Rohan Wilson and Sean InghamAustraliaʼs newest junior reps joined us for a chat
AN ONLINE BOWLS MAGAZINE FOR JUNIORS
QueenslandChampsGrab your nomination form inside
Welcome to
our very first
issue!
Jan-Feb 2012
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Contributions:Are there any juniors going places at your club? Have a big under-18 event coming up that you would like featured?Any other junior related action happening in your area?Send us any junior related news so we can give your club a shout-out.
Contact detailsEmail: [email protected] Account: @bowlsqldOfficial Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/bowlsqueensland Phone: (07) 3355 9988
February
31- April 5 Junior State Championships. Bundaberg District.
Contact: Roxanne Bell - Bowls Queensland (07) 3355 9988.
19 Sunshine Coast District Junior Training. Buderim Bowls Club.
Contact: Ken Armitage - 5492 5780 Pam Diblasi - 5452 7742
March
School visits near you
February 29 Dennison State SchoolEmerald North State School
March 1 Emerald State SchoolSt Patrickʼs Primary School
March 2 Emerald State High SchoolMarist College Emerald
March 8 Blackwater North State SchoolBlackwater State SchoolBluff State School
March 9 Blackwater State High School
Our promo van is making plenty of school visitsthis year. Is your school getting its roll on yet?
Follow theTweeters
Training Tips
Shrekʼs Say
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Burnett Awards Aussie reps
Junior champs
Bill Cornehls
Brett Murphy
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Burnett Bowls Club acknowledged some of its best juniors in ajoint presentation day at the end of 2011.
Boasting an incredibly talented junior crop, many of these winnersare not only the clubʼs best but some of the best in the state.
Unsurprisingly, the formidable Millerick twins featured heavily amongthe trophies in their last year as juniors.
Bolivia was named the Dell Bawden Memorial Junior Bowler of theYear and was also the Peter Walton Tyre and Batteries 14-18 Juniorsingles winner.
Cassandra edged out her twin to take out the Del Baxter & BettyMurray 14-18 Junior Consistency Singles.
The sisters also joined forces to take out the Barritts Butchery 14-18years pairs title over Paul Kajewski and Rikki-Lee Kemp.
Another multiple award winner was Jennifer Boutell, who made thestep up to the 2012 under-18 Queensland squad.
Boutell won the Ros and Des Kemp Most Improved Junior Bowlerand was runner-up in the 14-18 singles.
The under-14 age group was dominated by Stephanie Buckholz andMatthew Bailey, who also teamed up to take out the BundabergTrophies pairs title.
Runners-up Luke Thompson and Justin Holder, also came secondin the Under-14 singles and consistency singles, respectively.
Bailey was also awarded the Under-14 Junior singles title overThompson and Buckholz received the Under-14 Junior Consistencysingles over Holder.
2011ʼs most inspirational bowler, Patrick Cotter, received the KeithWare Encouragement Award.
After a long-term struggle to get on the green, Cotter now has a spe-cially made wheelchair for him to help him further his love of bowls.
Georgia Melham-Mackay was the recipient of the Amy and DannyCummings Encouragement Award.
With the Millericks turning 18 this year, it will be a tight race to seewho can take their mantle in Burnettʼs junior ranks.
Bolivia named Burnettʼs best
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Queenslanders to don green and goldGold Coast products Rohan Wilson and Sean ingham have both been selected as Australiaʼsboys representatives for the upcoming Trans-Tasman test. The two talented players sat downwith us to talk about their selection and their final year in the junior competitions in Queensland.First of all, congratulations on being
selected as Australiaʼs under-18 boys forthe 2012 Trans-Tasman test. What wasyour reaction?
Rohan: It was good,yeah. When we firstmade it [into the under-18 development squad]in Victoria, I was surprised. There was fourQueenslanders in the squad, two boys and twogirls, so that was pretty good for Queensland.
Sean: Well, we were playing bowls at thetime. Rohan must have got his call before mineand I was still playing and had like five missedcalls on my phone when I got off the green.
I was stoked to be able to represent yourcountry at something you love doing. Youdream about this sort of stuff.
Were you surprised to get the call up overthe other squad members?
R: Yeah, there was eight in the squad [pickedat Junior Nationals in 2011] so six had to missout. Itʼs pretty hard in the juniors becauseeveryone is playing different disciplines so itwas hard to know if you would get in.
Were you worried about the possibilitythat one of you would be picked and theother would miss out?
