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Wilton Bowling News March 2026
Introduction
The importance of keeping Club members informed about Board matters, was discussed at our last meeting on 16/3/26. Minutes of the Board Meetings will be sent to all full playing members and published on the members only section of our upgraded website when it is ready, with more frequent Newsletters covering the salient points, sent out in future.
Changes to the Board
After serving 8 years as President of the Club, John Earles has recently stepped down from his role. The Board extends its sincere gratitude to John for his outstanding dedication and many years of service, not only as president but also in his various roles on the Board. His commitment and leadership have made a lasting impact on the Club.
Ian Bull and Bill Armour have been seconded back on to the Board, as interim Vice President and Finance Manager respectively. Elections will take place at the AGM for the roles of President, Vice President, Financial Manager and Administration Manager as per the new constitution.
We are looking to recruit more people to the Board before the AGM, as part of succession planning and revitalisation of the Club’s leadership. Our longstanding Board members have given sterling service to the Club, but we need to lighten their workload, at the same time enabling transfer of expertise to the next management group.
Wellington Irish Society
A subcommittee of the Board – Paul Samuels, Howard Ivory and John Earles have negotiated an arrangement with the Wellington Irish Society (WIS) which will enable them to make use of our Club rooms. The WIS sold a building in the central city and since then have been looking for a base for their activities.
They will join as social members until a proposed group membership category is added to the constitution.
Monthly meetings will be held between WBC subcommittee members and the WIS committee for ongoing negotiation of the relationship between the two organisations. The arrangement will be formally reviewed after 1 year.
Important to note that the WBC Constitution states that privileges of all social members (the group WIS members will belong to) are determined solely by the WBC Board.
75th Anniversary of Wilton Bowling Club
February 2026 is the 75th Anniversary of the opening of WBC. A previous plan to hold an Anniversary Tournament at Waitangi weekend was cancelled. We are now working on the best time to celebrate the occasion. The AGM has been suggested as a possible date.
On the topic of Club Anniversaries, it has been interesting to read club member Ian Maclean’s copy of the publication
“Terawhiti Bowling Club 50th Anniversary 1949 – 1999” by Michael Foster.
Here is an excerpt:
“Bowls is a game that brings people together in co-operation one day and in opposition the next. One day you can do nothing wrong. The next day you can do nothing right.
Every rink on each green can provide you with a new challenge every time you play. The wind may be fickle or it may be light. It can turn bowls in their tracks and differently from bowl to bowl. You put a bit more effort into your second bowl (you think) and it finishes shorter than the first. Sometimes you can put two or even three bowls close to the kitty, and then come nowhere near it for the rest of the game!”
This summarises the joys and frustrations of lawn bowls perfectly.
Due to declining membership Terawhiti Bowling Club closed in 2014 and many members transferred to WBC. The previous greens are now an astroturf soccer field which is much used by local sports players, and Mud Cycles occupies the old clubhouse.
Terawhiti 50 Year Anniversary booklet Terawhiti Wilf Glover Football Turf
WBC has survived 75 years but we all need to work hard to keep it thriving into the future.
Clubhouse Roof Replacement
The project to replace the clubhouse roof has started and is expected to take about a month. Scaffolding will be in place until it is completed, but the building remains open for use. Members are advised to keep away from areas cordoned off with cones, for safety reasons.
Bowling Events
Many events have been successfully completed this season with some of our junior bowlers excelling. Results have been posted on the club’s Facebook page and a summary will be published in the next newsletter.
NEWS FLASH: from the Bowls Wellington 3 five Competition held on Monday nights – Wilton Black team (Craig Orth, Alan Ross, Colin Holden, and Ian Turk) have made it to the Central Region play-offs, on Monday 23rd March at Newtown.
Well done team! Especially in the time pressured 3 five format.
Upcoming Events
Wilton Classic: 27-29th March. Full field of 32 teams with many visiting players from Invercargill to Australia and generous prizes. Spectators are welcome.
