Latest Newsletter
East Bergholt Bowls Club Newsletter
SPRING 24
A big hello to all the members. Welcome back to our Newsletter. The pandemic has a lot to answer for and after everybody being completely off the radar for so long it has taken a while for people to get back in the swing of things, but Melvyn has kindly agreed to take on the job of reporting news about the club to you.
As before there will be reports from club captains, committee members and during the summer months reports from team managers keeping you updated on how their teams are performing. I think I'm right in saying the Newsletter will be generated about every three months so should keep you well informed.
I found my first year as Chair quite an eye opener but with the backing of the committee I now know how much work goes into running a club and this year I feel i've finally got the hang of it. Hopefully you are all getting ready for the green opening in April, have your thermals ready, it's always cold in April but after a few weeks we'll be in lightweight trousers and short sleeves looking for a sun hat. You may have seen my reports in the parish magazine and as you can tell I try to keep them light-hearted and I hope to do the same with the Newsletter, I'll leave all the serious reporting to the others. Keep your eyes open for emails regarding social events, coffee mornings etc. David will keep you updated I feel sure.
Don't forget our new website,
https://www.eastbergholtbowlsclub.co.uk
Have a look it's really informative, well-done David. Technology hasn't passed us by after all. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the green soon or even in the Constable Hall for Carpet roll up on a Monday.
Take care, Terri Catchpole
Everything is coming together now ready for the start of the season. All our fixtures have been confirmed despite trying to deal with people who have stepped down from office. We have quite a number entering the county competitions which shows that we are engaging with the sport. Huge thanks to everyone at the club for their support especially when I started as Secretary over a year ago. Dealing with three bowls formats, Carpet, EBF and BE was totally new to me but hopefully I learned a lot last year and things will run smoother this year. We are always seeking out new sponsors to help offset the rising costs of everything, if you have any contacts with companies or very rich individuals who you feel would like to be a sponsor then please say.
We are currently looking at getting a new design of shirt. The committee have seen some designs and will in the near future be consulting with the membership with proposed versions. The committee do appreciate that some members have very recently purchased new shirts and that to incur another expense would be unfair. Vic has opened a new sub account called the shirt fund and money from sponsors will be put into this account, we are looking at raising £2,000 and this would buy a shirt for every playing member, when we get the shirts, we would ask for any form of donation, but this would not be obligatory. Many thanks to those who have ordered name badges to wear on their shirts. They are magnetic and thus can be used on any garment even waterproofs should we ever play in the wet. I was asked if the badges would stick to metal parts of certain support under garments and the answer is no, what worries me is that this question was asked by a male member of the club. The badge order will go as soon as we get a minimum of 60 and currently the number is up to 46.
Our new website seems to have engendered a lot of interest and up to the 6th of March we have had 440 hits, which is great considering it was only made live a week ago. Keep looking at it as I will endeavour to keep it up to date and current. Finally, I would like to request that if your personal circumstances change i.e. phone numbers, addresses, emergency contact details then please tell me. Let's have a great season.
A little request is that if you take any photos of any bowls event, please send a couple to me so that we can build up a suitable archive.
David Ford
This is always a busy time for the committee as we look forward to the coming season. For the captains this involves us sorting out team squads, fixtures, and tournaments. In line with the views expressed at the AGM we are looking at trying to improve our league performances this year. This means that some of the team managers will be trying to keep the same players playing together and be more structured about the rotation of triples through the season. To help this process please complete your availability as accurately as possible as soon as the squad information goes up in the clubhouse when the green opens on 13th April. We are also looking to generally raise the profile of our club and our excellent green by running the Aussie Pairs Open Tournament in May and hosting the final of the Quintin's Cup in September.
Participation in in-house tournaments was good last year, and with people keeping to the timetable for completing games it all went fairly smoothly. Thank you for that and please do it again this year.
Finally, please keep in mind that for all matches/tournaments there is always work which needs to be done before and afterwards. At times it feels as if this is left to the same people - let's share it around a bit more this year.
Thank you and enjoy your bowling.
Alan & Geoff
EAGLES- WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS
Looking forward to some sunny afternoons on the greens for our EBF 3 wood triples. We will be restricted to the post covid 2 rinks again this year. The first match is June 12th and the last match 14th August.
I will, due to my MND, mostly be a non-playing captain so would ask you to
complete the availability sheet once posted in the club house. Come on squad we can have some good matches this summer.
Val Ayton
Roll-ups
We have played since last September on a Monday evening at the Constable Hall from 7.30 - 10.00pm and attendance has been between 16-18 members regularly who both enjoy the sport and each other's company. The carpet bowls section takes its place under the umbrella of the Bowls Club and fulfils a void that is left during the winter months when the Lawn Bowls closes for the year. We are always happy to welcome new members no matter their age, background or skill level and everyone curious to find out whether it would be something they are interested in, is encouraged to come along.
League
At the time of writing, our season has just concluded, having played our 14 league matches in the Southern Section Division 2 of the Suffolk Carpet Bowls Winter League.
Our record over the 14 matches has been:
Won 7
Drawn 2
Lost 5
We have amassed 71 points and although there are still 3 outstanding matches involving other teams, the league placing as far as we are concerned will remain unchanged in the respect that we will have finished in 5th position out of 8 participating teams.
We have now completed an internal club match for drawn pairs, and this has pitched fellow members against each other in the friendliest fashion of course, and congratulations to Val and Brian as they fought off the opposition and won the much sort after annual trophy.
We think it is fair to say that the season has had some notable highs with convincing wins over top teams like Bentley (who will win the division and be promoted) and Martlesham (who will come second) at home, but also some more sobering moments too against teams which we would have felt we could have done better. All in all, it has left us where we are, but we are sure everyone who participated has given it their all and hopefully will have enjoyed both the rivalry and camaraderie in equal measure.
We now break for the summer, as most of the team will make the switch outdoors probably to return sometime in late September 2024, once the dying embers of the cut and thrust of lawn bowls has finished for another year.
Both Dennis and Vic thank those all who have participated in whatever capacity, (whether just rolling -up or playing competitively) having supported us and given of your time to yet another carpet year. Hopefully you will all return fighting fit to participate in 2024/25.
Dennis & Vic