National collaboration to the forefront

by admin on July 16, 2014

As the initial phases and actions of the Bowls in Australia Strategic Plan 2013-2017 continue to be rolled out, the strong collaboration between Bowls Australia and the nine state and territory associations continue as evidenced by the recent State Consultative Body meeting held in Sydney in last month.
The SCB comprises each two representatives from each state and territory and the Bowls Australia President, Board and executive staff attend as observers. The 29 delegates at the most recent bi-annual meeting discussed some of the most important and immediate areas of action in the sport of bowls, with the Strategic Plan’s mission ‘to grow the sport of bowls’ and the vision ‘Bowls – the sport for life’ being at the forefront of their thinking.
Also at the June meeting, representatives from the Australian Sports Commission, La Trobe University and Bastion S+Go attended and presented to the delegates on topics such as government relations, research and market segmentation.
Innovation and change remain at the forefront of the processes to achieve sustainability and growth in the sport of bowls and in one particular session of the conference areas such as the ASC Sporting Schools Program, Membership and Participation – including bowls’ new and exciting participation programs named Jack Attack and Junior Jack Attack – were discussed.
Junior Jack Attack has already been released to the market with Jack Attack set to be launched and marketed to consumers by the end of 2014 ready for roll-out in early 2015.
Another important topic discussed amongst the delegates was the area of membership and capitation. Bowls Victoria have led the way in addressing the capitation model in Victoria in consultation with Bowls Australia and its member clubs. The new model will see a shift away from individual capitation fees to a fixed fee structure for clubs. Bowls Australia together with the other STAs will be following this model with great interest.
“It is critically important to have the key decision makers in the sport from each state and territory around one table twice a year as we are all working towards the same outcomes for the sport,” Bowls Australia Chief Executive Officer Neil Dalrymple said.
“Right now is a pivotal time in the future sustainability of the sport and for us to be able to have face-to-face and robust discussions about the current and future activity that we are all undertaking is beneficial to all decisions that we make.”