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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – November 27

It was great to see the excellent turnout of Club representatives at the Zone’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Belrose Bowling Club last Tuesday evening.

I am honoured to have been elected President by the Club delegates and will be working closely with the Executive Committee to ensure a successful transition to the new governance structure that will be put in place in the first half of 2024 as part of Bowls NSW’s unification project.

The second election required on the night was for the Zone Secretary position and we welcome back Mark Alexander to this position. Special thanks to Geoff Tye for his excellent work in this role over the last three years.

As a result of the nomination and election process, the Zone Executive Committee for 2023/24 is:

President – Gerard Parlevliet

Vice President – Matt Blackburn

State Counsellor – Andy Little

Secretary – Mark Alexander

The Match Committee for 2023/24 is:

Bob Abdulah

Peter Abdulah

Matt Blackburn

Peter McDermott

Geoff Tye

Dave Walden

Mark Alexander will organise the Selection process for the Zone representative sides and Gary Enfield continues as our co-ordinator for Umpires.

Thank you to all the volunteers who have come forward to support bowls across the Zone through standing for these positions.

In terms of the Bowls Calendar, the Match Committee is currently working through the steps required to arrange the pennant competition starting in February 2024. Thank you to all the Clubs who have nominated teams for this competition. The next key date is to provide the State Match Committee with the proposed competition details by 6 December for their approval.

At the AGM a request was made to ensure a meeting of Club delegates would be held prior to the commencement of the pennant competition. I can advise that this meeting will be held on Tuesday, 30 January 2024. Please put this date in your diary.

As mentioned in some of my previous messages, a key item to be discussed at the AGM was the unification of Zones and Districts. At the meeting delegates were provided with an update on the current progress by Bowls NSW in respect of this important project. The key messages are:

  • the current districts and zones will be disbanded and replaced by a new incorporated association;
  • Bowls NSW will prepare material (including new constitutions, checklists, etc) to assist the existing bodies (including Zone 9) take the necessary actions required to move to the new structure;
  • Bowls NSW will shortly be providing further updates to the Executive Committee on the next steps; and
  • much of the work required will need to take place in the March quarter 2024.

A special thanks to Billie Maas (a member of the Unification Committee established by Bowls NSW) for attending the meeting and helping to answer the questions raised during the meeting.

With the end of the calendar year approaching, on behalf of the Executive Committee, I would like to wish all members a happy and safe festive season and new year.

Gerard Parlevliet