Donvale Bowls Club Inc.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership at last year's AGM was 185 members and is currently 183.

New members continue to come from a variety of sources -

• U3A - Barry and Julie Wilkins organise the program supported by Ron Gibbs and Bob Grosvenor and others as / when required...
• Try Bowls Days - we again ran 3 successful Try Bowls days this year 2 of which linked with Manningham Council's Healthy Life Style week.
• Signage - in conjunction with Parkes Property we again had the 6x8 foot signs in Springvale and Reynolds Roads for two months. These again provided valuable promotion to the club and attracted potential new members and organisations wanting to use the facilities.
• Twilight Bowls - Continued as an important vehicle for introducing new members and a fun evening for all participants.  Our sincere thanks to Lindsay Ridgwell, Julie & Barry Wilkins and team for their tireless efforts in running these nights.

 PROMOTION

• Articles in local papers have been difficult to achieve again this season, as they seek / support organisations that place advertisements in their papers, but some coverage was obtained.  The most notable article was for Graham Howard winning the inaugural Bowls Australia award for the Volunteer Administrator of the Year.
• As mentioned signs in Springvale / Reynolds Roads have again been highly visible and successful.
• Members have again introduced local churches/ sporting groups for try bowls sessions.
• Articles in Bowls Victoria.
• Barry Ferguson playing in the NSW & Australian Open and the Over 60's Championships and Julia DeMarchi representing Victoria in the under 18's.

 

Membership and promotion are essential to the future of our Club; however word of mouth from our members is the best form of promotion for Donvale Bowls Club.

What you tell people is how they form their view of what our club is like.

• Our Club is now soundly based and well positioned to grow into the future and we are well on the way to being..

"Donvale Bowls Club - a vibrant, growing and successful club"

PROJECTS

Last year - at the AGM the projects identified were -

1. Unification - seems like a long time ago however RVBA and VLBA joined to form Bowls Victoria some 18 months ago now.

As Bowls Victoria has evolved we have also restructured our Club and took the opportunity to amend and update our constitution. These changes were passed unanimously at the Special Members Meeting held on 27th January this year.

 The new structure comes into effect tonight following the elections to be conducted shortly. Following the elections tonight the club will have the "Management Committee" which manages the clubs business and affairs and under our By Laws two sections -

"Pennant bowls and Club Championships Section" and

"Non Pennant bowls activities and social events Section".

These committees will then prepare for how they will operate going forward. 

2. Manningham Council Lease - our lease for the greens (not the pavilion which is through POC and the Hockey club lease) was 3 years with a 3 year option. The option has been exercised and expires in June this year.

 Negotiations of a new lease have been finalised at a significantly reduced rental and documentation is being drawn up by Council solicitors.

 3.    Pavilion extensions - as you can see the extensions have not occurred yet.  

After 4 years of total support and agreement by all at Council (Councillors / CEO / Directors / Management and staff) we had not progressed very far but gone around in many circles.

These delays have affected our planning and growth as a club because membership numbers / financial projections going forward have been constrained...

i.e. if we remain a 2 green club with the pavilion extension our membership limit seems to be about 220, as 6 teams on Saturday is our capacity, so our focus remains on growing programs on other days and developing new programs i.e. 2/4/2 on Tuesdays during the winter. Without the pavilion increase our maximum membership is around 180 i.e. current figures.

 However - our project is currently in Councils budget for 2011/12 and we have been advised that there is currently no likelihood of it being removed.

Budget will be formally adopted by Council, on Tuesday 28^th June, if no changes are made during current round of public submissions and public meetings, of which Barry Wilkins attended one and was the only member of the public to attend.

We wait with fingers crossed, so far so good.

 4.    To prevent a repeat of the delays inflicted upon us with in the pavilion extension dealings we have recently submitted a grants application to fund $1 for $1 replacement of the current artificial green surface in 2016. This is now acknowledged and included in the Council strategies and forward projections.

