Dear friends
It is a great honour and privilege to be elected as Suffolk County Women’s Bowls Association President.
I am fully aware of the responsibilities of the position and I will do everything to promote and enhance the sportsmanship and friendship for which Suffolk federation and its members are known for
I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can throughout my year as President and I wish you all good health and bowling and good luck.
Kind regards
Donna Mills
SCWBA President 2025
By Sally Smith 25/05/25 0 comments
The Suffolk Donald Steward (DS) and Silver Jubilee Vase (SJV) teams got into action for their first matches of the season on 21st May. Northants were the visitors to Ixworth BC for the DS and Haughley BC for the SJV. Early showers gave way to a warm, bright afternoon, appreciated by the bowlers.
Both matches were closely contested and played in a friendly spirit. Suffolk`s DS team had a runaway rink, with the thimbles going to Helen Sharpe, Pauline Anderson and Tracey Johnson. Northants won just one rink and that was by a single shot. The excellent result overall was 137 shots to 91.
At Haughley, two rinks were dropped by our SJV team, although one of them by just one shot, but the overall result was a win with a large shot difference of 141 to 89. The thimbles were awarded to SS Cole, Lesley Dyer and Sue Rochard, who won their rink 41-14.
Amy Finch, 4 Bowl Singles
Jan Truin, 4 Bowl Senior Singles
Sandi Steed, Ladies Pairs
Pauline Wright competing in the Ladies Pairs
Jane and Kevin in the Mixed pairs first round.
Jane Skillings in action.
Jane Skillings and Kevin Rolfe, National Mixed Pairs Champions
By Sally Smith 20/05/25 0 comments
The combined EBF/EWBF National indoor finals 2025, held again in Lincoln, will be a year remembered for the success our mixed pair, Jane Skillings and Kevin Rolfe. Although close games were played in the other competitions involving ladies, none progressed beyond their first match.
Ladies 4 Bowl Singles
As last year, Suffolk was represented by Amy Finch. Initially the match against the Lincolnshire competitor progressed very evenly, with Amy ahead 11-8 when she unfortunately dropped a three. This gave her opponent the impetus she needed, along with her experience of the green and local support, to pull gradually ahead. At 12-16 down Amy converted three down to one in her favour with a super shot, although this was to prove her final point of the match and she went out 13-21.
Ladies 4 Bowl Senior Singles
Jan Truin made a confident start to her match against J. Ashmore of Norfolk, although struggling initially to find the weight of the green. The early ends took her to a 9-4 lead, but Jan selected to play a long jack and was not able to bowl to it, going down 4. For the rest of the game the players were evenly matched and it was Jan’s misfortune to lose the match 21-20 on a final end measure.
Ladies Pairs
Suffolk was represented this year by the new pairing of Sandi Steed and Pauline Wright, playing against very experienced competitors from Nottinghamshire. The match proved to be a close, skilful, encounter which could have gone either way. The Suffolk ladies went briefly ahead by a couple of shots through a measure on the 7th end, but Nottinghamshire came back at them. By the 17th end, Sandi and Pauline were 7 shots down, but they fought back, winning one shot on each of the last four ends, finishing the match just 3 shots behind at 13-16. They were complimented on their play by the Nottinghamshire ladies and encouraged to continue to develop their strong pairing.
Ladies 2 Bowl Rinks
Your reporter was not present for the round 1 match of the Ladies 2 Bowl Rinks, but understands from our competitors, Sandi Steed, Pauline Wright and Amy Finch, that the match was a struggle throughout. Sadly, changing positions did not improve the progress of the match and out ladies went out to Humberside by 8 shots to 21.
Mixed Rinks
Our young bowler, Chelsea Turner, playing with father Adam and Rob Kerry came up against eventual finalists, Northants in a round 2 match. The match did not go their way and they lost 23 shots to 10. Unfortunately, this was another competition missed by your reporter, so no details or photograph available.
