Saturday Metropolitan Pennant Season 2018-19
The Bowls Victoria Board has decided that the Saturday Metropolitan Pennant Competition will remain in its current form for the 2018-19 season.
This decision followed tabling of a report from the Competitive Participation Sub-Committee (CPSC). Agreement was reached that the work of the CPSC will continue and be expanded to include additional Club and Region representation. Communication with Clubs, Regions and bowlers will be a key focus of their continuing work and more detail about the Committee’s future activities will be released in due course as more options are considered for future years.
A key learning has been the strong view that any change must be introduced with an appropriate lead time which carefully considers the consequences of revising Division/Section numbers and promotions or relegation rules.
As of March 2018, BV has engaged Sports Marketing Consultants Gemba to undertake research which will underpin future decisions made regarding participation development and also assist BV refine its competitive participation products.
Gemba’s experience includes developing formats associated with Cricket through the “Big Bash League” and there is an identified group of competition formats that BV will seek Gemba’s expertise in researching. As this critically important work progresses, Clubs, Regions and bowlers will have opportunities to be involved in the process.
The adoption of BV’s new 2018 – 2022 Strategic Plan will also see the sport addressing a broad range of challenges that go beyond competitive participation. As these matters evolve and new programs and projects are identified, BV and its Board is committed to continuing an open dialogue with our Clubs, Regions and bowlers. Your views are important to us as they assist and support us in determining what we need to do to secure a strong and viable future for our sport.
The Board also would like to take this opportunity to thank the CPSC for their efforts and energy so far in progressing the competitive participation dialogue. The feedback process in the Metropolitan area has provided valuable insights that offer a strong basis for moving forward. Thank you to the Clubs, Regions and bowlers who provided feedback on the draft proposal.
While some of the proposed changes had significant support, clearly there is more work needed to address a broad range of issues raised during the consultative process.
An open conversation for enhancing opportunities to engage people in participation in bowls has commenced, and we must continue this dialogue.
Graeme Bridge
CHIEF EXECUTIVE