City Oval bowlers celebrate a century

CITY Oval bowlers have been celebrating this November, with club marking its one hundredth anniversary.

The club’s first greens were opened on 4 November, 1922, and stories about this event, the trials and challenges that faced the men who formed the sporting group, and many more moments, have been published in detail within a new centenary book, Forging a Legacy.

Executive officer Jeff Clack is a self-confessed “stats nerd,” passionate history buff, and member of seven years, who spent 3000 hours in newspaper and Eureka Centre archives researching the Club’s past for the book.

“I had to track down all the old records and minute books, and we located lots of old stuff over three years of hard work,” he said.

“Once I got it all together, I felt humble.”

Chair and member of four years, Bob Jenkins, said City Oval’s inaugural game in 1922 was against Victoria Bowling Club.

“At that first game, we had just 15 people playing for City Oval,” he said.

Mr Jenkins said the current club of about 107 players has a true team culture, with members that are not only supportive, but deeply passionate about the game of bowls.

“They’re also very passionate about each other and helping one another. They genuinely care,” he said.

“As a volunteer organisation, we depend heavily on the input of as many members as we can, but we’ve always got large numbers of members willing to support in a range of activities.

“There’s an underlying culture in the way things are done here. You don’t have to ask twice, things are just one, and often they’re done without people needing to be asked.”

City Oval has nine pennant teams, with five on Saturday and four on Tuesday. Currently, they have three teams in first place, two in second place, three in fourth place, and one outside the four.

“The City Oval Ladies Bowling Club was formed in 1930, but it was not until the 2008/2009 season that the two clubs merged,” Mr Clack said.

“We were ahead of the times as it was a requirement, pursuant to Bowls Australia regulations, that men and women played in separate competitions.”

City Oval members held a dinner this month to officially mark the anniversary as a group.

“Bowler Carla Krizanic, multiple world, Commonwealth Games, and Oceania Games gold medallist was our guest speaker and was one of the highlights of the night,” Mr Clack said.

“A truly brilliant speaker and a lovely person to boot. Wes Cusworth was our MC who also did a magnificent job.

“Selected Members were interviewed by Wes and gave insights into their time at the club.”

Alongside hosting functions in their clubrooms, Mr Jenkins said City Oval’s volunteers strive to partner with other grassroots groups and would like to expand their community footprint into the future.

“We have a duty to create and maintain community connections, and carry on that legacy,” he said.

The club’s Centenary Fours competition was originally scheduled for this weekend but has been postponed to early-March 2023.