Mixed Pairs
The new pairing of Jane Skillings and Kevin Rolfe proved that experience is not everything as they progressed through the Mixed pairs competition. Jane is a recent bowler, totally inexperienced with competition at this level, but she played strongly in their first-round match against North Essex and the pair were rewarded with a 19-12 win.
In their second-round match Kevin’s skilful play took them to a 5-0 lead before Cleveland got into the game and by the ninth end Suffolk were 10-3 ahead. Cleveland changed round, but to no avail and quickly changed back after Jane and Kevin gained a further two. With the score 15-8 at sixteen ends, Cleveland had progressed as far as they could go, with Suffolk finishing comfortable winners 20-8.
All prepared for the semi-final, the Suffolk pair were disappointed that a health problem, led their semi-final opponents to withdraw. In the final, Jane and Kevin came up against the Derbyshire pairing skipped by very experienced bowler Ru Robinson. It was to be a match of two halves, with Suffolks strong start gradually broken down by Derbyshire. Level at 16 all going into the last end, Derbyshire were holding championship, with Kevin having just a foot to pull into with his last wood. Rising to the challenge, Kevin’s bowl finished on the jack to take the Northumberland Trophy.
SCWBA 4 Bowl Singles Champion, Amy Finch
SCWBA Senior Singles Champion, Jan Truin
SCWBA 2 Bowl Pairs Champions, Sandi Steed and Pauline Wright
SCWBA 2 Wood Triples Champions, Sandi Steed, Pauline Wright and Amy Finch
SCBA Mixed Pairs Champions, Jane Skillings and Kevin Rolfe
By Sally Smith 22/03/25 0 comments
SCWBA President, Donna Mills, with President Elect Lesley Dyer, Junior President Daphne Fane, and Sue Rochard introduce the Semi-finals session alongside SCBA President Andrew Burch and President Elect David Cattermole.
The combined SCBA and SCWBA indoor semis and finals were played at Ipswich and District Indoor Bowlimg Club, with all semi-finals completed on Saturday and the majority of finals played on Sunday. Unavailable players delayed the final of the Mixed Triples, which was played later. Once again, Sue Rochard and Kim Dyer worked together to ensure smooth organisation. The raffle raised 254 pounds, divided equally between the two organisations. Full results can be seen on the competitions page of this website.
Click here for a photo gallery from the finals on Sunday 2nd March.
Saturday saw some very good bowling from all the competitors hoping to reach the finals on Sunday. The ladies’ pairs competition got off to a quick start for T Johnson and J Frohawk getting ahead of S Smith and G Saunders by 10 shots to 1, however as very often can be the case it was a game of two halves whereby Sally and Gill started to gain shots and the battle began. The result being T Johnson and J Frohawk winning by a small margin of just 3 shots taking them into the final on Sunday. The second semi-final between A Finch and L Dyer and P Wright and S Steed was also very thrilling. This game was a battle throughout with a very exciting finale at 21 ends it was an 18 all draw so who was going to see it through. The cliff hanger was that P Wright and S Steed managed to draw in their last bowl to win 19 -18, sending them through to the final on Sunday. When it came to the final of the ladies’ pairs P Wright and S Steed were on fire confirming their place at the National Finals in April.
In the 4 bowl singles match P Black made headway after trailing 12 shots to 2 against T Johnson gaining more of the second half of the game, but T Johnson forged ahead and confirmed her place in the final. There she was up against A Finch who went on to win her place at the National Finals in April. J Truin made it through in the semi-final of the senior singles after a valiant effort by S Rochard to creep up from 10-1 down, with Jan eventually winning 21-14. Jan then had to face P Wright in the final in which she did not hold back and was successful in winning 22-14.
The triples final was between P Wright, A Finch, S Steed and G Lamprey, M Thorpe, S Rochard. It was an early game on Sunday morning and after a very frosty morning it was a little cool in the bowls club. Gill, Margaret and Sue got off to a slow start trailing 11 shots to 1 on 6 ends. A change round was needed and for a short while made a difference to the results achieved, however Pauline, Amy and Sandi were in charge and went on to win and secure their place at Lincoln.