 5.    We have also submitted a grants application to enable feasibility to be assessed by Council on installation of the third green and we have undertaken preliminary work of our own. This was partly undertaken to prevent the land being allocated to another sport (netball / basketball / soccer or car parking for those sports). This area had been seen as a third green since the club started. Obviously a toilet block would be included as the distance to current facilities would be a problem. We have also looked at both grass and artificial surfaces.  The project could become viable if our membership grows going forward.  A Council Officer has been appointed to work with the club on this project.

 6.    Fence along car park / grass green, vines shrubbery has been removed to reduce its detrimental effect on the grass, in particular the reduction of sun on rink 8 and loss of nutrients to the vines root system under or near the green. Repairs to past vandalism efforts on the fence will also shortly be repaired.

 Windbreak screens, the same as on the artificial green fences will then be installed before next season. Cost of $2500 has been covered by further sponsorship from the Bendigo Bank.  That means the Doncaster East / Templestowe Village Branches of the Community Bank have provided sponsorship to the club of $5500 this year.

 Please consider supporting them so this can continue.                     

BOWLING ACTIVITIES

Our bowling results for 2010/11 have been widely acknowledged and reported at our Presentation Night and RVBA and VLBA meetings.  So just a very quick summary tonight - 

In Tuesday Pennant, the first side finished second in their Section behind the club that went on to win the Metropolitan Division final.  All other sides were very competitive. 

Our Tuesday Night Pennant side finished a very credible second, particularly given the mix of experienced and new bowlers in the side. 

Saturday Pennant had all 5 sides playing in finals, with the firsts and thirds going into Divisional finals.  The firsts will now be promoted to Division 1 for the first time in our club's history. 

So by any criteria our pennant sides are extremely competitive, our skills as a club are growing although we need more umpires and coaches. Activities for pennant and championships will be conducted by the new section for next season and onwards. We see this structure as providing the platform to continue the success of the club and promotion of teams to higher levels. 

In addition to pennant we organised and/or participated in a large number of other bowling activities, including -

• Autumn bowls
• Winter bowls, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• Sunday bowls, year round.
• The 4 club challenge, which we won again, for the sixth time in its seven year history.
• The Mayoral challenge, not successful but next year??
• The very popular tournaments on Opening day, Cup day, Australia day, Labour day and combined Presidents day.
• School days.
• Business and private bare foot bowls days. 

Our sincere thanks to the organisers, helpers and participants for all of these events.

 

GREENS

Grass Green -the plinth boards surrounding the grass green ditches were replaced by a hardworking crew led by Ritto Bettiol and David Mattiazzo.

However the weather did not suit our green this year and it struggled to achieve our goals, but the rain was needed just not during the season and especially on Saturday.

It is now closed to ensure it gets the best start possible for next season and we hope to get the results planned and worked for over recent years. 

Artificial Green - green is running well and wear is being well spread. Over recent years we (and all clubs with artificial greens) had many problems with RVBA Greens people about green speeds on artificial greens i.e. their guidelines for greens to run between 13 and 17 seconds became a rule with penalty of not having a home final.

The underlying issue is reluctance to accept artificial greens as evidenced by the fact if it rains grass greens are expected to be slow, however when hot and dry and water restrictions in place artificial greens are not expected to be faster.

This is impossible to achieve.

We purchased a "World Bowls ramp" and during last winter timed the green with both ramps and also using the stopwatch.

Results showed the BV ramps runs up to1.5 seconds faster than the World Bowls ramp and the stopwatch.   Bowls Victoria Greens committee have been unable to explain this or provide the data from a secret trial they conducted on one green when they last tested their ramp. 

However the matter is currently dropping of the radar as new committees are appointed by Bowls Victoria.   We will, though, continue to use the stopwatch to measure the artificial green and accumulate data to support our green. 

No other state or country has an issue with timing and speed of artificial greens or the guidelines of 13/17 seconds, many grass greens run under 13 when weather conditions affect them - weather also effects the artificial.

