Special round rolls for wellbeing of women

THE Women’s Health in Lawn Bowls Round promoted in the past week through both Saturday and Tuesday Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region pennant matches “was a good venture all told”, organiser Lauren Morris said.

The round was to highlight and acknowledge the strength, resilience and wellbeing of women, both on and off the green. It also aims to shine a light on health concerns such as cancers and other conditions that touch the lives of countless families.

“It was a joint effort amongst the Ballarat clubs and as an inaugural event we were pleased how our clubs got on board and did various activities to raise funds for the cause,” Ms Morris said.

Victoria preparing to go into battle with the rink of Donna Leeson, Micah Oswin, Jarrod Burt and Marc Oswin.

“At Victoria our bowling club had a dinner on the Friday evening with 94 members and their partners participating with the funds raised going to the breast cancer and McGrath foundations, and also the Look Good, Feel Better program as part of the Wellness Centre in Ballarat.

“We hope the Women’s Health in Lawn Bowls Round becomes an annual fixture on the BHBR calendar and hopefully will be picked up by the other bowls regions throughout the State through Bowls Victoria.”

Webbcona travelled to Victoria Bowling Club in a critical match that depended on the team’s success in the afternoon’s match to continue to fight for a final four position, and came away with a narrow win.

“It was an important win for the club,” president Craig Wells said.

“We managed to move into the four and the final round being played this Saturday will see us play Midlands at home so we need to continue winning to remain in the hunt to play finals in the following week.

Midlands skipper Ben McArthur and City Oval’s Ben Morris awaiting a bowl. Their game saw McArthur conclude his match 21 shots up to Morris 16. Midlands won by 17 shots, allowing the team to consolidate third position on the ladder in their first season in the top division.

“Our Saturday Pennant Division 2 side also had a win last Saturday and in this week’s match will travel to Clunes and we need to win for the side to remain in the division for next season.

“Webconna’s division 5, 6 and 8 sides have had a good season and will need to finish off strongly in the final round of home and away games this Saturday to consolidate their positions to go on and play finals.

“The Women’s Health in Bowls round was well run by the BHBR and Lauren Morris in particular did a great job in just a short period of time to get the project running. It was well received by our club members and I thank them for their support in helping us raise funds for the cause.”

Midlands Golf Bowling Club, in their first season in Ballarat’s top division, will go into the finals and will possibly hold on to third position.

Webbcona’s Gary Johnson’s rink in anticipation of a favourable outcome with Debbie Gorin, Nathan Biggin and Colin Young together with Victoria’s Donna Leeson, Micah Oswin and Marc Oswin. The Johnson rink concluded the game winning 23 shots to Jarrod Burt 23, helping Webbcona win in a tight contest by 4 shots, 80 shots to 76, with each team having two rinks up for the game. The win sees Webbcona move into the four at City Oval’s expense with just one round to play to conclude the round of home and away matches before finals.

“I am very proud of the club and we have exceeded our expectations by following through to play finals,” Midlands club president Barry Wilson said. “We managed to pick up 26 players throughout the season and this has helped us heaps.

“In the Saturday competition we have added another pennant team and all our sides are playing well and the interaction between the players is great.

“Our Division 3 side has performed well throughout the season and will go into the finals in second spot on the ladder and get the double chance.

“Many of our bowlers wore the pink pennant shirts this week as part of the Region’s Women’s Health in Bowls promotion and I hope everyone gets behind the project in the years ahead. It was well done.”