The remaining final, the Mixed Triples, was played on 18th March. After an even start to the match (3 all at 4 ends), A Turner, C Turner and R Kerry started to pull away from S Steed, K Rolfe and M Rumball, aided by an unfortunate conversion by Martin from one up to two shots down in the sixth end. As play progressed Rob Kerry steered his triple towards a win, ably supported by Adam and Chelsea, with the final score 23-10 in their favour.
Our Suffolk Ladies Indoor Champions played extremely well and they are all wished the very best of luck in the finals at Lincoln.
SCBA Mixed Triples Champions, Chelsea Turner, Adam Turner and Rob Kerry
Donna in action.
By Sally Smith 21/02/25 0 comments
The County Squad from 2024 and their supporters gathered at Bramford Golf Club for a fork buffet, followed by games and a very well supported raffle. After an excellent lunch the Bramford staff had us throwing balls and bean bags into buckets to gain points and later assembling a range of objects they provided into our interpretations of famous paintings. The “paintings†representing the Scream, Sunflowers and a Lowry Townscape tied for first place. The event concluded with muffins made by Lesley and the raffle draw, which raised over £200.
The three `paintings` judged the best. Can you identify them?
By WebsiteCoordinator 19/02/25 0 comments
The program for the 2025 Indoor Semi-Finals may be seen Here.
By WebsiteCoordinator 25/10/24 0 comments
It hardly seemed possible that a year had passed since the last SCWBA luncheon, but we found ourselves again at Bramford Golf Centre celebrating another enjoyable year of bowls. SCWBA President, Pauline Black, was delighted to welcome EWBF President, Irene Ballam accompanied by husband Bill, and SCBA President, Gary Pleasance to share our luncheon. Also with Pauline on the top table were her husband Geoff Pratt and SCWBA President Elect, Donna Mills.
After enjoying the meal together, we heard first from Gary Pleasance who toasted the SCWBA, congratulating the ladies on achieving two wins at the Skegness Finals. The Silver Jubilee Vase Team’s excellent win for the second year running was followed by Donna Mills’ win in the Champion of Champions competition after playing really well all week. Our outgoing President, Pauline Black began by expressing delight that the EWBF President, Mrs Irene Ballam and her husband were with us. She built on Gary Pleasance’s reminiscences of Skegness with her own memories of the week, on and off the green. However, perhaps Pauline’s most pleasing experiences of the year centred on less experienced bowlers; following the Under 25s progress and enjoying a lovely day with the four ladies who took part in the Novice Competition.
Pauline concluded by thanking all the players who represented the County, both indoors and outdoors. The National Silver Jubilee Vase trophy was here for all to admire, but we must not forget the Donald Steward and the Harry Carver teams. Special moments for Pauline were Amy Finch’s memorable Indoor Ladies Singles final against Ann Lenny and Margaret Thorpe’s close match in the Senior Singles. She also highlighted Gillian Lamprey’s 2 bowl singles semi-final at Skegness, lost by only one shot and Donna Mill’s fine win in the Champion of Champions. Pauline was also proud of the SCBA/SCWBA Suffolk Presidential team, the six members combining so successfully at Skegness. Finally, Chloe Saunders was thanked for organising our excellent luncheon.
The toast to our guests was proposed by Donna Mills, SCWBA President Elect. Donna thanked everyone for their support during the year.
EWBF President, Irene Ballam, an amusing speaker, brought smiles to the proceedings with a variety of jokes. However, on a serious note, Irene pointed out that although sporting excellence is good in itself, we all need to work to help clubs and individuals to survive and flourish and to maintain interest in bowls in our area. Irene thanked the SCWBA for our warm-hearted welcome. Irene was presented with a large bunch of flowers with thanks by Pauline Black.
Presentations were made to the runners-up and winners of the individual outdoor and indoor competitions, followed by gifts for members of the Silver Jubilee Vase team. The thimbles from the SJV win were presented to Shirley Lilley, Donna Mills and Sue Rochard. In recognition of the success at Skegness, the crystal vase, previously donated by former Treasurer, Sue Boorman, and her sister Pam Ward, was again presented to Ann Craigie. Ann was also given a gift of a rose bush, with thanks from Junior President, Lesley Dyer.
