St Heliers Bowling Club

Thank you Kohimarama Bowling Club for a great day of friendly rivalry at your Eastern Junior Classic yesterday. Reaching top of the leaderboard was a tight contest and our congratulations go winners Kohimarama and runners-up Glendowie.

Whilst not in the money this year, our upcoming St Heliers juniors really enjoyed the day, the variety offered by the event and the opportunity to test themselves in some VERY challenging conditions. We'll be back next year for sure 😅😅.

Well, despite the weather on Saturday the new season is officially open at St Heliers Bowling Club!

With umbrellas to the fore, the first jack and first bowl were delivered in style by Paula and Graeme followed by a speedy retreat upstairs for a delicious shared lunch and a short presentation from our sponsor for the day Michael Powell from Davis Funerals.

Not to be deterred, a few hardy souls had some fun in the rain but failed to generate any general enthusiasm for others to join them. Instead, the scheduled season opener, the Harry Heine memorial event, will now be played on Saturday 19 September @ 1pm. All those available to play on this new date will need to re-enter.

Congratulations everyone – what a wonderful end to the junior winter coaching season!
Runners-up in the Campi Cup
Plate winners in the Canoe Trophy
AND 1st, 3rd and 4th in the ABCA Cup!! 🥈🏆🥇🥉🏅👏👏🤩🥳🤩🥳

Thank you coaches (Catherine, Barclay, Amy, Esther, Helen, Lynley) and the support team helpers (Angela, Sue C, Bronwyn, Louise, Terry L, Bev C, Trevor K) for your commitment and tireless work throughout the 10-week season.

We are so proud of you all.

Tomorrow, the final event in the Auckland junior bowling calendar – the ABCA Cup – sees a record 44 teams heading to Howick and Pakuranga for the mixed 4s competition.

Nine eastern zone teams are entered with SHBC members playing in 5 of them – a mix of experience and fresh enthusiasm. Jane S, Jamal, Andrew B , Don A, Gavin P, Paul & Donna D and Chris H are at Howick. Sam Brack, John Mulka, Warren Stephens and Ngaire Russell are at Pakuranga.

With 4 rounds in a single day there will be plenty of action so well worth crossing the river to support our teams.

A great day of competition on the greens yesterday with 2 Eastern Zone teams qualifying for the championship rounds today. Flying the flag in the Canoe Trophy is the Glendowie team of Bryn, Simon, Crawford skipped by Sam Brack of Mt Wellington and in the Campi Cup, Zara Davidson, Donna Davison and Katy Merrett. Go well today guys and gals. 🤞🤞

Junior winter coaching has finished and now its Canoe and Campi competition time!

The five Auckland coaching zones will be joined by players from Counties Manukau and North Harbour, with a full field of 32 men’s fours and 29 women’s triples teams in action.

Our Eastern Zone has 6 teams playing in each field. The men's 4's teams play at Bridge Park and the women's triples at Epsom.

A cap on the number of years of combined playing experience each team can have gives all teams a fighting chance of claiming the trophy and makes for an exciting weekend. It's well worth making the effort to head on down to support our players.

GO WELL EASTERN ZONE!!! 😅😅🤩🤩🥳🥳🤗🤗💪💪👏👏

Check out the full preview here https://www.bowlsauckland.co.nz/brack-in-the-canoe-from-coaching-to-competition/.

What a beautiful day it was on Sunday for the final qualifying rounds of the Winterclub competition. Quite a contrast from conditions over the previous weekend when heavy rain led to an early departure from the greens.

First up for SHBC Saints was a tight battle against Remuera which ran for the full 2.15 hrs. All played so well and the Saints were delighted to come away with the win. The second match against Henderson was certainly tougher with the greater experience and skills winning on the day. Whilst not qualifying for the finals playoffs, the team, made up of mainly junior players, finished a creditable middle of their section and we will for sure see them build on this as the season progresses.

SHBC Sinners finished 3rd in their section and head to the third division knockout round this coming weekend. They play at Papatoetoe at 9.30 against none other than Henderson Ozich – a chance for revenge!!😂😂

As host club for 2 of the three playing days, SHBC saw plenty of action. We are very, very appreciative of the club members who made this possible with wonderful catering and helping with the event logistics. Thank you guys so much.

Calling SHBC juniors . . . . two more weekends of winter coaching for our junior bowlers and then not only the Campi/Canoe and ABCA competitions but a brand-new flagship event for 1-5 players in November. 🥳🥳

The inaugural Flett Open is open to Year 1-5 players from Bowls New Zealand-affiliated clubs and there is a $5,000 prize pool! 🪙🪙🪙🪙🪙. The format is 'Any Combination Fours' limited to 64 teams from across the country.

So SHBC juniors make up your teams and get your entries in asap. For more information:

Great to see lots of our junior club members working on their game at Bowls Auckland junior winter coaching. This is a great build up for the inter-zone competitions (Campi, Canoe and ABCA) on 15th and 22nd August.

WINTERCLUB UPDATE
The Sinners, with experience on their side and home green advantage finished the day with 2 wins under their belt.

The Saints combined well to win their 1st round against home team Blockhouse Bay. The 2nd match however was a slightly different story 🥺 as the strong, experienced Onehunga Districts team set a playing standard to aspire to. We hung in there though and learned much that will make us stronger going forwards.

Next Sunday the Saints play at Henderson and at SHBC the following week (thank you Gavin 😀). The Sinners head around the coast to Maraetai. Games start at 9.30.