From Head Office
– By Bowls Victoria Operations Manager Peter Delaney
In a nutshell, the 2016-17 Metro Pennant season will have the same competition offerings as the previous season.
The Bowls Victoria Metropolitan Pennant committee had a meeting just prior to Christmas where the offering for next season was discussed.
People all gave their views and after much discussion and consideration, it was decided there was no need for any change for the ensuing year.
The offering for next season will be:
Saturday Pennant
Saturday Pennant will remain the same. There’ll be a Premier Division of 16-a-side, a Division of numerous 16-a-side teams depending on where they finish this season.
There’ll be a second competition which has proved to be very popular of six-a-side triples. No basic fundamental changes to Saturday.
Note: Saturday Pennant is an open event. ALL players MUST be selected purely on ability alone (refer BV Rule for Competition 9A(i)) and not their gender. Division 1 has reverted to a geographical draw to minimise travel for all participating players.
COMPETITION 1
Premier Division 16-a-side 10 sides 1 division of 10 sides 21 completed ends
Division 1 16-a-side 40 sides 4 sections of 10 sides 21 completed ends
Other Divisions based on entries received
COMPETITION 2
*Divisions based on entries received 6-a-side triples sections of 10 sides 25 completed ends
Midweek Pennant
Midweek was the area the committee had a lot of discussion, and it’s been decided to run the same competitions as we did last season.
That’s a Premier Women’s Division, a women’s only Pennant competition of 12-a-side, and the other divisions would be an open competition with 12-a-side.
Bowls Victoria has been working very hard to rebuild the women’s only competition, but women have the right to decide where they wish to play.
Women have moved in great numbers of their own free will to play in the open competition. Some of the underlying reasons were there’d been a drop-off in women’s only bowls, and those women who did enter were having too far to drive because of lack of teams in it.
If we can get a lot more teams into the women’s only competition that are local to teams playing in it, we can reduce the driving.
There’ll also be a third competition – a six-a-side triples. All competitions will be played on a Tuesday.
Midweek (Open) Pennant is an open event. ALL players MUST be selected purely on ability alone (refer BV Rule for Competition 9A(i)) and not their gender.
COMPETITION 1
Premier Division (WO) 12-a-side 1 division of 10 sides 21 completed ends
Other Divisions based on entries received 12-a-side sections of 10 sides 21 completed ends
COMPETITION 2
Division 1 (Open) 12-a-side sections of 10 sides 21 completed ends
Other Divisions based on entries received 12-a-side sections of 10 sides 21 completed ends
COMPETITION 3
*Division (Open) 6-a-side triples sections of 10 sides 25 completed ends
6-a-side 2 bowl triples pennant played over 25 ends
NOTE: 2016-17 PENNANT ENTRY CLOSING DATE WILL BE THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016
Naturally the above competitions can only be conducted if sufficient entries are received from clubs.
This season, we had 27 Clubs withdraw sides that were entered this season before Christmas, each incurring a $450 fine.
Clubs should have at least 15% more players than what you need, particularly in clubs which have aged members who may suffer heat-related illness. As soon as the temperatures are going to be over 30 degrees, many players pull out for their own well-being.
You need 15% more players. That’s to accommodate unavailability, sickness, illness, family commitments, wedding and funerals.
It may mean not everybody’s going to get a game of Pennant every week. They’ll be playing the bankers.
As we move towards this season’s Pennant finals, take a look at our handy eligibility guide for Metro Pennant to see who’s eligible to play.
It really speaks for itself. The eligibility criteria was originally drawn up to stop sides bringing all their good players down to save a bottom side from relegation, which defeats the purpose of good sportsmanship.
Those eligibility criteria have served us well for many years. The guide should answer most clubs and players’ questions around this issue.
Eligibility guide for Metro Pennant finals
