2016 Awards Night winners crowned
Bowls Australia staged its sixth annual Awards Night at the Mantra Legends, on Surfers Paradise tonight, with the sport’s most deserving athletes, administrators, clubs and media recognised for their outstanding contribution over the past 12 months. Bowls Australia staged its sixth annual Awards Night at the Mantra Legends, on Surfers Paradise tonight, with the sport’s most deserving athletes, administrators, clubs and media recognised for their outstanding contribution over the past 12 months.
Award winners were crowned for 12 categories tonight, including the inaugural Club of the Year and Bowler with a Disability of the Year categories.
Bowls Australia congratulates the following award winners, in addition to all finalists recognised at the sport’s night of nights.
Blamey Saunders Hears Volunteer of the Year – Ben Woods (Musgrave Hill, QLD) and Ray Ganderton (Broadbeach, QLD)
Ben Woods (Musgrave Hill, QLD)
The first finalist for tonight’s opening award is Musgrave Hill’s Ben Woods.
Ben played a pivotal role in the delivery of the 2016 Australian Open, as the venue coordinator for Musgrave Hill; a position he also facilitated in 2015.
An event the size and magnitude of the Australian Open requires the assistance of numerous venue coordinators at clubs across the region, and Ben exemplified the passion and commitment required for this crucial role.
Ben has played a particularly crucial role facilitating the Bowlers with a Disability disciplines at the World’s Biggest Bowls Festival.
Ray Ganderton (Broadbeach, QLD)
Broadbeach’s Ray Ganderton is another unsung hero who contributed greatly to the staging of the 2016 Australian Open, albeit it in a very different role to tonight’s other finalist, Ben Woods.
Ray was undoubtedly a jack-of-all-trades in assisting at the event’s hub club and finals host, Broadbeach.
Ray worked tirelessly and diligently with venue set-up and bump-down on each of the 14 days of the tournament, but also contributed in a variety of other roles; as a marker, volunteer and marquee attendant, among many more.
Additionally, Ray was also instrumental in Broabeach hosting the Australian v Scotland Series event.
Ray was more often than not the first person to arrive and last to leave each day, and epitomises all the qualities of a perfect volunteer.
City of Gold Coast Coach of the Year – Therese Hastings (Manning Memorial, WA)
Therese is recognised at this year’s Awards Night in her position Western Australian State Women’s Coach and as National Training Centre Coach for WA.
As the coach, Therese has contributed to a resurgence in the WA women’s team at the Australian Sides Championships. After a disappointing seventh placing in 2015, the team enjoyed a significant turnaround in performance on and off the green this year; beaten by the eventual winners, NSW, in round 1, but recovering for an undefeated campaign thereafter to claim the silver
medal.
Therese has also played an important role in developing and nurturing young and new talent within her state, and led her charges to gold and silver medals at the Hong Kong Classic Pairs as the team’s coach.
City Club Official of the Year – Sandy Wallace (Holdfast Bay, SA)
Sandy is nominated tonight in her role as International Technical Official Mentor & Assessor, in addition to her voluntary position as Bowls Australia’s Tournament Director at the Australian Under-18 Championships, APL03 and Australian Champion of Champions.
Sandy has been instrumental in leading the officiating at almost all national events over the last 12 months, and was crucial in the briefing and monitoring of officials at all national events, in particular leading the training of officials in the Australian Premier League specific conditions at last year’s APL03.
Sandy has conducted countless official and unofficial briefings at BA events to officials at all levels, and coordinated numerous Markers and Umpires courses on the Gold Coast over the past two years, resulting in a large volunteer base across Australian Open host clubs, which is critical for the successful operation of the event.
RDNS Regional Bowls Manager of the Year – Josh Thornton (RBM North East Victoria)
As one of 17 Regional Bowls Managers, Josh Thorton has been instrumental in assisting the 124 clubs situated in the region of North East Victoria, which includes the areas of Macedon Ranges, Bendigo, Shepparton, Wangaratta and Wodonga.
Josh has demonstrated a thirst for knowledge and commitment to further education in recent times, and is currently part-way through a Masters in Sport Management course, which will provide him with further skills to assist the clubs in his area.
He has also worked tirelessly to assist clubs with their grant funding application submissions, which totalled more than $222,000 this year.
Bowls Australia Story of the Year – Fox Sports Australia (Represented by Tom Chadwick)
Fox Sports Australia have been strong supporters of the sport over many years, as Bowls Australia’s official Pay-TV partner.
The network is recognised tonight for their coverage of the third staging of the Australian Premier League in November 2015, which showcased the sport over 20 hours of live broadcast across the four days of competition, in addition to numerous repeats to keep viewers up-to-date.
Additionally, Fox Sport Australia also beamed the Australian Open finals and replays of The Bowls Show into the lounge rooms of thousands of Australians this year.
Fox Sports News’ Tom Chadwick was the host of the APL03 and 2015 Australian Open coverage and kept viewers engaged through informative rinkside interviews.
Stockland Retirement Living Club of the Year – Club Helensvale (QLD) and Manning Memorial Bowls Club (WA)
Club Helensvale (QLD)
Queensland’s Club Helensvale has long been a branded a heavyweight club on the Gold Coast, and indeed throughout Australia.
With it’s magnificent facilities, the club has been a host to many state, national and international events over the past year, including the World Champion of Champions singles in 2015, which it will host again later this year, was one of the major venues for the 2015 and 2016 Australian Open, and also played host to Bowls Australia’s NTC Challenge Series between NTC squad players and the visiting Hong Kong China squad.
Helensvale is also in its tenth year of staging their own National Club 5 A Side Challenge, which is widely known throughout the bowls world as one of the most prestigious and successful events on the national calendar.
