By WebsiteCoordinator 11/12/21 0 comments
The draws for the 2022 (Ladies Only) outdoor competitions are now available under `Competitions`. Mixed events will be added when they are published by the SCBA.
By Linda Nunn 22/11/21 0 comments
Members of the SCWBA Executive attended the EBF & EWBF National AGM at Grantham on Sat Nov 20th where Paula Gooch from Halesworth Bowls Club became EWBF National President for 2022. Paula served as SCWBA County President in 2009. We all wish her an enjoyable and successful year as she carries out her Presidential duties.
By Sally Smith 01/11/21 0 comments
SCWBA members met at the Bramford Golf Centre on Saturday 23rd October for the annual luncheon and presentation of outdoor and indoor trophies and awards. After missing last year`s event due to the pandemic, it was especially pleasant to be able to gather together again. The Suffolk ladies were delighted to be joined by EWBF President, Mrs Gill Bush and her husband. President Barbara Rushbrook, accompanied on the top table by her sister, proposed the toast to the Queen. SCBA President Neil Parfitt proposed the toast to the SCWBA and Jenny Ronchetti, SCBWA President Elect proposed the toast to the guests.
President Neil brought the Victor Ludorum trophy from the Skegness finals to show to the SCWBA. He acknowledged the vital role of a lady player (Linda Nunn, Senior Mixed Pairs Champion with husband, Mike) in winning this trophy; without their win Suffolk would not have been successful. President Barbara spoke to us about her history in the game of bowls. She showed us a tiny trophy, greatly treasured as her first award, and told us the history of the small bear that we have come to know so well. Barbara was awarded the trophy as a member of the winning Silver Jubilee Vase team, having been asked to play for the first time in the team as reserve at short notice for the final. The bear was with her for the final, accompanied her to all following competitions and supports her to this day. President Elect Jenny passed on her memories of the recent Indoor Finals at Newark, postponed for such a long time, and looked forward to her Presidential year. National President Gill also referred to her time at Newark. Primarily an outdoor player, she rarely plays indoors, but agreed to join the North Essex Harry Carver team. She was then approached to stand in to play the Ladies Pairs with Eileen Parker, in which they managed a close match against the eventual champions Derbyshire.
The trophies and awards to runners-up were then presented with a lot of light-hearted banter in the process. The successful luncheon closed with a raffle of many generously-donated prizes, which raised 287 pounds for the SCWBA.
Margaret Thorpe, last end, 4 Bowl Senior Singles
Shirley Plummer and Stella Utteridge, Ladies Pairs
Margaret Thorpe and Stella Utteridge playing with Shirley Plummer in the 2 Bowl Rinks
Mixed Rinks, Round 1. Shirley Plummer & Bob Sillett
Mixed Rinks, Round 2. Shirley Plummer & Bob Sillett
Mixed Rinks, anxious moments at 11 all in the semi-final
The Mixed Rinks Winners receive their trophy
Sue Rochard in the 4 Bowl Singles
By Sally Smith and Linda Nunn 16/10/21 0 comments
At last, the finals scheduled for April 2020 were able to take place and the opportunity to compete again indoors was much appreciated by the Suffolk ladies and their supporters. Proceedings began for Suffolk when the Executive team members played in the Harry Carver competition and finished joint 7th. Following this, SCWBA ladies competed in six championships, of which two were mixed SCBA competitions. They were keenly supported by President Barbara and other members of the Executive throughout the week.
In the 4 Bowl Singles Sue Rochard came up against an experienced Northants opponent in a long match extending to 25 ends. Sue was comfortably ahead for much of the game, but her opponent took control of the later ends finishing 21-15 ahead.
The 4 Bowl Senior Singles representative for Suffolk was Margaret Thorpe, who had a late bye in round 1 and went on to play a Northants competitor in the second round. The match had the Suffolk supporters on the edge of their seats as the lead regularly swapped between these evenly-matched players. Skilful ends were played by both. Unfortunately for Margaret a close decision at 18-19 resulted in the two shots required to see her opponent go through by 18 shots to 21.
Shirley Plummer and Stella Utteridge had to wait until Thursday for the 2 Bowl Pairs competition to begin and it was to prove a disappointment after the wait as they were unable to find the lines on the edge rink. An early lead against their opponents from Humberside soon evaporated, with the game level at 5 all after 7 ends. Their opponents then pulled steadily away and the final result was a convincing 19-8 win for Humberside.
