Bowls Australia Awards Night winners named

by admin on March 28, 2014

NSW’s Aron Sherriff was the big winner at the Bowls Australia Awards Night, NSW’s Aron Sherriff was the big winner at the Bowls Australia Awards Night, staged in Burnie, Tasmania tonight (29/3), claiming the sport’s major accolade for an unprecedented third consecutive time.
 
Testament to his exceptional consistency on the world stage, the Ettalong Memorial world champion secured his third International Bowler of the Year award, as voted by his Australian representative peers, in front of a capacity 300-crowd at the Burnie Arts & Function Centre.
 
During his stunning year on the green, Sherriff, 28, contributed to Australia’s title defence of the traditionally coveted Trans Tasman silverware against New Zealand, was instrumental in Australia’s pre-Commonwealth Games preparatory events in the Northern Hemisphere for the Welsh 4-Nations and 8-Nation Commonwealth Games Invitational, where he pocketed two gold medals, and concluded the year with a strong performance at the Australia v Malaysia International.
 
In a case of deja vu, Sherriff’s state and national teammate, Karen Murphy, also retained her Female Bowler of the Year accolade award that she earned for the first time last year in Bendigo.
 
Murphy’s unforgettable year included claiming her sixth Australian Indoor Championships trophy at Tweed Heads, and runner-up finishes in the Australian Open singles and Super 6 pairs on the national front, and a highlight of capturing the World Champion of Champions event in New Zealand – adding another world title to her impressive résumé.
 
It was a case of third time lucky for Queensland’s Brett Wilkie this year, after finishing runner-up to his Club Helensvale, Queensland and Australian teammate Mark Casey in the Male Bowler of the Year award on two occasions – in 2011 and 2013.
 
An extremely successful year on the green in 2013 across club, state, national and international levels was the catalyst for Wikie’s first Bowls Australia award.
 
At state level, Brett was the Queensland state singles champion, triples runner-up and fours semi-finalist, while international highlights include best performed men’s team honours at the Welsh 4-Nations, and a silver medal in the pairs at the 8-Nations Commonwealth Games Invitational.
 
Two of the sport’s rising junior stars were acknowledged for outstanding performances in 2013, with Tasmania’s Michael Sims capturing the Under-18 Male Bowler of the Year award, while fellow young rising star Chloe Stewart, from Victoria, took home the Under-18 Female equivalent.
 
Victoria were also well represented in the administrator categories, capturing four of the five awards on offer.
 
John Roberts was awarded the Official of the Year honour for his contribution to being an International Technical Official at national and international events, George Vayonitis earned the Volunteer of the Year gong for his tireless work as a Volunteer Team Leader at the Australian Open, Graeme Clements was rewarded for hisformer role as the Australian Blind Bowlers Association Coach with the Coach of the Year accolade, and Peter Nixon scooped the Community Development Officer of the Year award.
 
ABC 730 Adelaide’s Michael Sexton earned consecutive Story of the Year honours, this time courtesy of an in-depth expose on young 19-year-old South Australian star Renee McPharlin from the Balaklava Bowling Club.
 
Bowls Australia congratulates all the finalists and winners of the 2014 Awards Night.
 
Background brief on award winners:
 
Official of the Year
Sponsored by Aspect Sportswear
John Roberts (VIC)
John’s outstanding commitment and passion for officiating at a club, state, national and international level has earned him recognition as the winner of the Aspect Sportswear Official of the Year award.
 
Having provided his officiating expertise to the sport for more than a decade, John’s ability is universally acknowledged as being first-class.
 
John has officiated at every Australian Open since 2004, reaching the milestone for ten successive events this year, while in 2013 he also officiated at the National Champion of Champions event in South Australia, and also provided his services to the World Champion of Champions in New Zealand.
 
A tireless worker, John also assisted with the Australian Jackaroos 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games preparations, volunteering during the squad’s training camps at Maribyrnong Park Bowling Club, Victoria.
 
