News

A warm welcome to all new and returning ladies to the outdoor season.

We’re all hoping for a full summer of ladies’ outdoor bowls with (hopefully) good weather. With this in mind, Maureen, Margaret and I have been busy planning ways to offer something for everyone and to include some new initiatives to help increase our playing options; 

• The inter-club Affinity and 20/20 Triples leagues will be running from early May through to September. A monthly list of fixtures will be up in the ladies changing rooms so that everyone can check their diaries in advance and put their availability to play on the sheet. The first of these availability sheets will be up from 4^th April. Selection for these representative games will be made well in advance with teams notified directly by email and also via the notice board outside our changing rooms. Ladies playing in these games will wear the Club shirt – either with black or white trousers / shorts etc but we appreciate that not all ladies will have ordered their shirts yet so we shall be flexible on dress code for those games scheduled in the early part of the season.
• Teams for the Top Club and Albert Crabb County competitions will be advised separately.
• The ladies Monday afternoon will run again - as many rinks as we can use - do support these afternoons if you can. Coaching will be available if required and there will also be mixed coaching sessions on Wednesday mornings feeding into the mixed disc games.
• Our Summer Strawberry Tea will take place on Monday 20^th June in conjunction with our regular Monday ladies’ afternoon. All are welcome; come for tea and to support us even if you don’t want a game.
• Maureen has arranged a friendly game on 18th May with Southchurch Park ladies. This will be at ECBC this year and hopefully alternate venues each year. Two rinks of 4 are planned.

• Ladies club competitions. There is a new intermediate singles competition aimed at the less experienced ladies. It will be open to ladies with handicaps of 1-7. Another change to the competitions this year is that the Super Vets competition will be a mixed competition; however, there is an age restriction of 80+ as you will see from the entry form. Entry forms will be in a plastic wallet in the corridor or available from the office and Margaret will have some with her at the Ladies afternoons on a Monday. Closing date for entries is the 22^nd May and the forms with the entry fees can be given to Margaret or put through the door of the captain’s office.

Please enter the competitions they are good experience for all bowlers and fun to play in.

If you have any questions please come and talk to Margaret or phone; Margaret Shillitto

 01702 344240

• ‘Spoons’ - From the end of June there will be 8 weeks of this new initiative running on a Thursday evening from 5.30pm. Teams will be drawn on a disc basis to keep them balanced and format will vary according to number of ladies attending. Over the evening there will be two short games, teams swapping rinks and opposition after the first game. Points are awarded to everyone attending the evening and also for being in a winning team. At the end of the 8 weeks, the lady with the highest points score wins a ‘spoons’ themed prize. We hope this will be a popular event on summers evenings – some bowls plus perhaps a drink and the chance to talk together.

We are keen to hear your opinions and ideas and put them in place if we can.

Maureen Clark, Ladies Captain.

Chris Johnson, Ladies Vice-Captain.

Margaret Shillitto, Competitions Secretary.

Dear Members, 

Find below the notice advising you of the forthcoming Indoor AGM.

Please remember that our club needs volunteers to organise the various activities that run throughout the indoor season, without volunteers those activities i.e. Leagues, Competitions, Friendlies could be at risk.

Please consider volunteering, see the notice board and AGM notices for the various opportunities to help, or speak to a current indoor committee member for advice.

Your club needs YOU.

Chris Flack

Indoor Secretary

----------------------------------------------------------------------

ESSEX COUNTY BOWLS CLUB

Notice is hereby given to ALL INDOOR CLUB members of ECBC that the

INDOOR AGM

will take place at ECBC on

Tuesday 12^th April 2022 at 7.00 p.m.

Any motions for consideration at the Indoor AGM must be sent to the Indoor Secretary, to arrive no later than 10:00 hours on the 2^nd April 2022

No motions will be accepted after that date.

The agenda with any motions, together with the officer nominations, shall then be posted on the board on the 4^th April 2022, being the regulation 8 days before the AGM in accordance with the Current ECBC Constitution/Rules.

Amendments to motions, if any, must be lodged with the Indoor Secretary before the AGM.

Your Club needs your support so please make every effort to be present at the AGM.

Old Clubhouse Refurbishment

A reminder to all members that we have a Special General Meeting on Wednesday 16^th March at 7pm to discuss and vote upon expenditure for repairs and renovations to the Old Clubhouse – all are welcome and free to join the discussion, however only Full Members will receive a vote.

Summer Renewals

All Summer members should have received a renewal notice for the forthcoming season – it was noted that the bank details did not come through correctly, so just get in touch with Ed in the Club Office if you require these.

If anyone else would like to join us for the Summer please just let us know.

Wheelchair Bowls

Terry Davies would like to ask members if they are able to spare some time to assist with the wheelchair group, held on Fridays 10-12noon in the Winter season and on Thursdays 10-12noon in the Summer. Please get in touch if you believe you can help.

