CANBERRA NORTH BOWLING CLUB (CNBC) – NEW STARTERS KIT

 

JOINING THE CNBC

You can become a bowling member of the Canberra North Bowling and ACT Rugby Union Club (CNBACTRUC) by filling out an application form at 54 McCaughey St Turner, ACT. Just go to the reception desk and they will help you out. Application forms can also be downloaded from the CNBC website.

For adults the annual membership fee is currently $98.50 per annum. Lower fees apply to juniors, students and people who are members of other bowling clubs. These fees are set out on the CNBC website.

You can also join as a Social Bowling member for $50.00 for the first year. This will only allow you to play social bowls and have practice roll ups but not play in Club Championships or Bowls Australia or Bowls ACT events.

Bowling Membership of CNBACTRUC entitles people to use the bowling greens and also covers membership of the licenced club, which trades as the RUC. For more information about the facilities at the RUC please see the CNBC website or the RUC website.

THE BOWLS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (BMC)

The BMC is responsible for coordinating all bowls activities at CNBC.

The current President is Mark Carter.

The Vice-president is Hilary McClure.

The Secretary is Stephen Vince.

If you would like to talk to someone about any bowls related issues you can contact Mark Carter on 0401149352, or at markcarter436@gmail.com.

 

 

STARTING OUT

The greens at Turner are available on every day of the week except Monday, which is set aside for greens maintenance. There is free parking at the club for members. But you should know that it can get quite crowded during the months of October through December, when there are a lot of social events for barefoot bowlers.

If you are new to bowls, you will need a pair of flat soled shoes to use the greens. Specialist bowling shoes are available from various bowls equipment providers over the internet.

You will also need a set of bowls. Before buying a set of bowls you should probably try some out, because the size and weight vary from bowl to bowl. Different bowls also have different turning arcs, so that some are narrower and some wider. We can try to get you a couple of different types to trial when you come down to the club.

Again, if you are new to bowls it is probably best to have a couple of practice sessions (what we call roll-ups) before playing in a competitive game. We can arrange for an experienced bowler to have a roll-up with you on a day that suits. Just contact Mark Carter on 0401149352 or Stephen Vince on 0410480643 if you would like to have a roll-up. Coaching can also be arranged.

There are plenty of good books around on how to play lawn bowls, or you can find informative sessions about lawn bowls on the internet. Just google “Lawn Bowling You Tubes” and you will find a range of information.

When you have purchased a set of bowls you might like to leave them at the club. We do have lockers but at the moment unfortunately we are a bit short on spare ones. If you would like a locker, please talk to our secretary, Stephen Vince on 0410480643 or at stephen.vince@gmail.com and he can at least put you on the list for when one might become available.

If you are a beginner there are a couple of things you need to know about the game of bowls. The first is that games are played under a standard set of rules. The second is that there is a well-established bowls etiquette.

Copies of “The Laws of the Game of Bowls” can be obtained from Bowls ACT at a cost of $9. Bowls ACT is the administrative body responsible for the operation of bowls across the ACT. It runs ACT level bowls events, like the ACT championships, as well as inter-club competitions, like the inter-club Pennants competitions. Bowls ACT can be contacted on phone number 51051083 or at admin@bowlsact.org.au.

Information about bowls etiquette is available on the CNBC website under the tab for CLUB INFO.

 

 

SOCIAL BOWLS

When you have had few practice sessions and feel confident enough you can try a game of social bowls. Remember that people will understand if you are a beginner, so you are not expected to land all your bowls on the jack. We all remember how it was when we started out. It takes a while to become a competent bowler (I’m still trying after five years).

Social bowls are held on Tuesday through to Saturday. General starting times are as follows:

Tuesday – 10.30am

Wednesday – 10am

Thursday – 10.30am

Friday – 10am

Saturday – 10.30am

But during daylight savings time all social bowls commence at 10am.

Names need to be in by 8 am on the day of play.

You can put you name down for a social bowls session by booking your game on the email account cnbcbookings@gmail.com

In the heading simply put the day and date you wish to play eg. “Tuesday 30 November” and in the message something along the lines of “Please include me for a game” and sign off with your name “Thanks, Stephen Vince” for example as some emails do not display the senders name.

For Wednesday and Friday bowls only you can still do this or simply just turn up at the club by 9.30am and the organisers will fit you in.

