BOWLS NORTH JUNIOR STATEWIDE CHALLENGE REPORT

The final round of the Bowls Tasmania Junior Statewide Challenge was held at Longford Bowls Club on Sunday 25 February 2024 and our Juniors did not disappoint in some quality games.

The morning saw the Juniors head out for pairs and triples which resulted in both the triples teams getting up for the win. Lachlan Strochnetter, Fletcher Felmingham and Nakia Daines started off a bit slow finding themselves 1 – 4 down but it did not take long for them to pick up a few ends and find themselves up. The end of the game could have gone either way though with them being down 11 – 13 but some big shots played and they managed a 4 to get the win 15 – 13.

The second triples game skipped by Henry Hollingsworth along with Blake Jones and Imogen Watson never looked like losing. After the second end they were up all game due to some great bowls (and some lucky results) from all the team with a final score of 18 -7 they was happy with the result.

Our pairs teams of Chloe Collins and Ollie Wetzel, Trey Daines and Ollie Morrison did not have quite the same luck with their opponents just playing too well. Chloe and Ollie kept the score close throughout the game and only went down by 3 shots with the final score being 13 – 16. Trey and Ollie played some great bowls and held many shots but though they fought hard and won 10 of the ends they went down by just 4 shots with the score of 16 -20.

The afternoon had the Juniors head out and play singles and fours and this saw tree wins and a draw to finish the day off. Our singles games were played by Lachlan and Henry with wins for them both. Henry had a great start to see himself up 13 -4 but Jonty (Northwest) fought back and it took a few ends for Henry to get back into the game, but with some luck and draw bowls, Henry picked up a four and continued to climb. Henry ended up getting the finish he needed with the final two ends going his way getting to 21 first. It was a particularly good finish for Henry who played his last game for the BN Juniors.

The second singles game was played by Lachlan against Miley from the South and a good strong game saw him in front almost from the start. Lachlan played well keeping a level head and drawing some great bowls to see him get to 21 first.

The next games were our fours and the closest of these ended in a draw for Chloe and team against the South side skipped by Riley Davie. The North had a handy 8 -3 lead halfway through the game but a tough couple of ends saw them only up by 2 going into the last end, and this was when the South made sure they weren’t going to lose and managed two bowls closer getting the final result of 10 all.

The final game of the dat was Ollie Morrison and team getting a great win against the Northwest side skipped by Lachlan Thurley. Ollie’ team started off well and it didn’t stop there, they kept the lead throughout the game picking up a couple of three’s and fours to see the final score go their way 17-12.

The scores overall were very close going into the last round and with the Northwest just 3 more points than the North saw them taking home the shield for a third year in a row.

The end of the series was also a tough for the team when i’s time to say goodbye to a couple of our players Henry and Trey. They have both been part of the team for a number of years and been valued players, it is always sad to say goodbye but we wish them well with their future in bowls.

The last round is also where Junior Development Team presents an award for the player of the northern Championships and this time it went to Ollie Wetzel. Ollie came into the championships only playing a handful of games, but stepped up and gave his all. Testing some of the more experienced player’s and enjoying his time, now selected and representing Bowls North at the last couple of Statewide Challenges.

Thank you to Bowls Tasmania, Bowls North, Bowls South and Bowls Northwest for such a great series.

Thank you to the Longford Bowls & Community Club for being the home of the Juniors and hosting each event and for their great greens, catering and bar staff.

Thank you to all the parents, families and everyone that came along and supported our Juniors. Most of all thank you to each of the Juniors who came out each game, gave their all and represented their regions with maturity and good sportsmanship throughout each game