Blue bottoms, Chris’ contribution and Di’s departure were three of the major topics at last night’s AGM evening.
A motion to adopt navy blue bottoms as part of our formal club kit was carried unanimously. This was mooted during the season and is in line with Bowls England’s mission to present a more modern image for the sport. It’s being adopted by more and more clubs and signals the end of the tradition of weekend whites and mid-week greys. So from next season it’s club shirt (new or old) and navy (or dark) blue bottoms in all competitions and club matches. The choice of which colour shoes (flat ones) and socks to wear is a personal one. A more relaxed approach for Club Night and ad-hoc roll-ups will persist if preferred.
Chris Shire was presented with the Club Trophy for the last year. His contribution to helping around the green and club on match and competition days was recognised together with his arrangement of ad-hoc roll-ups during the week. He joins a select group of well-deserved winners including Nikki Morris, Ann Templeman, Tony Henning, John Nutt and Karen Pilkington in recent years. Well done Chris.
Sadly, Diane Saunders has decided to call time on her team captaincy. She has done a sterling job down the years, cajoling folk to play and having to make some difficult decisions at times. We may have finished towards the bottom of the South Middlesex League table (again!) but she can certainly leave on a high .. wrestling the Bluewood Shield from Hampton back in August! We’ll still see Di around the green next season and she’ll continue her contribution to the committee and club. Stepping into Di’s shoes will be Dennis Morris, unanimously approved as next year’s Captain.
Amongst other items mentioned was the adoption of a safeguarding officer being mandatory for all clubs; our club finances should be able to absorb the yearly SSA fees which will be announced in due course; the extension of the Friday Morning League to more than 10 weeks, so running until September.
Being able to spell the NE American state and recognise the lowest bingo call helped Number 42 win the recent quiz night winter social. Congratulations to Cassie, Jen, Keith, Chris, Andrew & Anthea. Mind you, the result was the closest possible with the top 5 teams separated by 4 points. This was followed by a raffle which saw a spooky draw of 4 consecutive numbers! Many thanks to our compere Gary who will be back by popular demand with another quiz in the new year.
The winter socials kicked off this week with an evening of skittles .. top scorers Alex and Nathan helped their teams to the top two places. Next month’s winter social will undoubtedly go with a bang .. hot on the heels of Bonfire Night is Quiz Night on 7th November, courtesy of Gary!
The men retained the honours on Saturday 16th in the annual Men v Women competition. It was a close affair but not even Alexa could come up with the answers as the men won 3-2 on rinks and 74-68 on overall shots. This completes a hat-trick of wins for the men but I’m sure the women will make it even tougher next season. The day was nicely rounded off with a bbq courtesy of Nikki & Dennis and some fine bonhomie to match the occasion.
We shared the honours at this week’s friendly at Teddington. All four rinks were in the balance throughout the afternoon which made for a tense finish for players and spectators alike! In the end we couldn’t be separated, sharing both rinks 2-2 and shots 59-59! The fixtures with Teddington are proving to be a great match-up as the reverse fixture in May ended in a very narrow loss. We look forward to playing them again next season.
We were blessed yet again with fine weather for the finals of our club competitions. The lead-up to the weekend saw some rain and the crows did there best to murder the green, but all came good in the end. We could have done with turning down the dial on Sunday, with both players and spectators suffering in the heat, but we’ll take it over cold and damp any day!
