By Les Smith and Weng Lim – ABCA

The Canoe and Campi events, held annually, are run by the Auckland Bowling Coaches Association.  The two events are for 1-5 Year players.  This year it was fantastic to see 34 men’s teams compete for the Canoe trophy at Bridge Park Bowls and 26 women’s teams compete for the Campi trophy played at Howick Bowls.

The weather forecast was not looking too bright earlier in the week, but the organisers crossing their fingers must have helped.  As it turned out, the weather came to the party.  At Howick, the wind made for very tricky conditions and affected many bowls on Saturday, and the rain held off until late on Sunday when play was abandoned in round 8. 

It was a different story out at Bridge Park on Saturday – it was a great day for playing bowls!

 

Campi goes West!

The overall leader changed after the early rounds, but the eventual winning team held the top spot.  The teams changed greens on the second day to make the play even out.  Some teams, like the winners, had substitutes play a game or two – this enabled all players to play.

Mrs Bev Campi and her late husband donated the beautiful trophy many years ago.  Bev gave an encouraging speech to the players before the prize-giving, then presented the prizes to the placegetters.  The winners received the Campi trophy along with badges, while the runners-up received badges.

The players were in good spirits, everyone enjoying their bowls and camaraderie between all the competing zones. 

Thank you, Howick Bowls for being such a great host club and providing the greens and facilities, and of course, to their members running the kitchen. Thanks also to Christine Steel and Joy Baughan, the umpires for the weekend.

Thanks to the zone conveners and coaches who gave their time to run the coaching sessions leading up to the competition.

Results

• Winners:  West – Rachel Lawler, Jennifer Doran/Bella Barton, Pippa Hassell.
• Runners up:  Central – Valeece Simeon, Gloria Akaruru, Lee Singer.
• Third:  Central – Elizabeth Akaruru, Colleen Short, Jeanette Ambridge/Tupia Akaruru.

 

 West too for Canoe!

All the 1-5s really played with heart, while enjoying the sportsmanship.

The last round saw some hard-fought games among the teams, trying to secure their place in the main event.  In the end, West had three teams qualify, Central had two, South-East had two and South-West had one.  The remaining 26 teams were left to play for the consolation prizes.

The main draw on Sunday had a time limit of two hours and the consolations playing four games of 1 hour, 20 minutes each.  Rain jackets and umbrellas were out but the conditions did not dampen the players’ spirits at all.

Progressing further in the last eight, Central had two teams in the semi-final while West and South-East had one each.  The battle between Central skipped by Viliami Fifita and West skipped by Adam Blucher was tight, with the leading scores see-sawing many times.  However, West prevailed in a very close game, winning 16-15.

The other semi-final was between South-East skipped by Bob Louden and Central skipped by Allen Wood.  It was another close match, with only one shot scored in most ends.  The score was 12-7 to South-East putting them in the final to face the West.

West was the first to bowl in the final, South-East got the first shot.  The latter continued to score, one-shot the next end to make it 2-0.  A very short jack this time during the third end and most bowls were long.  West got the shot about one-metre away, 1-2.  After the 5th end, it was three shots apiece.  West scored three more shots and continued to dominate the next five ends, leading 16-3. South-East had a good 12th end, they got this one with 5 shots. 8-16.  Two more shots went to West and South-East fought back with two shots.

Both West and South-East traded early points both with the scores level 3-3 after five ends.  West then dominated with good consistent bowls to take a comfortable lead.  Time was up, West won the Canoe Trophy comfortably, 18-10.  Well done to Adam Blucher (Skip), Jean-Claude Fuller, Jeff Armadia & Garry Howard. 

The two days of tournaments were great for the 1-5s.  Thank you to all the coaches, umpires, Lorraine and Marion, and the tournament convenor, Gerard Hulst.

Thank you to our host club Bridge Park Bowling Club and your volunteers/kitchen staff for the great hospitality they showed us.  Lastly, thank you to the President of Auckland Bowls, Greame Scott, for presenting the trophies and the prizes.

Results

• Winners:  West – Adam Blucher (S), Jean-Claude Fuller, Jeff Armadia & Garry Howard.
• Runners up:  South-East – Bob Louden (S), David Weir, Robert Sharwell & Tom Williams.
• Plate:  South-East – Mike Dickie (S), Eddie Jones, Graeme Thomson & Tom Nathan.
• Flight:  Central – Viliami Fifita (S), Warwick, David M & Steve F.
• Bowl:  South-West – Peni Panapa (S), Sky Tangaroa, Prakesh Ranchod & Murray Cotter.

See you all next year!