You can book as a single entry, in which case the organiser will find you a partner, or you can nominate as a team of two (of course you need the other person’s permission to do that). Most social bowls are pair’s games (teams of two), although depending on how many players nominate, there may have to be some triples games (teams of three).

All social bowls are mixed, men and women. Dress is mufti, although you can wear a bowls uniform if you like. As already noted, you will need a pair of flat soled shoes.

There is a green fee of $10 per player for all organised social bowls.

CNBC CHAMPIONSHIPS

There are a number of club championship competitions that are open to bowling members. The main championships are the men’s and women’s major singles, pairs, triples and fours, as well as a mixed pair’s event for men and women.

There are also minor singles and pairs championships for players who have never won a singles or pairs tournament.

All these tournaments are open meaning both men and women can nominate to play in them.

Finally there are open handicap singles and pairs competitions. Handicaps are worked out by the club selectors, based on an assessment of each bowler’s current level of bowling ability. Newer bowlers would ordinarily have higher handicaps than experienced bowlers. For handicap matches your score starts on the amount of your handicap instead of zero. So if you had a handicap of, say, 7, you would start on a score of 7. In a pairs handicap match the handicaps of both players are added together to get the starting score.

Green fees of $10 per player are charged for all championship games except finals.

 

PENNANT COMPETITIONS

Pennants are the main inter-club competition in the ACT region. Teams from the ACT, Queanbeyan, Yass, Bungendore, Goulburn and Crookwell compete against each other over a couple of months in each year. Competitions generally run from around the end of February until early May.

The Pennant competitions are also open for men and women again meaning they are mixed.

Currently matches commence at 9.30am and are usually played on Sundays but some Saturday/Sunday double headers are included if the weather means games cannot be played on schedule.

There are a range of grades in Pennants to allow for the varying abilities of players. Pennant sides consists of twelve players, which in turn, is made up of three teams of four. Each team of four plays against a team of four from another club. Points are awarded to the winning teams. But the scores of each team are also added together to get an overall score for the whole side (called the big board score) and points are awarded to the side with the highest overall score. So it is possible for a team, or even two to lose and still win the big board score.

Pennants is a great way to make and retain friendships with your fellow CNBC bowlers and with bowlers from other clubs. You will play with and against plenty of good bowlers and almost certainly improve your own bowling skills.

There is a $10 lunch fee for all Pennant matches. Some clubs (not CNBC) also charge a $10 green fee but CNBC will pay all away green fees on behalf of our members. We will charge those clubs when they come to play at CNBC to defray those costs.

CLUB UNIFORMS

To play in the major club championships, including mixed pairs, or Pennants you will need a club uniform. This consists of a club shirt and bottle green trousers or a bottle green dress (men are discouraged from taking the dress option, unless they have very nice legs). Jackets and hoodies are available for winter games. In some cases you can wear other Bowls Australia sanctioned gear (see the CNBC website for details under the tab for CLUB INFO).

Long sleeve shirts cost $80. Short sleeve shirts cost $75. CNBC jackets cost $140. Sleeveless vests are $110. Club hoodies cost $70. To get these items you need to talk to Hilary Merritt or Mark Carter, who will introduce you to Hilary.

New members who have never been a member of any bowls club qualify for a $50 rebate off the cost of a club uniform.

You can get a pair of bottle green trousers or a dress from any online bowls gear provider.

Club caps are also available from the reception desk at the RUC for $25.

STAYING SAFE ON THE GREENS

During the hot summer months it is very important to stay hydrated. So drink plenty of water.

Bowls ACT has specific policies about playing bowls when the weather is very hot or the air quality is poor. These policies are available on the Bowls ACT website. We try to abide by these policies at CNBC. For instance we called bowls off a number of times a couple of years ago during the drought because of smoke haze. A recent Pennants match was called off when the temperature reached 38 degrees.

We also currently have a separate Covid-Safe policy. This policy is amended regularly in line with the current ACT Government guidelines and is displayed prominently at all games.

 

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO KNOW?

You can talk to President Mark Carter or Stephen Vince the BMC secretary, whose contact details are mentioned earlier.

 

MOST IMPORTANT THING!

Enjoy yourself, meet people and make new friends. And always remember not to take things too seriously, it’s always just a game of bowls.

 

 

Mark Carter

President