QLD BOYS – 3rd QLD GIRLS – 4th OVERALL – 3rd
Wowan Wonders!
CQ district secretary Denis Bartlem with the Evers brothers from Wowan, Eddie, 10, (left) and Isaac, 7. Main photo: QLD’s U18 team at nationals, Julia Allen-Best, Shervawn Wilson, Jessica Srisamruaybai, Jake Rynne, Mitch Mears, Rebecca Rixon, Jessie Cottell, Jacob Nelson, Dale McWhinney-Shillington and Jayden Christie. Bottom from left: QLD’s gold medal triple, Mitch Mears, Dale McWhinney-Shillington, Jacob Nelson; Opening ceremony; Picked for the national squad, QLD’s Jake Rynne, Jess Srisamruaybai and Jessie Cottell.
National Honour
At the conclusion of the national titles, a 12-person (six boys, six girls) Australian U18 development side was chosen, including three Queenslanders, North Dalby’s Jake Rynne, Tweed Heads Jessica Srisamruaybai and Broadbeach’s Jessie Cottell (pictured below). They will attend a national training camp in early 2017 with Australian coach Steve Glasson, from which two boys and two girls will be chosen to play an international Trans Tasman test series against New Zealand later in the year.
Wowan juniors Eddie and Isaac Evers have already captured the attention of their Central Queensland District with their love of the game and good manners. “The district has supplied two sets of coloured coaching bowls for the boys’ use at the club” CQ district secretary Denis Bartlem said, after meeting the boys at the Wowan President’s Day on August 28. Wowan is a very small club located about 80km southwest of Rockhampton. The Evers boys have always liked going to bowls with dad Cameron to play with the other kids. “This year, Eddie stuck close to me in from the first week of the Wowan Community Bowls Challenge, and on the final end of the game, when it was clear we had a sizeable lead, I let him have my two bowls,” Cameron Evers said. “He asked for a full game the following week and I found a team to give him a try. “He gave a good account of himself and was thrilled to be asked to play every week.
“By the end of the challenge, he was hooked!” Eddie got a Wowan Bowls Club membership for his 10th birthday and used his birthday money to buy a second-hand set of bowls. The Evers children are home-schooled so Eddie has the flexibility to play bowls on a Wednesday morning. Sometimes siblings Sasha, aged 9, and Isaac, aged 7, also play to make up numbers. “The boys have breathed a new lease of life into the club,” Cameron said. “The “oldies” love it and they’ve taken them under their wing to teach them the etiquette of the game. “Eddie was quite shy and he is now coming out of his shell, to the point where he has no fear of going to a different club to play, as he has done in Maryborough. “Isaac is also quite passionate about bowls and now he’s wanting a membership too.”
VALE AGNES ORR Mackay District has paid tribute to club and district life member and former Queensland rep Agnes Orr of North Mackay, who died in June, aged 76. Agnes played for the Maroons in 1973 and 1978 and went to Perth and most other Australian cities with her mate Nita Nielsen, chasing the big tournaments. “Aggie was a colourful character, highly accomplished as a bowler and very generous in her service to club, district and nation,” North Mackay’s Lois Deguara said. Aggie joined North Mackay in 1967 when she was just 28. She served as the club’s games controller, the district match director for 29 years and a national umpire for 35 years, earning a rare BQ Distinguished Services Award. Aggie won 23 club championships singles and seven district champion of club champion singles titles, five club pairs and two district pairs,18 club triples and seven district triples, and 11 club fours.
november 2016
queensland bowler
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