Casey appointed leading role
Bowls Australia’s Events and Competition Manager role has been filled by current Bowls Australia staff member and highly accomplished Australian representative Mark Casey. Accomplished Australian Jackaroos Squad member Mark Casey has achieved the highest of highs having collected gold on bowls’ biggest stages, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2012 World Championships, and whilst the Queenslander isn’t done adding to his impressive bowling resume, off the green, the 34 year old is rising the corporate ladder.
During his 13 years long service to the sport as an Australian representative Casey has spearheaded the national team on over 250 occasions, and now, the veteran member of the Australian Jackaroos will spearhead the world’s elite bowling events as Bowls Australia’s newly appointed Events and Competition Manager.
Having travelled all over the world, New Zealand, Scotland, India, Wales, Fiji, Hong Kong and Malaysia to name a few, Casey’s experience competing in the sports most prestigious events will hold him in good stead in bowls’ leading events role.
Casey has plenty of experience in the bowls industry off the greens; he was a Bowls Co-ordinator at Springwood Bowls Club in Brisbane, he has held different positions with Gold Coast Hawks APL franchise holder Club Helensvale on the Gold Coast and managed his own bowls shop, Casey’s Bowls World before taking up his former position at Bowls Australia as South East Queensland’s Regional Bowls Manager.
The APL03 MVP will be kept busy in the coming months having just last week booked himself a ticket to New Zealand to compete in the annual Trans-Tasman series, whilst the first of Bowls Australia’s national events is fast approaching; the Australian Sides Championships will be held in the nation’s capital from March 31 to April 3.
Casey says he is really excited to be taking on such a major role with Bowls Australia and getting stuck into planning and running major events like the $250,000 Australian Open and the much anticipated 2018 Commonwealth Games.
“Bowls Australia pride themselves on hosting some of the world’s biggest bowls events so I am really looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead,” said Casey.
“I have already starting working with the Commonwealth Games Association as their Sport Competition Manager for Lawn Bowls and have commenced working on the schedule of play, which as you can imagine, is quite detailed.”
Casey’s first event at the reign will be the Australian Sides Championships in Canberra, however his biggest challenge this year will be the staging of the $250,000 Australian Open taking place from June 11-24 in his backyard, the theme park capital of the world, the Gold Coast.
The first instalment of the Australian Open in the sunshine state was a huge success with over 1700 people taking part in the 13 day festival of bowls.
Casey’s role as Regional Bowls Manager in the Gold Coast region allowed him to assist in the staging of last year’s event; Casey worked closely with the 12 host clubs and liaised with important stakeholders as Bowls Australia’s ‘man on the ground’.
“The Australian Open is by far the largest bowls event in terms of participation and is the world’s richest bowls event carrying a massive quarter of a million dollars prize money; this year there is a more favourable breakdown that will see more bowlers walking away with a slice of the prize pool,” said Casey who was involved in debriefing last year’s Australian Open.
“Bowls Australia have made some changes based on competitors feedback from the 2015 event which I have no doubt will increase the tournaments participation and I know that four months out the interest surrounding the Australian Open throughout the bowls community is very high.
“I believe the introduction of the Men’s and Women’s Over 60’s Pairs will bring a new and fantastic feel to the event and I’m looking forward to seeing the entries starting to flow in as we get closer to the event.”
Casey has achieved so much wearing the green and gold and now in his important role with Bowls Australia the World and Commonwealth Games gold medallist can have a huge impact on the sport from behind the scenes.
“Bowls has given me so much in my life, so I’m looking forward to giving a bit back,” said a humble champion.
Caption- Mark Casey has commenced his new role at Bowls Australia as Events and Competition Manager.