The Club has also assisted with the promotion of the sport to new audiences, through the Bowls Premier League (formerly the Australian Premier League) competition, as the licensee of the Gold Coast Hawks.
Manning Memorial Bowls Club (WA)
Western Australia’s Manning Memorial have been selected as a finalist in the inaugural Stockland Retirement Living Club of the Year award due in part to their successful staging of the Jack Attack participation program and strong community links.
Manning implemented the Jack Attack program in 2015, and it has since gone from strength to strength. The product brings more than 120 patrons to the club to participate weekly, and has resulted in the signing of numerous full club members and social members.
The club has also fostered strong linkages with their local community. Their facilities are used for darts competition six months of the year, jive and ballroom dancing five days per week all year, as well as various other events.
Manning has advocated strongly for charitable groups, including fundraising days for the cancer council, Como Rotary club, and the State Mountain biking team, in addition to hosting a charity event for Yarloop Bowling Club, which was greatly affected earlier this year by bushfires, an event which raised and donated over $4,000 to a bowls club in need.
Bowler with a Disability of the Year – Josh Barry (Sebastopol, VIC)
Josh has gone from strength to strength on the green over the past 12 months, having achieved success at every level of the game, most notably on the nation’s biggest stage and on the international arena.
On the national front, Josh had a dominant 2016 Australian Open campaign, claiming the physical disability men’s singles and multi-disability pairs titles.
He also enjoyed a purple patch at the 2016 Australian National Disabled Championships, securing the physical disability singles gold and pairs silver medals.
Internationally, he cut a swath through the international field at the 2015 World Cerebral Palsy Championships in England, winning both the singles and pairs disciplines.
Tourism and Events Queensland Under-18 Female Bowler of the Year – Tiffany Brodie (Fitzroy Victoria Bowls and Sports Club, VIC)
The second award category on offer to Tiffany tonight is the Tourism and Events Queensland Under-18 Female Bowler of the Year, which is fitting, after she was crowned the under-18 girls’ singles champion at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Tiffany has had a real coming of age season on the green, claiming medallions across junior and open competitions.
On the under-18 circuit, Tiffany achieved success at the 2015 Australian Under-18 Championships with two silver medals, in the singles and triples, and claimed Victoria’s Under-18 Women’s Singles crown, in addition to winning the Under-25 title for consecutive years.
Tiffany’s efforts were rewarded with her first Australian representation in the development disciplines at the Trans Tasman test series in New Zealand.
Domina BCiB Under-18 Male Bowler of the Year – Jono Davis (Dubbo Railway, NSW)
Despite his tender age, Jono Davis has quickly become a household name in the sport, due in part to his exceptional ability and proven success on bowls’ biggest stage.
The 15 year-old Dubbo Railway product is a thoroughly deserving finalist for this award, having claimed both national junior singles crowns in the one year; the Australian Open under-18 boys’ singles and Australian Under-18 Championships boys’ singles titles.
Jono also progressed through to the round of 32 in the open men’s pairs at this year’s Australian Open, alongside fellow finalist Josh Studham, and the round of 16 in the men’s fours.
On the international front, Jono was selected for the Trans Tasman development team, which overcame New Zealand in all three tests on offer, and was dominant in his performances at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa, where he secured both gold medals from the two disciplines contested – in the boys’ singles and mixed pairs with Ellen Ryan.
Cruiseabout Male Bowler of the Year – Ryan Bester (Broadbeach, QLD)
Another dominant year of performances in National Ranking Events has solidified Ryan Bester as Australia’s number one male bowler for a second successive year, and earned him the Cruiseabout Male Bowler of the Year accolade.
The Golden Nugget men’s singles title stands out as Bester’s biggest achievement during this period, but he also enjoyed a sublime run at Queensland State events, with top placings in the Queensland State Singles and Pairs, in addition to the Queensland State Champion of Champion Singles and Fours.
Other notable performances that earned ranking points were a quarter-final finish in the Australian Open men’s pairs and a semi final placing at the Tweed Heads Open Singles.
Ryan finished with 365.6 ranking points, 41.6 points ahead of second-placed Aron Sherriff.
Cruiseabout Female Bowler of the Year – Natasha Scott (Raymond Terrace, NSW)
Natasha Scott has again etched her name into the record books with a consecutive number one female bowler placing, courtesy of a scintillating year of performances in National Ranking Events.
A stellar Australian Open campaign elevated Scott above her competition for this award, with a momentous singles win capping off her performance at the sport’s most lucrative event, while a semi-final pairs and fours finish contributed to her securing the Player of the Tournament award.
Testament to her ability, she also secured a second national title in the Australian Champion of Champions women’s singles, which earns her a berth at the world event next month.
Natasha also enjoyed a rich vein of form on the state’s stage, winning the NSW Champion of Champion singles and a litany of NSW State titles, in the singles, triples and fours.
Natasha finished the ranking period with 504 national ranking points, 123.8 points clear of second-placed Carla Krizanic.
Australian Sports Commission International Bowler of the Year – Aron Sherriff (Ettalong Memorial, NSW)
Aron Sherriff has made this award his own in recent years, having claimed the accolade on three successive occasions from 2012-2014.
The award’s most prolific winner enjoyed another scintillating season on the international arena, performing exceptionally in all three of the internationally capped events over 2015/16.
Aron earned the coveted blue-ribbon singles gold medal at the 19-nation Asia Pacific Championships in 2015, followed by a formidable Trans Tasman performance that helped Australia retain the men’s and overall trophies, and capped off the period with dual gold medals at the 2016 Six Nation Invitational, in the singles and pairs.
Widely regarded as one of the sport’s premier players, Aron has proven that he has the universal adulation and support of his teammates, having been voted the international bowler of the year by them four times now.
