YOUTH BOWLS AT BURNSIDE

Christchurch's Burnside Bowling Club will be the centre of attention for keen followers of lawn bowls from Friday 6 October to Sunday 8 October. Thirty two select players, the cream of New Zealand's youth bowlers, will be in action at the Burnside Under 26 Singles tournament.

This event reinforces the concept that bowls is a game for all ages. This group ranges in age from 17 to 25. Seven of Canterbury's best youth bowlers will compete against players from all over New Zealand and one from Australia. At stake is the $5,000 prize money on offer but more importantly to these youngsters is the opportunity to display their talents and skills in front of Bowls NZ's National Lead coach and Selector, former World Champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Sharon Sims.

Bowls is a sport that offers young athletes many opportunities to play for New Zealand. Thirteen of this field have already represented their country at Development team level, mainly against Australia. Seven have been selected to play in the Trans-Tasman test series in early November at the Broadbeach Bowling Club on the Gold Coast. Importantly this club will be the home for the 2018 Commonwealth Games lawn bowls events next April. Canterbury's Tayla Bruce has been selected in the Blackjacks' women's team for the Trans-Tasman test series while Cait Bassett (Canterbury), Ashleigh Jeffcoat (Waikato), Nicole Toomey (Wellington), Rory Soden (North Harbour), Bradley Down (Wellington) and Seamus Curtin (Wellington) will play in the Development team's test series.

The feature of the Burnside event is that males and females play on equal terms with no favours given or asked for. Three previous winners will attempt to repeat their past success - Sean Ingham (Broadbeach, Australia) 2013; Tayla Bruce (Canterbury) 2015; and Sheldon Bagrie-Howley (Southland) 2016. In addition to the players mentioned above "veterans" such as Joshua Thompson, Keanu Darby, Liam Eathorne, Mat Bassett, Taylor Duncan and Richard Hocking will be keen to make their presence felt. The field is so strong that it is difficult to pick a winner but fans will be in for a treat on Sunday morning, 8 October, when the semi-finals will determine who plays in the final which will follow immediately after.

Convenor of the 2017 tournament, Kerrie Bruce, is delighted with the quality of the field. "Every year it just gets better and better but the standard of play is always matched by the sportsmanship shown and the way this group of players rekindles old friendships and makes new ones. We have no trouble finding Club volunteers to assist during the event as they enjoy it as much as the competitors because of these attitudes."

A feature of the 2017 event is that on Friday, 6 October, on conclusion of the day's play the new CEO of Bowls NZ, Mark Cameron, will present some of the 2016 - 2017 Bowls NZ National Awards to winners. The presentations will include four players in the Burnside Under 26 Singles - Richard Hocking (Burnside) Development Male Player of the Year, Ashleigh Jeffcoat (Frankton Junction) Development Female Player of the Year, Seamus Curtain (Stokes Valley) Under 18 Male Player of the Year and Tayla Bruce (Burnside) NZ Female Player of the Year. Full details including players, draw and results can be found at www.burnsidebowlingclub.com