen, however, Keith says the surface would see them realise significant annual savings of more than $100,000 per year. “We haven’t got to spray for algae anymore – we used to have a lot of trouble with that,” Keith said. “We will save a lot not having to buy the sprays or fertilisers. “It’s going to make a big difference.” The Waves Bowls Club’s new synthetic turf will allow for better games to be played as the greens will have a more stable pace for bowlers with the new green running an average of 15.5 seconds. The installation of the latest synthetic greens along with internal renovations have added to the club’s appeal for bowlers, the club’s members are now anxiously waiting for the COVID-19 regulations to ease, so they can return to roll up once again.

COME & TRY WHAT’S YOUR PLAN FOR THIS YEAR?

October is Bowls Queensland’s ‘Come & Try’ month and we’re encouraging every club across the state to participate this year and pick a day to host their own ‘Come & Try’ event.

We want every bowler to think about how they will help run and advertise their club’s event to ensure it is as successful as possible. Clubs need to take the initiative and engage with ‘Come & Try’ month to help grow the lawn bowls community and allow more people the opportunity to enjoy the sport. Bowls Queensland will be on hand to provide clubs with assistance in the form of individual promotional material for clubs, which will include letter drop flyers, large A4 flyers as well as online promotion on the Bowls Queensland Facebook page. Running a great ‘Come & Try’ event will help boost your club’s reputation in the community as a fun and inviting place for locals to visit for a friendly drink, meal or game of bowls. While we encourage every club to use their original ideas for their event, we’ve outlined some basic things to consider when planning your club’s event below:

The day to choose

If your club is choosing to run an event during the week, schedule it during after work hours to cater to workers, children and families. You could tie this in with a night your club’s restaurant is open as this can raise some extra revenue. Weekends are usually the choice for clubs to run such events, but it’s important to remember that Saturday is traditionally a day for sport and can limit the number of participants. If you were looking at a Saturday, it would be important to hold this late afternoon/ evening. Sundays traditionally work best to hold an open day and maximise your participants. Days we recommend are Tuesday through to Thursday after 4 pm, Saturday after 2 pm and anytime on Sundays.

How to advertise

For a day like this to be successful, it’s very important to advertise the event in your community. The following ways are best to advertise your event. Social Media (Facebook)- through posts, shares and paid boosts for your club page advertising the upcoming event. Local Radio and newspaper Club Website Club’s social membership database Local community and council websites Community groups and sports clubs. Letterbox drop Advertisement in local shop fronts. Ask your members to bring their family, friends or work colleagues along to try bowls, plus advertise the day inside your clubTV screens, during raffles and with flyers on tables and bars.

What you can do on the day

Collect visitor information from those who arrive so you can connect with these players once the day has finished. Choose your volunteers carefully as we want the participants to have fun and enjoy themselves without overwhelming them with rules and tips. Make sure you have an array of bowls sizes that can cater to women and children. Run a BBQ on the day to help attract people to the club and to stay longer. How you charge for this can be at the discretion of the club. Don’t let visitors walk away empty-handed. Produce a brochure with information about their club for all participants to take home. There are many free templates online you can use. This should include information on membership costs, what days the club plays social bowls and those costs too. You should also include club contact details, as well as restaurant opening hours (if relevant) with a discount coupon for a meal to entice people back to the club.

Important things to consider

Encourage your club members to bring their family, friends or work colleagues down. This will guarantee participants on the day. Ensure you do not run your open day for too long. This will give you a better chance to gain more volunteers as they won’t be giving up their whole day. Everyone should be encouraged to sign the function sheet. This is how you can communicate with the participants to get them back to the club and gather feedback on what you did well and how you can improve. Encourage members to bring their coloured bowls down for participants to use instead of the 50-year-old sets. This will make it more appealing for the players and at the same time easier to handle the bowls.

We encourage all members of the bowls community to get started on planning their club’s ‘Come & Try’ event. Email BQ at admin@bowlsqld.org to let us know when you have selected a day for your event and we can get started on your promotional material. Don’t forget that you can contact your local RBM if you require assistance when it comes to planning your event, they will be more than happy to help your club out.

Get started on your planning - now’s the time to promote the sport we all love!