John is a member of the Bowls Victoria Umpire and Rules Committee and has been the District Umpires’ Chairman for the Yarra Bowls Region (28 clubs) for the past three years.
 
 
Volunteer of the Year
George Vayonitis (VIC)
George has been an integral part of the Southern Hemisphere’s richest bowls event, the Australian Open, in recent years, and has been rewarded for his contribution with the Bowls Australia Volunteer of the Year award.
 
George’s tireless work at the Australian Open year after year as one of three Volunteer Team Leaders ensures that volunteers, players and officials alike have a positive experience at the biggest event on the national calendar.
 
In addition to his unconditional commitment to managing the volunteers at the Australian Open, George has also been kind enough, in recent years, to provide hours of music playlists, which add to the event’s atmosphere.
 
 
Coach of the Year
Sponsored by Melitta
Graeme Clements (Australian Blind Bowlers Association)
 
Former Coach of the Australian Blind Bowlers Association, Graeme Clements has earned recognition in the Melitta Coach of the Year award category due to, among other achievements, his invaluable organisation and support of the ABBA national team’s journey to the International Blind Bowlers Association Championships in the United Kingdom.
 
The national team of eight players – four female and four male – and eight directors performed exceptionally, winning 54 out of a possible 77 matches to finish second overall to South Africa by 4.5 games – a credit to Graeme’s ability to get the best out of his players.
 
All Australian players won a medal at the event, the first time this milestone has been reached, including two gold, four silver and four bronze medals.
 
Graeme is commended for the tireless work ethic he displayed during his time in the role of National Coach for the Australian Blind Bowlers Association prior to his retirement from the role.
 
 
Community Development Office of the Year
Peter Nixon (Western Victoria region)
Victoria’s Peter Nixon has been recognised for his contribution with the sport’s second Community Development Officer of the Year award.
 
Peter is based in Western Victoria, with his region spanning from Mildura in the north, Glenelg in the south, and as far east as Moorabool, where he conducted over 600 club visits in the past calendar year.
 
One of Peter’s biggest strengths has been his ability to assist clubs within his portfolio generate in excess of $180,000 through grant applications – the highest amount of revenue generated by any CDO in 2013.
 
Another feather in Peter’s cap was the assistance he provided for the inception of a new club in his area, Bungaree Bowling Club.
 
Peter has an intricate knowledge of the sport, having bowled in Victoria’s premier division and has also worked in some of the state’s biggest clubs, including Moama and Ocean Grove, and is a great asset to clubs in his region.
 
 
Story of the Year
Sponsored by Aero Bowls
Michael Sexton (ABC 730 Adelaide)
 
Michael, from the nightly current affairs program 730 Adelaide, was acknowledged at the awards ceremony last year in Bendigo for his insight into the inner sanctum of the Bowls Australia High Performance unit as they prepared for the 2012 World Championships that were held in Adelaide during November and December of that year.
 
In 2014, he has proven successful again in the Aero Bowls Story of the Year category again with another outstanding piece on young 19-year-old South Australian star Renee McPharlin from the Balaklava Bowling Club.
 
 
Under-18 Male Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by BCiB
Michael Sims (TAS)
Tasmanian Michael Sims had a breakout year in 2013 to claim his first national award.
 
The bowls fraternity truly stood up and took notice of the Trevallyn young gun after his stunning display at the Southern Hemisphere’s most lucrative bowls event, the Australian Open, where he produced a captivating performance of talent and ability against world champion and former event winner Aron Sherriff, blasting past the man widely considered the best in the world in their round two encounter.
 
Michael went on to progress to the round of 16, where he was upstaged by eventual champion Aaron Wilson – a momentous milestone for a 16 year-old none-the-less.
 
His ensuing months were also as impressive, with a gold medal at the Super 6 series in the men’s pairs at Bendigo, Victoria, his first foray into international representation with a green and gold berth in the Under-18 Trans Tasman team and a third place finish at the Junior Golden Nugget at Tweed Heads.
 