Lychgate Friday Pairs: 17th April is the final event for the season. Now open for entries, and all levels of bowlers who are full playing club members are welcome to participate.
Development Pairs: Date in April to be notified. All Wilton and Karori Club members in their first 7 years of bowling are encouraged to compete.
Introduction
Lawn bowls is in many ways a special sport. Men and women can compete on equal terms. Your status on the bowling green simply reflects your experience and ability at bowls – other aspects of life are not relevant.
This egalitarian ethic makes it a great escape from other responsibilities, and enables people from many different walks in life to enjoy playing together. Win or lose good sportsmanship, good etiquette and convivial social interaction are integral to the game.
Centre Winter Bowls
Wilton entered 2 teams in the Centre Winter Bowls played at Naenae from June to August.
The competition was made up of 10 rounds of a round robin followed by a semifinal and final in each of 8 divisions, depending on where each team finished after the 10 rounds.
The Wilton Bush Tui team (Terry, Brenda, June and Shaun with reserves Clint and Hugh) lost the division 8 semifinal match to the Khandallah Jack Touchers.
Congratulations to Wilton Bush Kereru team (Bill, Tim, Allan, and Keith with reserves Trish and Lindsay) who defeated the Stokes Valley Tui 20-13 in their semifinal and went on to defeat Wainuiomata Iron Wolves 14-7 in the Division 5 Final.
Miramar the overall winners received the Thelma Chapman Turner trophy.
Change to Twilight Bowls 3Five Competition
Bowls Wellington has changed the playing conditions for the 2025/2026 Junior (year 1-5) 3Five Competition, allowing social and casual players to participate, even if an individual may have more than 5 years’ experience.
A social or casual player can only play for one club and cannot play in the Open Grade competition. Any Junior team with social or casual players must include a full club member to ensure etiquette and rules are not compromised. Wearing club colours will no longer be compulsory and will depend on club policy.
Bowls 3Five is a short sharp format (about 60mins) played on Monday evenings at 6pm. It is for those with busy lives, to enjoy summer evening bowls.
Enabling social and casual players to participate may lead to some becoming addicted, then feeling compelled to join up as full playing members!
“Stronger Communities Through Sport”
This is the title of a report about the National Sports Club Survey conducted over 7 years from 2018 to 2024. It was a joint project between the NZ Amateur Sports Association (NZASA) and AUTs Sports Performance Research Institute (SPRINZ). The aim is to strengthen all varieties of grassroots sport, to nurture an inclusive sporting culture in our local communities.
Interesting insights from the survey are:
Average club membership is approximately 200. Large clubs are growing while small clubs (less than 100 members) are becoming rarer or closing.
59% of club members are male, and 41% female. Clubs need to be pro-active and intentional in supporting women and girls. Enablers of participation are inclusive environments, building friendships, visible female role models, and social events tailored to women. Equitable access to facilities and training is important as well.
Many club leaders on Boards and Committees have held their roles for extended periods which provides continuity and institutional knowledge. Healthy turnover however, helps organisational innovation and agility, enhancing the club’s ability to adapt to change and engage with a broader cross-section of the community.
Clubs innovated from necessity during and after the pandemic. Examples are: working with schools to provide coaching and holiday programmes, introducing video analysis and online coaching, sharing facilities to manage costs, and offering flexible membership including “pay to play”.
Volunteers involved in club management have declined with reliance on a small group of individuals doing the work of many, placing long term sustainability at risk. 16% of clubs have a paid manager.
51% of clubs have a lease, contract, or other arrangement with their Council or Local Authority. Building more consistent and productive engagement with the Local Authority, particularly in urban centres, is critical to ensuring clubs can thrive in an increasingly complex operational environment.
This report provides food for thought, and ideas for us to consider at Wilton Bowling Club.
Upcoming Events (Karori Players are welcome to join in)
19/9/25 4.30pm Pre-season Coaching – Every Thursday until end of October – Including video analysis.
27/9/25 Opening of Summer Bowling Season 2pm– Club Colours to be worn.
