What Does Bowls Nsw Do for Me?

WHAT DOES BOWLS NSW DO FOR ME?

The recent decision to increase the membership fees has again reignited the question that ultimately never seems to have a satisfactory answer for those who ask it.

“What does ‘The Royal’ do for ME?”

“What do I get for my affiliation fee?”

Directors, administrators, employees and volunteers of Bowls NSW are often faced with these questions and at times are held personally accountable for the various things that Bowls NSW is perceived NOT to be doing for that individual or for ‘the regular bowler’.

With approximately 44,000 individual members, 550 clubs, 16 Zones and 35 Districts it is fair to say that the expectation of what Bowls NSW ‘should’ be doing varies greatly across the State.

So what is Bowls NSW doing??

What Bowls NSW does can essentially be broken up into 4 areas;

1. Core Services & Events
2. On-Demand Services
3. Innovation, Promotion & Marketing
4. Advocacy

1.  Core Services and Events

·  General Member Enquiries

-  Bowls NSW Office open during business hours 8.30am-5pm

-  Any member can contact and seek information/advice via phone/email.

·  Membership Database Administration

-  Processing of all new applications, deletions, player clearances and updates on a daily basis.

-  Management of pennant gradings, coaching and officiating accreditations

-  Updating of Membership Listings online for Clubs, Districts, Zones to access.

·  Operational Committees – Match, Coaching, Umpires, Juniors & General Services

-  Match Committee controlling body for all Association Events, rulings, handling of variations, appeals etc under Conditions of Play.

-  Coaching & Umpire Education course scheduling, applications, course materials and presenter & assessors.

·  Events & High Performance.

-  Inter Club Competition - NSW State Pennants, Club Challenge.

-  State Championship Events for Open, Over 60s, Under 18s, Presidents graded 4 & below.

-  Representative events – Inter-Zone Open, Over 60s and Under 18s. City vs Country.

-  NSW State Sides – Open, Over 60s, Under 25s and Under 18s.

-  Promotion/Recruitment Events – Aloha Barefoot Bowls, NSW Rookies, NSW Under 25 Singles

-  Multi Disability Events

·  Communications

-  Distribution of information across multiple communication channels including Website, BowlsBox, Facebook, Twitter, Email.

-  Production of Bowls NSW Magazine.

2.  On-Demand Services

As a member demand driven organisation, a large part of what we do for individual members, clubs, districts and/or Zones is dependent on what service the individual member, club, district or Zone requires at the time.

A wide range of enquiries are handled every day at the office, with some of the services provided including;

·  Club Advisory Committee Services

·  Business and strategic planning

·  Recruitment and Marketing Resources

·  Non adversarial dispute resolution, mediation and facilitation

·  Constitution updates

·  Policies and Procedures

·  Corporate Governance training

·  Trained Member Protection Information Officers (MPIO)

·  Training of presenter and assessors

·  On green purposeful practice sessions

·  Social Media training

·  Face to Face Club Visits – Development Team & Regional Bowls Managers

·  Funding Grant Application assistance

All Members have access to the services of Bowls NSW at any time, with services being offered FREE OF CHARGE.

3.  Innovation, Promotions & Marketing

Bowls NSW are constantly seeking to find new ideas and innovations in which to invest to promote the sport and encourage new people to become involved and to help retain our existing clubs and members

Some of these have included;

·  Hardcourt Bowls Program – allowing bowls to be promoted in schools and at expos

·  Small Bowls loan program for Clubs -

·  Expansion of the Rookies event to become a State wide event.

·  The Aloha Barefoot Bowls event.

·  The Travel Assistance Grant program – providing grants to offset travel costs for small clubs.

·  Attendance and demonstrations at Lifestyle, Sport and School Expos

4.  Advocacy

Bowls NSW is responsible for liaising with a number of key stakeholders both within the sport and externally to represent the best interests of the sport and the members of NSW.

Within the sports structure, Bowls NSW represents the members of NSW as a voting member of Bowls Australia, who in turn represents all bowlers in the Country at World Bowls level.

Externally, Bowls NSW has close relationships with various tiers of local and state government including NSW Department of Sport and Recreation and the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing, as well as industry bodies such as the NSW Sports Federation, the Club Managers Association and ClubsNSW, where Bowls NSW is represented at a State Council level.

These advocacy roles at times allow the sport of bowls to have input and influence on key decisions which could affect our clubs and our sport such as legislation changes, and grant funding allocations.

Who is Bowls NSW?

·  Board

The Board of Directors is responsible for the strategic direction and governance of Bowls NSW.

Director positions are filled by volunteers who are elected to the Board by the Member Clubs.

The current Board is made up of 7 Directors, all of whom hold or have held an active role at their respective Clubs in a Board or Management capacity. 5 Directors have also been actively involved in various roles at District and Zone level also.

President Vince Beard

Deputy President Lyle Keats

Finance Director Ron King

Directors Jay Porter
Bob Moran
Ian McKnight
Barry Watkins

·  Employees

Bowls NSW currently employs 9 full time and 3 part time staff who fulfil various roles in 3 separate Departments, Bowls Operations, Communications and Marketing and Administration.

Chief Executive Officer Greg Helm

Executive Secretary Jennifer Hirama

Bowls Operations Michael Beaumont, Chris Green, Andrew Lynn, Declan Kelly (Trainee PT)

Administration Courtney Allouche, Shontelle McKeown, Santosh Gupta, Tracy Bannister (PT)

Communications Cheryl Strong (PT), Tricia Breuer

·  Operational Committees

The employees are supported by dedicated volunteers who are elected to Operational Committees including Match, Coaching, Umpires, Juniors and General Services.

·  Districts & Zone Association

District and Zone Associations also play an important role within the Association and are responsible for administering the sport in their local area in line with the Conditions of Play set down by Bowls NSW.

Members vote for Club and District Delegates to represent them at District and Zone level, and each Zone is represented by a State Councillor who attends, reports and votes on behalf of the members at State Council. It is the responsibility of these elected delegates to ensure that accurate information is communicated both to and from Bowls NSW to the members.

Where do our fees affiliation fees go?

What do I get for my affiliation?

·  Opportunity to play bowls at all Clubs across Australia and in any Bowls NSW Event.

·  Eligible to play in structured and organised competition

·  Access to all services of Bowls NSW as listed above.

·  A vote and a voice through your Club, District & Zone

·  Eligibility to hold any position at District, Zone and State Level and have influence on the direction of the sport.

·  Investment in the future of the sport