By RICHIE CLUTTERBUCK
THERE are no new faces on the New England District committee following the AGM last week. The same few men will again have the responsibility of running the district for the next 12 months and I congratulate them for their dedication. The following were elected unopposed – President Bob Adams, Secretary Treasurer Michael Sherar, Senior Vice President John Hamel, Vice Presidents Dave Wilcox and Ross Hammond, delegates to zone John Hamel and Bob Adams. Match committee, Don Faulkner, Andrew McLennan and Mike Sherar and selectors are John Hamel, Andrew McLennan and Mike Sherar. The patrons elected are Jack Quick, Stephen Perlikowski, Eric Wall and John Wood.
Changes afoot
THE major topic for discussion at the meeting was the proposed boundary changes and all clubs will be affected should these changes take place. I urge all cubs to make written submissions to the district for forwarding onto the Royal prior to the end of January. If these submissions are not forwarded then I imagine that the changes will go ahead and it could spell the end of pennants for smaller clubs considering the distance proposed for our area. This will be a big blow to these clubs as expenses are bad enough already and most will not be able to afford the cost of travel. These are my own personal thoughts on the proposal.
Guyra carnival
IT’S carnival time at Guyra this weekend and both the pairs and triples fields were full some time ago. Dave Wilcox and his carnival committee have again promised a good time and great bowls for the event. Last year’s pairs winners Jason Heaver and Scott Ryman from Quirindi are back to defend their title and to go back to back is going to be a challenge as many strong teams are playing. The strong Guyra combination of Dan Kennedy and Chris Kliendienst have local knowledge and will be out to go one better that 2011 when they finished runners-up. For many years the Mona Vale club in Sydney have been attending this carnival and this year they have five teams in the triples and having played against quite a few of their members I have no doubt that they will feature in the prize money. I wish Dave and his club all he best for their 24th carnival and also remind players that their popular Top of the Range Fours entries are being accepted. This event is in January and always attracts a quality field.
Young hopes
AS mentioned earlier, City youngster Jack Whitton has been selected in a New South Wales squad of 16 juniors to attend a training camp in January and most likely this will be at Taren Point. From these trials a team of five will be selected to represent the state for matches against the ACT juniors. Another youngster Justin Bullen narrowly missed out on selection and from reports I received, both players played very well in the recent City-Country matches at Cabramatta.
