After the State Council meeting on Thursday last, we were informed that the 2021 Calendar Proposed for that meeting is likely to be given the go ahead as the correct calendar. This was then issued to all clubs. With that in mind and looking at roughly where we could begin, AND REMEMBER THESE DATES ARE ONLY DRAFTS, to me its seems that March to June for Pennants and February to July for Championships. Zone Match meets in early October and if this Calendar is given the GREEN LIGHT, we will have a complete Calendar for presentation at the next Zone Executive Meeting, where it should be released to every Zone player.  

Bowls Central Coast has had to postpone this weekends Pairs Championships.   Our Match Committee will issue more information shortly.   

This action was caused by the Dept of Sport advising that the Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has requested that community sport organisations  "cease activities that result in the mixing of participants and staff from different regions, for example by ceasing zone, regional or state championships or competitions" (extract of a letter from the Chief Health Officer, NSW Health - Dr Kerry Chant PSM to community sport).

Bowls NSW was advised of these requirements on Monday night and they are expected by Dr Chant to be in place by today 19/8/2020 fully 24 hours notice.   I congratulate the staff of Bowls NSW for being able to make this unreasonable deadline.  The other requirements are:· 

Cease any activities that result in overnight stays (e.g. multi-day training camps) due to increased risk of COVID transmission in residential-type settings with shared facilities

Cease face-to-face social activities relating to community sports (e.g. award ceremonies, end-of-season social gatherings, post-training group dinners)

Avoid carpools or bus travel with people from different household groups where possible; and

For local activities, limit spectators to one parent only, where the child requires parental supervision during the sporting activity.

For more details see joint Bowls NSW and Women's Bowls NSW joint Circular (click here)

Two documents have recently been published on the BCC web site.  They are examples of important work done by your Executive Committee that does not get much recognition.  

The Covid 19 Safety Plan click here was approved at the Executive Meeting of 10th August 2020  and is an example of work for which the average bowler would be unaware that must be done by law    There are lots of other examples of this type of work (e.g. maintenance of registers of members, directors, life members, signatories, interests and property, annual submission of audited financials to the Dept of Fair Trading, working with children checks).  Thankfully the Covid 19 Safety Plan was not so onerous as BCC does not own bowling facilities the management of which is 90% of a normal Covid 19 Safety Plan.  

On the other hand, Strategic Planning is a lot of work and most difficult to get the correct balance of investment of time to benefits achieved.   Version 2 of the BCC Strategic Plan (2019 to 2023) was also approved at the Executive Committee meeting of 10th August 2020 and is now on the BCC web site click here    It has been the result of a lot of work, especially by our President,Tony Hegyi.   Why do we invest all this time?  The done thing with Strategic Planning is to answer this type of question with a quote:

 “Without strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless.” ― Morris Chang (the founder of Taiwan's massive semiconductor industry)

Your Executive does not maintain a Strategic Plan so we can say that we have one.  We do it to ensure that the work we are doing in executing our roles is coordinated and comprehensively covers what needs to be done for the present and the future needs of lawn bowls on the Central Coast.   

The plan includes an evaluation of our environment and our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as identifying key performance areas and sets review points for each area.   The reviews are not conducted by the person who does the majority of work in that area.   

Darren Morrison representing his new Club, Bateau Bay, had an outstanding win in the final of the BCC Open Singles played on 8th and 9th of August 2020 at Ettalong Memorial.  

This was Darren's 5th appearance in the last 6 BCC Open Singles Finals (from 2015) and his 3rd Title.   A remarkable record.   After defeating two Halekulani Bowlers (Shane Gibbin 31-15 and Josh Zephyr 31-18) in the quarter and semi finals, Darren played another Halekulani representative in Mark Wheatley in the final.  It was a replay of the 2018 BCC Open Singles Final which Darren had won 31-18.

Mark played some outstanding bowls in the final, but he dropped a 4 on the 12th end giving Darren a 6 shot lead.   Mark whittled the 6 shot deficit back to 22 to 25 before Darren grabbed 6 shots in the last 4 ends to win the title 31-22.  Congratulations Darren.

Winner Bateau Bay's Darren Morrison

Finalists - Bateau Bay's Darren Morrison and Halekulani's Mark Wheatley.