 
Under-18 Female Bowler of the Year
Chloe Stewart (VIC)
18 year-old Victorian young gun had a sensational year in 2013, producing powerful performances in both the junior and senior circuits to earn her first accolade at a Bowls Australia Awards Night.
 
In the junior ranks, Chloe started the year with a bang, topping the dais at the Australian Open under-18 female event at Darebin International Sports Centre, before going on to a runner-up finish at the Junior Golden Nugget in Tweed Heads, and obtaining silver medals in the girls singles and pairs at the Australian Under-18 Championships in Western Australia.
 
The Kyneton-based bowler also produced a stunning double – claiming the Bowls Victoria under-18 state singles title while at the same time edging past a well credentialed field in the senior event to the claim the state’s open singles crown.
 
 
Male Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by City Club
Brett Wilkie (QLD)
It’s a case of third time lucky for Brett this year, after finishing runner-up to his Club Helensvale, Queensland and Australian teammate Mark Casey in the Male Bowler of the Year award on two occasions – in 2011 and 2013.
 
An extremely successful year on the green in 2013 across club, state, national and international levels gave Brett his best chance to scoop his first Bowls Australia gong.
 
Brett contributed to Club Helensvale’s Gold Coast Division 1 Pennant win, in addition to a runner-up finish at the Helensvale National 5-a-side, while also claiming the Helensvale $10,000 men’s pairs title.
 
At state level, Brett was the Queensland state singles champion, triples runner-up and fours semi-finalist, while on the national front he won through to the main field of the Australian Indoor Championships and was a semi-finalist for the Perth Suns in the inaugural Australian Premier League.
 
International highlights include best performed men’s team honours at the Welsh 4-Nations, a silver medal in the pairs at the 8-Nations Commonwealth Games Invitational, a series victory at the Australia v Malaysia International and a whitewash of the senior trophies at the Trans Tasman test series.
 
 
Female Bowler of the Year
Karen Murphy (NSW)
Karen is one of the sport’s most distinguished title winners, and another sterling year of performances on the national and international stage has earned her back-to-back Female Bowler of the Year awards – her third successive finalist appearance in this category.
 
On the national circuit, Karen claimed her sixth Australian Indoor Championships trophy at Tweed Heads, helped NSW secure the coveted Marj Morris Trophy and Overall State Champions Trophy at the time-honoured Australian Sides Championships in Bendigo, where she also clinched a silver medal in the Super 6 pairs, and was a runner-up in the blue-ribbon singles discipline at the Australian Open.
 
On the international front, Karen contributed to Australia’s success at the Trans Tasman, assisting the Jackaroos secure the women’s and overall champions trophies.
 
In addition to making it to the semi-final of the World Cup, she participated in the nation’s overseas expedition for the Welsh 4-Nations and the 8-Nations Commonwealth Games Invitational in Scotland, and culminated the year by securingthe World Champion of Champions in New Zealand.
 
Karen was also recognised as a finalist in the 2013 NSW Sports Federation’s Athlete of the Year Award, one of five nominees to be selected in the premier category.
 
 
International Bowler of the Year
Sponsored by the Australian Sports Commission
Aron Sherriff (NSW)
During yet another standout year for the man widely regarded in many circles as the world’s premier player, Aron contributed to Australia’s title defence of the traditionally coveted Trans Tasman silverware against New Zealand in hostile territory at the Howick Bowls Club in Auckland, where he skipped the pairs and fours to help retain the men’s trophy, overall senior trophy and the nation’s world number one standing.
 
Aron was also instrumental in the nation’s pre-Commonwealth Games expedition to the Northern Hemisphere, with six test appearances during the Welsh 4-Nations, followed by 11 during the 8-Nation Commonwealth Games Invitational, during which he claimed the coveted singles gold medal and guided his troops to gold in the triples.
 
Concluding the year on the international stage, Aron ensured Australia’s preparations ahead of the sport’s pinnacle event remained on track, firing an ominous warning shot to all competing nations ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games by helping the Jackaroos clean sweep the Australia v Malaysia International at Ocean Grove in Victoria.