Club seeks to grow with regional move

MEMBERS of Skipton Bowls Club are calling out for new members to hit the greens with following the group’s joining of the Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region.

With 21 players currently in the team, treasurer Tim Clarke said the club is looking for about half a dozen to secure a dedicated weekly roster for the upcoming pennant season.

“When you need 16 people a week and people are unavailable at certain times especially being farmers during harvest, it’s giving that security,” he said.

“We’d been seeking this for a while, and getting out amongst people to help drive this.”

With the BHBR season set to start in early October, the club’s members are planning to an open day later this month at the Skipton Golf Bowling Club where they practice every Thursday afternoon.

Clarke previously played with Ballarat Memorial Sports in Alfredton before spending the past three seasons at Skipton after moving to the town.

As well as reuniting with old friends, he said Skipton’s approval to join the Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region will bring many benefits to the team.

“It’s a big boost not only financially, but it gives us the opportunity to reach new members and it cuts down on our travel time,” he said.

“We used to go two hours to play in competitions in the West Coast Bowls Region. It’s greater exposure too for a little country town.

“We were sort of lost amongst the other little country towns but now being in Ballarat, we’re closer to Beaufort and Linton who we play tournaments with.”