The 2 Bowl Rinks competition brought Margaret Thorpe, Shirley Plummer and Stella Utteridge up against a strong triple from Durham. The Suffolk players were unable to settle into a rhythm and found their opponents too much of a challenge, losing 5-27 to the eventual losing finalists.
In her third competition, Shirley Plummer partnered Andrew Pulford in the Mixed Pairs, playing again on the difficult rink 1. On a day when they were heavily involved in the Mixed Rinks, it was a challenge for the Suffolk pairing to find their form against the Huntingdonshire team and they went out of the competition 8-21. It is regretted that no photo is available of this match.
Suffolk finally found success in the Mixed Rinks. Our triple of Bob Sillett, Shirley Plummer and Andrew Pulford started their Newark National Indoor Finals campaign on Tuesday at 12:30pm. End rinks never favoured at this venue, brought an opening 17-14 victory over a strong Derbyshire trio on rink 1. The prize for victory was a second-round match later that day against our neighbours Norfolk on rink 8. This game was far less tense after a good opening few ends for Suffolk and ended in an 18-12 victory. The following day a 9:30am semi-final, again on rink 8, was played against a strong Durham triple. Bob and Shirley had played a big part in earlier games but Andrew Pulford, the young skip, played some brilliant shots to secure a 19-17 win and a place for Suffolk in the final later that day. The final against Humberside on rink 5 saw Suffolk gain an early advantage and by bowling very well throughout they maintained their lead to gain a glorious victory by 19 shots to 11 and become National Indoor Mixed Rink Champions.
Champions Bob Sillett, Shirley Plummer and Andrew Pulford with President Barbara Rushbrook and President Elect Jenny Ronchetti
By Veronica Southey 12/10/21 1 comments
With the return to indoor bowling, Suffolk ladies should consider entering the 4 Bowl Singles, Senior 4 Bowls Singles, 2 Bowl Pairs and 2 Bowl Rinks in the EWBF Indoor Competitions for 2022. The original closing date has been extended to Saturday 6th November, the date of the AGM. Please click Here and Here for entry forms, which are to be returned to Veronica Southey (Information: 07394658898).
By WebsiteCoordinator 14/10/21 0 comments
Clubs in difficulties due to Covid should follow the link in the `Links` section to discover whether local grant funding maybe available to them from Community Action Suffolk. The aim of the Suffolk Community Restart Fund is to enable organisations , like Bowls clubs, to restart previous sporting activities safely and/or to support them to restore former ways of working or to switch to new ways of Covid-secure working. Funding will cover such things as equipment, adaptations or additional staffing to enable an existing/previous activity to resume safely or to launch/develop a new activity/service. This includes funding to ensure such things as coaching qualifications, safeguarding and first aid training are up to date and in place. The grant may also cover funding to support the production of promotional materials, both in hard and electronic formats in order to recruit new members or encourage former members back to clubs. For further information please contact Carol Lukins on 07803 243771.
By Sally Smith 11/09/21 0 comments
The nine competitors in the 2021 Novice singles were given a warm welcome by Saxmundham Bowls Club and the weather was warm and sunny too. Four clubs were represented, with entries from: Fiona Cadman from Rookery, Gwen Supple, Linda Jackson and Linda Bond from Wrentham, Jane Sherlock, Rosemarie Hayne, Sue Stannard and Linda Smith from Thorndon and Sue Solomon from Yoxford.
Initially three sessions were played, with six bowlers involved in each session, thus each bowler played two matches, which were each of 10 ends. Three competitors, Fiona Cadman, Linda Jackson and Linda Bond qualified for the semi-finals after winning both their preliminary games, while the fourth semi-finalist, Sue Solomon progressed on shot difference. The semi-finals, which were also played over 10 ends, saw Fiona Cadman (Rookery) and Linda Bond (Wrentham) progress to the final.
The final, a full singles match, resulted in a win for Fiona Cadman by 21 shots to 15. Congratulations are due to both ladies for a very competitive game, which was much appreciated by the large audience. At the end of the competition Fiona was presented with the Novices Cup by President Barbara, who thanked Linda Nunn and all concerned for a very successful day.
Please click Here for a photo gallery of the Novices Competition.