5/10/25 1pm Ready to Roll 2025 Open Day - All welcome - Please bring family and friends.
Team Photo, L to R: Allan, Tim, Keith(skip), and Bill.
Wilton Bowling News
Introduction
The winter solstice has passed and the days are lengthening. We can look forward to Spring and the new summer bowling season starting in September. To keep all members whether full playing, associate or social, informed about what is happening at the Wilton Bowling Club, this Newsletter will be sent out from time to time. It is an adjunct to the information available on the website.
Barbara Leach
The first item of news is from Barbara Leach and her son Jonathan. Due to mobility issues Barbara is not renewing her membership this year. Jonathan wrote on her behalf to pass on
“her sincere appreciation for all the happy years she had playing bowls and socialising with all the members. She so thoroughly enjoyed it and misses it terribly.”
Well Barbara, we will miss you too, especially your lively chat, and your ability as lead to deliver winning bowls to a short jack!
Winter Activities
Sunny windless days have made roll ups on the Thorndon green enjoyable this winter, although later in the afternoon as shadows fall it can be very chilly. It’s great to have the company of Karori bowlers both on the green and at the bar afterwards. We will look forward to seeing more of them this summer season while their green is being renovated.
We have two teams in the winter competition at Naenae - 40m rink is challenging!
Two coaching sessions at Upper Hutt Bowling Club in July have revealed the secrets of better bowling – just need to translate these into reality on the green.
Interesting takeaways learnt:
● Mental preparation and calmness are vital to success.
● Bowls entering an adjacent rink and risking collision should be stopped and returned with the option to re-bowl. Lifting bowls is out!
● Training drills, coding, video recording and analysis can all be used to self-assess and improve performance.
● In Australia, competitive games involve fist pumping, high fives and sledging!
● Team dynamics improve with pre and post-match discussions about the game (car-pooling helpful)
● High Performance coaches from Bowls Wellington are available to help Clubs.
Bowling Arm
Declining mobility is unfortunately for many of us, a natural consequence of getting older. An aim of the Club is to keep everyone bowling as long as possible. The exercise and social contact enhance wellbeing at any age. Using a bowling arm can compensate for limited flexibility and ability to bend down during the delivery.
The proprietor of Bowls Specialists in Pretoria St, Lower Hutt explained that bowling arms are popular and many of his customers have improved their game with use of this accessory. Our club has a bowling arm, hanging behind the door of the clubhouse office, available for use by any of our bowling members. It provides an opportunity to try one out, before committing to buying.
Steps have been installed on two corners of each green to facilitate movement from the surrounding bank to the green. This has however resulted in difficulties with green keeping, which means modifications will be required. Options such as using moveable steps are being investigated as a possible solution.
Ready to Roll 5th October 2025
New Members are welcome to join the Club and at the beginning of the summer season an introductory day for new bowlers is planned. As part of an initiative from Bowls Wellington called Ready to Roll 2025, this event is scheduled for 1pm on Sunday 5th October at participating Clubs throughout Wellington, including our Wilton Bowling Club.
Please let any friends or family know that this will be a chance to try out bowling in a novice friendly environment with club bowls and guidance on their use available. Social members who wish to become more involved with bowling will be welcome as well.
75th Anniversary of Wilton Bowling Club
The first bowling green in Wilton was opened for play on 17th February 1951, making February 2026 the 75th anniversary of this event. To celebrate the occasion a special tournament is planned for Friday and Saturday 6th and 7th February 2026, with a dinner on Friday night, and including commemorations of the clubs past activities.
It is proposed that the Wilton Jubilee Triples Tournament will feature significant prize money, attracting bowlers from across Wellington, from other areas of New Zealand, and even from Australia. Additional festivities will appeal to social members and the public. As well as celebrating 75 years it is hoped to boost member engagement, expand the club’s reach, generate revenue, and enhance the reputation of Wilton Bowling Club as a leading community sports venue.
Please note the dates 6th and 7th February, because whatever the format decided, this will not be an occasion to miss!
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