Junior 7-a-Side Wrap
2023 Bowls NSW Junior Inter-Zone 7-A-Side Championship 18-20 August – Report by Paul McAlister
With much appreciated support from Bink Pavers the Bowls ACT Under 18 squad attended the Bowls NSW Junior Inter-Zone 7-a-side championship at Club Dubbo over the period 18-20 August. This was the first exposure to representative bowls for the majority of the squad and all players benefitted from the experience.
The squad consisted of the following players:
| Harvey McAlister | Queanbeyan BC | Singles |
| William Lopez | Yowani BC | Pairs |
| Tom Penyu | Yass BC | Pairs |
| Brayden Noonan | Yowani BC | Fours |
| Jordan Sturgiss | Goulburn Railway BC | Fours |
| Abbey Boardman | QBN RSLM BC | Fours |
| Telara Edwards | QBN RSLM BC | Fours |
| Rielly Barratt | QBN RSLM BC | Reserve |
| Toby Penyu | Yass BC | Reserve |
The ACT team was in a Section 3 against Zone 10 – Sydney North West and Zone 3 Gold – North Western NSW and Zone 4 Grey – Mid Western NSW (both Zone 3 and Zone 4 had two teams and those in our section were the more experienced from those zones with many NSW junior rep players in their squads).
Day 1 results are as follows:
| ACT | Game 1 Zone 10 | Game 2 Zone 3 Gold | Game 3 Zone 4 Grey |
| Singles | 21-9 | 21-11 | 19-21 |
| Pairs | 15-14 | 13-18 | 18-22 |
| Fours | 9-27 | 9-23 | 18-11 |
Day 2 results are as follows:
| ACT | Game 1 | Game 2 |
| Singles | 21-7 (Zone 15) | 21-8 (Zone 2) |
| Pairs | 9-23 (Zone 8) | 8-22 (Zone 9) |
| Fours | 16-10 (Zone 15) | 8-15 (Zone 3 Blue) |
The event Conditions of Play allowed for substitutes to be used in the Pairs and Fours which allowed us to rotate our reserves through the sides and ensured that all bowlers were able to get on the green and participate across the two days.
Highlights:
- A high standard of play by Harvey McAlister in the Singles across the two days. 4 wins from 5 games and just losing by 2 shots to the eventual bronze medal winner, in what was the match of the day on Saturday, was very commendable.
- Our pairs playing on the livestream rink in their first match and getting the win over Zone 10 was a fantastic result (note: over 7700 views of this match on Facebook).
- The ACT 4s side was very inexperienced and all bowlers showed great resilience, determination, skill and effort to get their 2 wins. The improvement across the 2 days was noticeable. Telara Edwards as Skip was a guiding influence on the less experienced bowlers.
- Finally, the exposure to higher quality junior bowls and new friendships made by all of the bowlers was a huge positive to come out of this opportunity.
Conclusion:
- This event is crucial to the ongoing development of our ACT junior bowlers.
- Collaboration with nearby Zones (eg Zones 7 and 8) would be beneficial for further junior training/playing opportunities.
- Thank you to Bink Pavers for their support – much appreciated by all.
- Thank you to Harvey McAlister as this was his last junior event prior to turning 18 in September.
