Oxford Club Bowls have written a superb article on the Regional Development Tournament that took place in Blenheim over the weekend.

Bowls Canterbury would like to congratulate both Teams for their efforts in the event.

Also, big thanks must go to Bowls Marlborough for all the hard work that went on behind the scenes to organise and manage an event like this.

“Canterbury Development Tournament in Blenheim.

Both the Men’s and Woman’s development Teams went to Blenheim last weekend. The ladies left by van from Christchurch early Saturday morning to arrive before lunch and the start time of 12:30pm, which they played 2 games Saturday afternoon and 1 Sunday morning. Emily Belton, Canterbury’s Development and Youth Coordinator and the management team had organized the weekend down to every detail and did a very good job in the process and must be thanked for their effort. The disciplines were Singles, Pairs and 4s. The Ladies results wasn’t what they had hoped for, Saturday afternoon yielded only 1 win and that was in the 4s (Briar Simcott, Lyn Martin, Tracy Fickling and skipped by Barb Thompson) and that night went out for a team dinner. Sundays games were about the same with the 4s having their only win again which give them 2 wins from 3 games. I’m sure they were wanting more as players and management for Canterbury.

The Men’s squad ended up going up Friday and most managed to have a roll up Friday evening, only 1 player couldn’t make it to the green because of work commitments. With no travel Saturday morning and the practice on the green the night before, they hit the ground running with 3 wins from the 1st round. the 2nd round, 1 of each. By the end of the 1st days play were 1st equal with Nelson. At the team dinner Saturday night, Matt Small the team captain thanked Cam and Lance (coaches/selectors) for all their hard work, time and commitment they put into the Canterbury Development Men’s Team. This was their 1st year in the job and final team was totally different one than they would have planed for at the start of their tenure, even a change had to be made within a week of the Tournament. Over a couple of night caps, the pinch game Sunday morning was the Pairs game vs Nelson and if we were going to win ,this game was crucial in achieving our goals. The Pairs game didn’t go as planed, Nelson outplayed Canterbury in the middle section of the game and got out to a 13 shot lead with 5 ends to play. A mini fight back happened and at the last end, Canterbury needed 3 shots to draw. Nelson scored off the last end to secure victory. This was a bitter pill to swallow, having played in it and knowing our chances of winning just slipped through our fingers. Not feeling good about myself, we had a team that gelled well together, at this point found out how good they were. Cam, Lance and the team were amazing, Together we celebrate the wins, Together we share disappointment’s without prejudice and judgement and a positive attitude shown by everyone. Nelson won the Event, with Canterbury 2nd, best preforming side for Canterbury was the 4s (Galen, Shane ,Jock and Skipped by Neville) with 2 wins and a draw. Canterbury’s efforts were one to be proud of as all the players have 4 or less years experience.

Finally thanks to all the supporters that made the trip up (approx. 12 people).”