Club Sponsor Visit

One of the Club’s generous sponsors All You Need Mortgages will be attending the Club on Monday 28^th March between 11am-4pm just to informally chat with members and give more information about their products ranging from mortgages, later life lending, equity release etc. Please give them your support as their sponsorship of the Club is invaluable.

On Saturday 5^th March, 36 new bowlers took part in the 4^th year of this competition.

The afternoon comprised of bowling 4 ends of 3 bowls in 3 separate events:–

• A variation of the 4-3-2-1 scoring
• Long/Medium/Short jack
• Straight singles game

Points being awarded in each event, accumulated throughout the afternoon.

The 4 players with the highest scores played off in the semi-finals: -

Ray Mitchell vs Sarah De’Cort

Cliff Chapman vs Rhys Eyles

Sarah and Rhys contesting the final, with Sarah running out the eventual winner by 4 shots to 3.

Steve Kerley, Indoor Captain and sponsor of the event attended the whole event and marked several sessions as well as presenting the trophy. 

Many thanks to the ever willing band of helpers/markers for giving up their afternoon to ensure the event ran smoothly and for the 3 ladies who stepped in at the last minute replacing late cry-offs.

What a first season Sarah is having – part of the Coastal cup squad who won at Colchester, BfB Singles winner 2022 and the winner of the Spider!!

PICTURE

Report by John Warman

Following the latest government announcements regarding the relaxation of the COVID rules, the COVID sub-Committee agree that we should remove all our COVID protocols from Monday 28th February onwards.

The following COVID protocols will be removed :-

• It will no longer be mandatory to wear a face mask around the club, members can of course still wear a mask should they want to.
• Bowling with 3's up will no longer be a requirement.
• The one-way system will be removed.
• Signing the COVID track and trace register on arrival will no longer be required.

Please note that we will retain the hand sanitiser equipment until the end of the indoor season.

Members should follow government advice should they test positive for COVID, which is STAY AT HOME. This will end on 1st April – after this date, although not a legal responsibility, we would ask members to exercise a degree of personal responsibility and continue to stay at home should they test positive. We believe members need to take responsibility for their own actions, be pragmatic and remain respectful of others. 

Club Special General Meeting

A recent e-mail regarding the upcoming SGM was undelivered to a large number of members due to a server issue.

Please therefore note that we have an SGM on Wednesday 16^th March at 7pm to discuss and vote upon repairs and refurbishments to the Old Clubhouse.

Please attend if you can (all welcome to attend, only full members are able to vote).

Quiz Night

One of our members has booked the Club for a charity Quiz Night on Friday 18^th March and would like to extend an invitation to all members to put a team in – the sheet is up on the Entertainments notice board.

Outdoor/Indoor Summer Renewals

It is envisaged that the renewal notices for the Summer season will come out around this time next month by e-mail where possible.

For those recently new to the Club, if you haven’t already done so please let Ed know in the Office your plans for the season.

Outdoor Secretary

The Outdoor Committee are in need of a new Secretary – a vital position for the smooth running of the Outdoor season. If anyone is interested or would like more information on the role please just reply to this e-mail or speak to a Committee member.

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances the Indoor Arena will be closed between 8am-10am on Thursday 17^th February.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this.

Coastal Cup

A big congratulation to this year’s team of Sarah De'Cort, Trevor Hood, Nigel Wilks, Chris Sorrell and Rowland King who won the tournament (the first time for us as a Club!)

Please see the News section of the Club website for a full write-up.

Royal Tunbridge Wells

We have a small number of places left for this enjoyable friendly to Royal Tunbridge Wells by coach – Wed 16^th Feb – Cost £15.50 including travel and after match meal.

Please add your name to the list at the Club or reply to this e-mail if you’d like to play (limited numbers left), thanks.

Shirt Orders

A shirt order will be placed towards the end of next week, to ensure they arrive in time for the Outdoor season.

Any member who will be playing for the Club will require a shirt (including Cutler Shield, Group 6 League etc) so please order with Ed in the Office if you have not already done so.

The Mark Wilson Open Pairs

And finally, speaking of the Outdoor season, we have an Open Pairs tournament early in the season on Sat 30^th April & Sun 1^st May. We would encourage all members to enter, regardless of which Club you play for outdoors. We are using the event to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and it should be a great weekend.

Let Ed know if you are interested in entering or for further details.

The team of Sarah De'Cort, Trevor Hood, Nigel Wilks, Chris Sorrell and Rowland King (with John Warman acting as team captain) competed in this year's Coastal Cup on 6th February - held at Colchester IBC. The team had to be 'Novice' Bowlers and each had to sit out for one game. 

They played 5 seven ended games lost the first and won the next four. They went into the last game having to win and Colchester A having to lose their last game. Luck was with us and we won by one point overall.

The coaching staff of Ray Cooper, John Warman and John Fry invested a lot of effort in team selection and coaching over the last few weeks on Tuesday and Sunday mornings so our thanks to them - the efforts paid off!

A large number of members came from the Club to spectate on the day and to cheer the team on, especially for the final game.

This is the first time the Club has won this event and as winners our Club will get to host next years event

Well done everyone!