Victoria is leading the country with the establishment of Under 18 Development Squads.

Established with a clear objective of targeting youngsters, especially teenage boys and girls, Bowls Victoria Under 18 Development Squads provide specialist coaching for the participants and opportunities to enjoy interacting with other keen, young bowlers. It is envisaged that these squads will be a vital link in a pathway, with interclub junior competitions set to become another important part of youth participation, and the squads identified as a direct link to talent identification.

After two years of operation, there are 25 Squads located across Victoria. So successful has the program been that the first state-wide Under 18 Development Squad Championship was staged during the 2008-09 season. Congratulations to the inaugural winners, the Northern Flyers who took out the state final on Sunday 5/4/09 at Borth Bendigo BC. Read the story here.

Bowls Victoria encourage all adults involved with the Under 18 Development Squads to complete a Working With Children check (to become compulsory in 2009-2010). The WWC Check applies to people engaged in 'child-related work' as defined in section 9 of the Working with Children Act 2005 (please refer to the Working with Children Act 2005). www.justice.vic.gov.au/workingwithchildren

For information on training sessions, contact the Development Squad in your area - see below.

Or contact Bowls Victoria on (03) 9819 0757 or email janem@bowlsvic.org.au / stephenc@bowlsvic.org.au for further assistance.

Full Contact List including Bowls Victoria representatives and state coaches.