News

21 Sep 2020 BOWLS ENGLAND – COVID - Updated Guidance for Lawn Bowls

Bowls England have updated their guidance re: COVID 19 including guidance on the holding of meetings. The updated guidance issued on 18th September 2020 is:-

GUIDANCE FOR LAWN BOWLS (Click here)

MEETING ADVICE (Click here)

10 Aug 2020 BOWLS ENGLAND launch LETS ROLL Recruitment Drive

Bowls England have just released a couple of initiatives.

Lets Roll (Click here)

Alternative Bowls Formats (Click here)

04 Aug 2020 BOWLS ENGLAND – COVID-19: LATEST GUIDANCE FOR LAWN BOWLS CLUBS

Bowls England have updated their Guidelines. Guidance to Clubs

15 July 2020 Norfolk Clubs Re-opening Details for the 2020 Season

	Is Club opening?
Club	YES/NO	If YES - date	Comments
Acle St Edmunds	YES	07/06/2020
Aldiss Park	YES	20/05/2020
Ashill
Bradwell	YES	08/06/2020
Caister-on-Sea			Opening being considered July 2020
Castle Acre Coronation	YES	23/05/2020
Cawston	YES	01/06/2020
Cliff Parade (Hunstanton)	NO		Opening being considered mid July 2020
Connaught	YES	01/07/2020	Per Connaught website
County Arts	YES	22/06/2020
Cromer Marrams	YES	25/05/2020
Cromer Suffield Park	YES	15/06/2020
Dereham St. Nicholas	YES
Dickleburgh
Diss and District	YES	01/07/2020
Downham Conservative	YES
Downham Market	YES
Fakenham Town
Feltwell
Freethorpe	YES	01/06/2020
Gissing	YES	01/06/2020
Gorleston
Gorleston Links	YES	22/06/2020	Per Gorleston Links website
Great Plumstead	YES	23/05/2020
GW Staniforth
Harling Recreation	YES	05/06/2020
Hingham Rectory	YES	13/07/2020
Holt
Hunstanton	YES	27/05/2020
King's Lynn	YES	22/06/2020	To open on 22/06/2020
Lakeside Pilgrims	YES
Long Stratton	YES	01/06/2020
Martham	YES	22/05/2020
Mundford Village	TBA	mid June	Still to decided on re-opening date
Norfolk Bowling Club	YES	07/07/2020	Limited to Tues to Fri between 2pm & 4pm
North Walsham Wanderers
Northwold
Norwich Union	YES	22/06/2020	Green share with County Arts
Reepham Nomads
RG Carter Group	YES	29/06/2020
Saxon	YES	01/06/2020
Scole & District
Sheringham Morley	NO		But still being considered
Shipdham	YES
Shotford	YES		Limited opening
Shouldham	YES	01/06/2020
St. Lawrence
Swaffham Town	NO		Will not open until things change
Thorpe Recreation	YES	15/06/2020
Upwell	NO
Watton (Loch Neaton)	YES	28/05/2020
West Winch	YES	15/06/2020
Wicklewood	NO
Wootton Park
Wortwell	YES		Limited to under 70s only
Wymondham Dell	NO
Summary		%age
Number Opened	35	62.50%
Number NOT Opened	6	10.71%
Number to confirm	1	1.79%
Number not yet advised	14	25.00%
TOTAL	56
Details are as at:-	13/07/20

03 June 2020 BOWLS ENGLAND – COVID-19: SUPPLEMENTARY GUIDANCE FOR LAWN BOWLS CLUBS

Bowls England have updated their Guidelines following the easing of the lockdown regulations at the weekend. Guidance to Clubs & FAQ's

15 May 2020 BOWLS ENGLAND – Coronavirus COVID 19 - GUIDANCE FOR CLUBS

The Government (DCMS) has published its full guidance on the return of outdoor sport and recreation, including lawn bowls. Following this Bowls England have issued bowls specific guidance to Clubs which has been approved by DCMS and this is attached. Guidance to Clubs

Should you wish to view the Government guidance in detail, please go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-phased-return-of-sport-and-recreation

If you have any questions, please e-mail: enquiries@bowlsengland.com. They are there to help and will endeavour to respond within three working days.

