National Bowls Centre – Expressions of Interest
The establishment of a National Bowls Centre (NBC) will become a major priority for Bowls Australia over the coming years, the organisation’s Board and Executive have declared in announcing an Expression of Interest (EOI) for potential venues.
The national body has developed a comprehensive NBC Strategy, in consultation with external sports consultants, that will guide the future direction and process for the creation of the NBC, which aims to be much broader in scope than a traditional Centre of Excellence model.
Rather than focus solely on High Performance athlete support, the NBC will be a headquarters for HP and events staff, an environment to support daily performance of national and state/territory-level bowlers, a hub for bowls coach learning and development, a venue for competitions, corporate functions and schools/community programs, a centre for bowls research, and the home for the Hall of Fame and Bowls Museum, amongst other initiatives (identified on page 9 of the Strategy).
Bowls Australia CEO Neil Dalrymple said the NBC was an important initiative for the sport and called on clubs who meet the criteria and are interested in being a potential venue to submit an EOI.
“The creation of a National Bowls Centre is an extremely exciting venture which will not only cater for our elite bowlers but also provide numerous other benefits including improved player pathways, talent identification, coach and official development, team building (Bowls and non-bowls), competitions and will act as a hub for other local, state, national and international Bowls and sporting organisations to enhance their performance,” CEO Neil Dalrymple outlined in the strategy.
“This is a major piece of development with wide ranging benefits for the sport, so it’s critically important that we identify the most appropriate site for the construction of the facility.
“We’ve developed a public form to canvass Expressions of Interest from potential bowls clubs, and I encourage any club that has a willingness to become the home of the NBC to review the Strategy, submit their expression or reach out for further discussion.”
The NBC EOI will close on May 31, 2021, after which, Bowls Australia’s Advisory Group will provide oversight and shortlisting of candidate venues, followed by further discussions and more detailed assessments of potential sites.
Enquiries for further information or discussion should be directed to Bowls Australia’s CEO Neil Dalrymple at ndalrymple@bowls.com.au.
• National Bowls Centre Strategy
• National Bowls Centre – Expressions of Interest (closes May 31, 2021)
