State Body Out Of Order With Precedence Rule
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday March 26, 2008
THE Royal NSW Bowling Association must address the order of precedence law before it strangles bowls in NSW.
Order of precedence was designed to protect elite players and their clubs from being disadvantaged when players were called on for international and interstate duties.NSW has produced more than its share of internationals, the most recent being Aron Sherriff (Halekulani), who in January finished with a silver medal in the singles at the world championships in New Zealand.Wayne Turley (Taren Point), a gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and Steve Glasson (St Johns Park), the world singles champion in 2003, are others in recent times.Sherriff and Turley remain members of the Australian squad and participate in an increasing number of international and state events plus regular high-performance training camps, which are all covered by order of precedence.It is this international and national calendar, which is growing quicker than interest rates and catering mainly for players at this elite level, that is making it impractical to retain the order of preference in its current form.No other sport holds up their domestic competitions for an elite few, except for events like Olympics, Commonwealth Games and World Cups.Teams in the NRL have to do without their stars at State of Origin time.And what about the NSW cricket side?If they had their games deferred every time they had a player on international duties, they would have been flat out playing more than a game or two each season for the past decade.The Newcastle District Bowling Association bit the bullet this season and revoked order of precedence from its domestic midweek pennant competition.But all districts and zones have their hands tied when it comes to Saturday pennants and district championships because these are all state events and therefore covered under the state conditions of play.The Newcastle District Fours Championship is a prime example of an event forced to be put on hold for events like the Australian Sides Championship and NSW Premier League because of order of precedence.All but three second-round matches were completed before Easter, but it will be April 13 before the third round of the fours can be scheduled.National and state bodies cannot keep adding to their elite programs while neglecting the players at the grassroots level.If a player in a national team receives dispensation, then so should a player who has juggled a family event like a christening to coincide with a previously free date.After all, they all pay the same capitation fees and therefore deserve the same level of consideration.
© 2008 Newcastle Herald