19 Mar 2020 Norfolk Bowls Association Statement

You will have seen yesterday the Statement issued by Bowls England which curtails their bowling activities for the forthcoming season. If you have not already read the Statement then I urge you to do so. Guidance from Bowls was being awaited before we came to any decisions and in the light of this and & latest Government advice regarding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) I can now confirm the cancellation of ALL County events

Norfolk County Championships

Junior Singles

Junior Pairs

Singles

2 Bowl Singles

Pairs

Triples

Fours

Senior Fours

Norfolk Team Championships

Bales Cup, Lord Fermoy Cup & Jermy Cup

Norfolk County League programme

County Friendly & Presidents Invitation matches

Those up to mid-June have been cancelled with the reminder to be reviewed at a later date

Bowls England National Competitions

Full details are included in the Bowls England Statement and include Middleton Cup, Balcomb Trophy & White Rose Trophy

At present, there has been no confirmation that the Eastern Counties League has been cancelled but I expect this will be the case.

All County Management Committee Meetings have been cancelled until further notice

In light of the Statement issued by Bowls England there are other matters that are under consideration and on which I will advise as soon as I can:-

Refund of Affiliation Fees paid both to Bowls England & Norfolk Bowls Association

Bowls England Membership Register

We will constantly review the situation as it develops over the coming months to determine if any events could take place later in the season.

In coming to the above, the primary concern has been the health & well-being of our members & trust you will all understand this

& PLEASE STAY SAFE.

18 Mar 2020 VERY IMPORTANT – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Cancellation of events

The Bowls England Board met yesterday and has issued the attached statement. BE Statement

You will see that the National Championships have been cancelled so as a consequence so will our own County Championships and I fully expect the Management Committee to confirm cancellation of the County League as well as our Team events (Bales Cup, Lord Fermoy Cup) & this will be advised shortly.

In addition further information regarding the Coronavirus & its consequences will be published shortly.

16 Mar 2020 CLUBS MEETING on 29th March 2020/CORONAVIRUS (COVID19)

Due to the ongoing Coronavirus COVID19 outbreak, the ever changing situation & with a duty of care to our Officers & Members, the Clubs Meeting due to be held on 29^th March 2020 has been CANCELLED.

Clearly, the situation is changing daily & consideration will need to be given to the forthcoming season and the impact Coronavirus will have. Bowls England are working on guidance for Clubs & Counties and when received we will be in a better position to advise further.

04 Mar 2020 Statement on CORONAVIRUS

Bowls England have issued the following statement regarding Coronavirus:-

BOWLS ENGLAND STATEMENT: CORONAVIRUS

Following a number of queries received by Bowls England, and the media attention surrounding Coronavirus, Bowls England wishes to advise that no events under its jurisdiction are affected at present.

Bowls England will continue to monitor the situation and further guidance will be issued at a later date if necessary.

For more information, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

As a County Association, we will be monitoring the situation and will take guidance from Bowls England & Government bodies as our new playing season approaches & further guidance will be issued as the situation develops.

07 Feb 2020 Competition Byelaws & League Rules updated

An update to the Competition Byelaws and County League Rules has been made and these are now on the Rules & Regulation page (if these do not display you may have to refresh/reload the screen)

Primarily the changes relate to dress code in both Competitions & the County League and will now permit the wearing of approved coloured apparel which brings our byelaws & rules into line with Bowls England Regulations. At present, no Club has sought approval for coloured apparel but the rule changes made will cover the situation should any Club do so at a later date provided approval is given.

Other changes made cover the procedure for handling Competition fixtures and results and prize presentations.

The County League rule 14(c) relating to the Hansells Cup has been changed to cover the situation that we now have with only three Zone 2s. The Hansells Cup play-off consists of 4 teams and for the 2020 season, those teams qualifying for the play-offs will be the winners of Zones East 2, South 2 & West 2 along with the best runner up from these Zones with the best runner-up determined by the best the points to matches played average.

Finally, when updating the byelaws & rules, the opportunity has also been taken to carry out a tidy up which are mainly of a grammatical & formatting nature.

To summarise, the main changes made are as follows:-

Competition Byelaws

· Rule 5  - Dress Code updated to cover approved coloured apparel

· Rules 10 & 11 – the process for Competition fixture & result notification has been updated

County League

· Rule 11 - Dress Code updated to cover approved coloured apparel

· Rule 14 (c) – Hansells League Cup updated to cover the situation where there are not four Zones 2 & 3, which is currently the case.