Area C received the Wooden Spoon for the Ellen Matthews competition this year and the winning Area D team were presented with their swingers.
The successful luncheon concluded with a well-supported raffle, which raised £317 and Lesley Dyer was thanked for raising about £200 for the SCWBA this year by selling her question sheet.
By Sally Smith 25/10/24 0 comments
The indoor draws for 24/25 are now available under Competitions.
By Sally Smith 18/09/24 0 comments
L to R: Afton Curtis, Stephanie Thorburn, President Pauline, Rachel Chesman, Kate Kartacayen
By Pauline Black 10/09/24 0 comments
There were four entries for this 2-bowl singles competition which is open to any lady who has not bowled before the first Saturday in September 2023 in outdoor or any form of indoor bowls. Happily, the weather was beautiful for this Novice Singles event.
Our competitors were Rachel Chesman - Framlingham BC, Kate Kartacayen - Framlingham BC, Stephanie Thorburn - Wrentham BC and Afton Curtis - Rookery BC. Following light refreshments and a chat from Umpire Mike Nunn, the ladies commenced a three-session round robin of 12 ends, marked by President Pauline Black, President Elect Donna Mills, SCBA President Elect Andrew Burch, Silver Jubilee Vase Captain Ann Craigie and Past President Linda Nunn. Photographer for the day was President Pauline’s husband Geoff who in recent events has been stepping forward quite happily to assist. Click here for a photo gallery.
Following their matches which were definitely exciting to watch and mark, the ladies and spectators enjoyed their packed lunches before watching the 21 shot final between Afton Curtis and Rachel Chesman. Earlier in the day Rachel admitted that she wasn’t a ‘competitive’ person, she was just happy to play a game and was happy for her opponent if they beat her. It was very pleasing to notice that as the final progressed we began to see ‘competitive signs’ from her which we all laughed about afterwards. As the matches earlier the final was played in wonderful spirits and a lovely sense of camaraderie. The presentation of the Novice Singles Cup to Rachel and personal trophies from President Pauline to Rachel and runner-up Afton ended a long but lovely satisfying day for everyone involved. The four Novices thoroughly enjoyed their day from both a learning aspect and a competitive one. We fully expect to see all four on the greens in the future.
President Pauline has now recovered from her ‘apparently graceful, slow motion’ fall backwards off the green (fortunately on to a grass verge). Following a bruised calf, arm AND pride Pauline bounced back up and carried on marking. Thanks go to all the markers, umpire and Westerfield BC for hosting the event for us.
By WebsiteCoordinator 24/08/24 0 comments
Donna Mills, SCWBA President Elect, has had a very busy week at the Skegness EBF National Finals. As well as her official duties, she represented Suffolk in the 4 bowl singles competition, the 2 bowl rinks (with Helen Sharp and Joanne Clements) and the Champion of Champions. Donna was defeated in the second round of the 4 bowl, but with her Stone Lodge club team-mates, progressed to play a semi-final against Derbyshire in the 2 bowl rinks, which they lost by just one shot, 20-19. Today, Donna crowned a highly successful week by winning the Champion of Champions final against Northumberland opponent, N. Scott, by a dominant score of 21 to 11 shots.
It has been an excellent finals week for Suffolk. As well as retaining the Silver Jubilee Vase title at the start of the week, and Donna’s success in the Champion of Champions, Suffolk players also reached semi-finals in three competitions. Andrea Dickinson lost a close match in the Secretaries Singles by 21-18 against a Derbyshire opponent and Gillian Lamprey came agonisingly close to the final in the 2 bowl Singles competition, losing ultimately by just one shot to the Nottinghamshire competitor. Our young players, Kylie Smith and Mel Carter had an excellent competition in the Ladies Pairs, but lost 12-18 to Humberside in their semi-final. Well done to all Suffolk players!
Keep an eye on this site for more news and pictures from the Skegness National Finals 2024.