CONCLUSION

Our club is in great shape, both on and off the greens. 

By any benchmarks these are outstanding results and it was another year of progress and consolidation of our rise into prominence within the wider bowling community. 

But we need to continue to grow and adapt, with our main challenges this year being -

• Pavilion extensions - firstly finalising funding approval and then the building works as they take place.
• New rules / changes to the game - 21 ends no afternoon tea break
• Getting our 2 new sections up and running
• Membership growth. We have recently increased our maximum membership figures from 180 to 200 and look for this to occur this year.
• Management Committee are focused on trying to increase the number of ladies and junior bowlers who join the club and will look to develop further avenues to recruit members if required.
• With growth in membership comes a responsibility to maintain our strong, vibrant and friendly culture.  We must all ensure new members are made welcome, attend functions, abide by and accept club and selection decisions, etc.  Nevertheless all members can be very pleased and proud of what we have achieved to date.   

But as a club grows in numbers those things that create our culture become that little bit more difficult, and we all need to be aware of such things, and support each other, just that little bit more. 

We will strive to keep members informed on progress on these activities, and others, as they develop throughout the year. 

Finally, please support our sponsors for they are important in keeping our fees down and providing new facilities.   

Be proud of our club, support it, promote it and be positive.

                        

 FINANCIAL

 INCOME - Total Income was approx $101,819. - down by approx $19,100. (16 %)            

This shortfall includes amongst other things a grant from the Council last year, lower POC dividend, and loss of revenue due to cancellation of events.

 Highest sources of income were green fees and membership fees.

Green Fees - 33% of total income

• Total Green Fees: $33,283. - down by approx $4,400. (9%).
• Pennant Green Fees: $11,630. (35%) - down by approx $3,365.
• Non-Pennant Green Fees: $21,653. (65%) - down by approx $2,234. (10%)

1/3^rd of Saturday pennant games cancelled due inclement weather together with some Tuesday and Twilight Bowls.                

Membership Fees - 24% of total income

1. Total $24,161 - down by approx $3,600 (9%).     

Due to a few more members being on leave of absence.  Affiliation fees were $739 lower due to only 1 fee per person being paid this year.                                                            

VLBA Section 

•2.      Contributed a total of $9,900. - which includes $4,470. Tuesday Pennant green fees, plus $4,530. in raffles, trading table, gala days etc. 

Thanks yet again to the Ladies for their great contribution.

POC  

• The club received a dividend distribution of approx $3,400. from the Pavilion Operating Committee . POC has a reserve for maintenance / replacement of equipment of $20,000. (50% each for Bowls Club and Hockey Club). This reserve is considered adequate to cover possible expenditure hence this year's dividend. Thanks to Lindsay and his helpers - a great result.

EXPENDITURE

Total Expenditure was approx $87,360. - a decrease of approx $14,900  (15%)

(Includes $12,300 of non recurring expenditure). 

Highest expenditure item was Greens Maintenance - 25% of total expenditure

• Total approx $22,700 - down by approx $1,700. (9%).
• Grass Green (including Green Keeper) - approx $18,918. - down by $2,699.
• Artificial Green - approx $3,795. - an increase of approx $976.

Equipment/Maintenance  - 7% of total expenditure

• Approx $6,516. - down by approx $3,300. (34%)

The highest item was purchase of two lawn mowers - $1,280.

Council Charges

• Lease payments have been significantly reduced - from approx $3,000. down to $220.00.

Last year the club made two payments as no invoice issued for previous year.

Donations

3. Bowls Australia Disaster Relief Fund

• - The sum of $805. was raised for flood affected Bowls Clubs.  

Bank Accounts

4. During the year, three Term Deposits of $15,000 each at 6% interest were taken out.  Money was transferred from the Cash Management Account. 
5. Total of all bank accounts:  $84,789.   Last year it was $71,368.   

Audit of books c/out by Ms M. Howard BEc, GradDip Bus Mgmntt, AAIBBF (Snr) & we thank her for her Time & effort.