28 Jan 2020 Downham Mkt BC new Location

Please note that Downham Market BC are to relocate for the 2020 season to Downham Market Conservatives BC so their new location will be:-

Eagle House, Bridge Street, Downham Market, Norfolk, PE38 9DH

(Club telephone no. 01366 382257) New Location

22 Jan 2020 Harry Geary appointed Senior Vice- President

At a meeting of the Men’s Management Meeting held on 21st January 2020, Harry Geary of Dereham St. Nicholas BC was appointed Senior Vice- President. Many congratulations to Harry & we all wish him well in this position. Photo

10 Dec 2019 Norfolk Bowls Association County League AGM

Summary of matters at the Norfolk Bowls Association AGM held on 8^th December 2019

Following the AGM held on 8^th December 2019, the key points are summarised below.

Main AGM business

Denis West (Aldiss Park) was elected President for 2020

Harry Geary (Dereham St Nicholas) has been nominated as Senior Vice President and his appointment will be ratified at the next meeting of the Management Committee to be held early in the new-year

The Junior Vice President position remains vacant

John Mason (County Arts) was appointed Assistant Secretary

Other matters

After the discussions at the last Clubs Meeting, the following is confirmed

Dress code of County Championships & County League

The relevant regulations will be changed to bring these into line with Bowls England Regulations covering the wearing of approved coloured clothing

Annual Luncheon & Prize Presentation

This will not be held in 2020 with Presentations to the various winners to follow the finals of the individual/team County Championships and the League playoffs.

County Championship match details notification to players

The notification to the competing players in the individual County Championships will change in 2020 to be via email rather than the sending of next round scorecards.

County Competition quarter finals

Following a review of the entries made the number of Group qualifiers to the quarter finals will be:

Group 1 - 2 qualifiers

Group 2 - 1 qualifier

Group 3 - 2 qualifiers

Group 4 - 3 qualifiers

Further details on each of these other matters will be issued in due course.

On a separate matter, the draws for the County Championships & compilation of fixtures for the County League should be carried out before the end of year with a view to publishing these early in the 2020.

18 Nov 2019 Norfolk Bowls Association County League AGM

The AGM of the NORFOLK BOWLS ASSOCIATION County League will take place on SUNDAY 8th DECEMBER 2019 at the COUNTY ARTS BOWLS CLUB immediately following the Men’s AGM.

AGENDA – click here

League Secretary’s Report – click here

League Structure for 2020 – click here

14 Nov 2019 Peter Cottee appointed Eastern Counties Bowling Association President

I am delighted to advise that Peter Cottee of Diss & District BC, our President in 2013, has been installed as President of the Eastern Counties Bowling Association for 2020.

John Ottaway

Hon. Men’s Secretary

04 Nov 2019 Norfolk Bowls Association AGM

The MEN’S ANNUAL MEETING of the NORFOLK BOWLS ASSOCIATION will take place on SUNDAY 8th DECEMBER 2019 at 9.30am at the COUNTY ARTS BOWLS CLUB.

AGENDA – click here

08 Oct 2019 Report of Clubs Meeting held on 29^th Sept 2019 at Wymondham Dell

Summary Report from Meeting – click here

16 Sept 2019 Norfolk successes in Eastern Counties Bowling Association Championships

Norfolk had double success at the Eastern Counties Bowling Association Championships held at Bishops Stortford BC on Saturday with Max Harrison of Downham Market BC lifting the Singles title & Ryan Hudson, Tom Baker & Vernon Hudson of Wootton Park taking the Triples crown.

In the semi-final, Harrison had a comfortable victory by 21-10 over Cambridgeshire’s Ian Miller and took the title by beating Richard Leeder of Suffolk 21-16.

Wootton Park had a narrow 15-14 victory over Essex’s Simon Kittle, Kevin Watkins & Gary Telling and then went on to beat Brad Herbert, Sam Nickerson & Toby Furzeland 21-12 in the final.

10 Sept 2019 County Competition History & Statistics

County Championships History & Statistics can be found on the Roll of Honours page from the left hand menu bar on the home page or follow the link to "County Championships History & Statistics”

Hopefully this will be of interest.

08 Sept 2019 John Woodcock Trophy

The annual fours tournament for the John Woodcock Trophy has been won by Ryan Garman, Matthew Warnes, Jack Wells & Peter Boldero.

This charity tournament, played at County Arts, in memory of John Woodcock is now in its 36^th year and throughout has raised money for the “Big C” appeal and this year a sum of over £1,000 has been raised.

In the final, Boldero’s rink beat the rink of Aaron Johnson, Matt Flatman, Karl Brooks & Chris Wells 10 shots to 1 having beaten Dan Mills, Clive Derry, Bernie Perrett & Philip Barr 10-7 in the semi-final. In the other semi-final, Well’s rink beat Matt Carter, Tom Cooper, George Tubby & David Smith 9-8.