President Barbara with competitors
Novices Cup presented to Fiona Cadman
By Sally Smith 09/09/21 0 comments
Although SCWBA ladies achieved two Championship wins, the 2021 finals proved disappointing overall, with second round appearances won in only four of the thirteen events in which Suffolk lady bowlers competed. Two further competitors received byes to the second round. It was a matter of regret to the Suffolk bowlers that the greens at Skegness were in such poor condition. Of course, it is the same for all competitors, but the condition of the weed-strewn rinks, coupled with the poor weather, was challenging and detracted from the experience of playing in the National Finals.
Singles Competitions: Chloe Coleman (Waldringfield) competed in the second round of the Two Wood Singles after a first round bye, but was overcome 21-14 by the Humberside competitor. Gillian Lamprey (Lowestoft Railway) was defeated 21-11 by the strong Cleveland bowler in the second round of the Four Wood Singles, having won 21-15 against the North Cambridgeshire. bowler in the first round. The Senior Singles competition went much better for Gillian, who triumphed 21-16 against Durham in the final. Her first-round match, won 21-18 against the Northumberland representative, proved to be the closest, with wins 21-7 and 21-9 achieved in the second round and semi-final respectively. In the Secretaries Singles Margie Robinson (Yoxford) overcame the Northants player by 21 shots to 18 in a hard fought first round match, but was unable to progress beyond the second round, losing 21-15 to Humberside. Christine Woollard (Hadleigh), with a bye to the second round in the Champion of Champions, had to wait until Friday for her first match. Unfortunately, the eventual Champion from Nottinghamshire was strong opposition, and Christine went out 11-21. Beth Topping (Thurlton) in the Under 25 played a competitive match against the eventual losing finalist from Lincolnshire, but went out 16-21 in the first round.
Pairs Competitions: The Pairs competition proved a disappointment for Marlene McGee and Diane Painter (Lowestoft Railway), who were defeated 7-22 by a strong Norfolk pairing in the first round. The Senior Pairs provided a much closer first round match, with Diane Miller and Christine Woollard (Hadleigh) losing to Northumberland by four shots (15-19). Georgie Marwood and Craig Parfitt (Thurlton) had an even closer match in the Mixed Pairs first round, losing by just one shot (17-18) to the eventual Champions, Derbyshire. Georgie had also had an earlier disappointment while playing for Thurlton against Jarrow Borough in the final of the Durham Centenary, won by Jarrow on the first Saturday of the National Finals. In the Senior Mixed Pairs, Linda and Michael Nunn (Waldringfield) played strongly through the rounds, with a win 21-11 against Northumberland followed by a 24-9 win over Humberside. The final against North Essex was closely contested throughout the match, with the lead changing regularly. Going into the 20th end the Suffolk pair were one shot ahead, but played a dramatic end in which Linda`s second bowl came in to gain a fourth shot which secured their Championship win by 18 shots to 13.
Rinks: The Two Bowl Rinks was affected by Covid, with Jenny Ronchetti unable to compete. Her place, playing with Pat Jennings and Ann Lilley, was taken by Chris Chambers, but the Ixworth triple were unable to settle into the match and went out 7-29 to Cleveland, the eventual losing finalists. The Three Bowl Rinks also proved to be a difficult match in which Shirley Plummer, Jill Lambert and Chloe Webb (Rookery) were unable to play consistently, losing 11-19 to Norfolk, who went on to play in the final. The Mixed Rinks was also a disappointment to Shirley Plummer, competing with Rookery players Paul Bugg and David Brown. In Skegness they were unable to recreate their strong performances from the SCBA finals and were defeated 16-21 by Huntingdonshire.
Photographs of the Championships may be seen Here
By Sally Smith 02/09/21 0 comments
Congratulations to SCWBA`s two new National Champions!
Gill Lamprey, Lowestoft Railway, played strongly throughout the Championships and secured victory 21-16 in the final of the Senior Singles. Gill also reached the second round of the 4 Bowl Singles.
Partnering husband Michael, Linda Nunn of Waldringfield followed a confident route towards the final of the Senior Mixed Pairs. The Championship was secured in style 17-13, by finishing with a four in the twentieth end to conclude a tightly-fought match.
The full results for SCWBA players at Skegness can be seen by selecting Competitions/National Finals.