R: I wouldnʼt have been too worried [if Seanhad made it], because I was just happy tomake the squad and if Sean got in, I wouldʼve
been happy because it would at least therewould be a Queenslander in the squad. Itʼsalways been New South Wales and Victoria soitʼs about time Queensland dominated a little.
Are you nervous about the test?
S: Weʼve never played for our country beforeso itʼs going to be good. With state games weknow what to expect, you get the feel for it. Thenerves are going to be there [in the lead up tothe Test].
R: Thereʼs only three tests as well. So, if youlose the first one, itʼs going to put morepressure on you to win the second and thirdtests.
Does it ease some of the nerves playingwith someone you know really well?
R: It wouldʼve been a bit weird to play withsomeone from a different state because youʼrenot sure how they play and what shots theywant to play. Sean and I have played districtstogether and a couple of state events so weknow each otherʼs games pretty well and weknow how the other likes to play.
This is obviously going to be a massivechallenge for you guys. How are you goingto prepare?
S: [Iʼll] have a couple of rolls. We play heapsof bowls on weekends, representing our clubs.
R: It sort of makes it harder because itʼsPremier League and Super Challenge seasonand the Australian Openʼs coming up andthereʼs all these different events to play andwith work and everything itʼs sort of hard to fitit all in.
Last year, you went to Auckland as part ofa development squad with state coach BillCornehls. How will that experience helpwhen you head to Invercargill in March?
S: When we went to Auckland, we got a feelfor the different surfaces over there. Itʼs crazywhat some of those guys there have to playon. Scoring range over here is really close, likeitʼs really tight. Over there, youʼve just got toget them within a metre. Itʼs harder to get themreal smack bang on target.
R: It was all right. We found they played a dif-ferent style of game to us. We play more of ayard shot, while they sort of had more of twotypes of shot, so you either draw or you drivebecause itʻs harder for them to do the yardshots. Thatʼs what probably caught us out onthe first day. We were trying to play the yardand they were playing more aggressive shotsat the head, and more draws.
S: Itʼs harder over there because of the sur-faces. Over here, itʼs a bit easier to play thatyard shot because the greens over there turna lot more than they do here.
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Age: 17Club: HelensvaleGreatest bowls moment: Winning the state boysʼ singles in2011Best achievement outside bowls: getting my driverʼs licenseand finishing schoolBest advice received: Trust your draw and back your driveGreatest Influence: My dad, Cameron.Favourite sport outside bowls: Cricket, rugby league andAFLPre-game routine: If Iʼm at Helensvale, I usually have a roastbeef roll and chips and just try to relax Most dreaded opponent: My dad because of his sledging.
Rohan Wilson
Ingham shows his talentin last yearʼs state juniorsingles final.
S: They always think weʼre not going to go so well down south be-cause the greens are so slow. Some people get the idea thatQueenslanders canʼt play on slow greens
R: They think that all our greens are quick. But when we go downthere, like NSW, we play on slow tracks and especially in Victoria,where itʼs even slower.
How do you think the Maroons will go this year with the extra at-tention from the other states?
R: I think this yearʼs going to be pretty good for us. Weʼve got fourguys from the team last year who are still eligible this year. But, someof the main ones from New South Wales and Victoria are turning orhave turned 18, so they wonʼt be there. So, weʼre going to be the oldiesof the bunch.
S: Yeah, theyʼve got a lot of younger people coming through. Thesides that we played against this year at nationals were all really expe-rienced sides and all their players had played top grade down in theirstates for their clubs. So, this year, weʼve got that advantage. Thenagain, they could have those players there that we donʼt even knowabout yet.
A lot of the boys in the side this year will have played againstand with you, not only at state, but also at district level. Is there abit of rivalry between the Gold Coast guys?
S: In the state side, four out of the five of us are Gold Coast players.We all play in the same district so whenever district championshipscomes around, weʼre always out to get each other. But at the end of itweʼre all mates.
R: Itʼs tough because if Seanʼs not in a final or Iʼm not in a final, thetwo Leese boys are in the final. Weʼre always around if not gettingbeaten in the semis by each other.
S: The competition definitely helps your standard of bowls go up. Youknow youʼve got to play well to beat them.
R: Itʼs good for your state. Because four of us are Gold Coast boys,we know each otherʼs game and weʼre all good mates. Thereʼs nomixed emotions about it and youʼre more laidback about it. So, itʼsalways good heading into a test with people you know.
So, what are your goals for your last under-18 year?
R: Youʼve got to put more practice in because you know youʼve onlygot one chance at it. So, if you lose then thatʼs it for the junior career.So youʼve got to put a bit more into it. Itʼs good to see some moreyounger people getting through the ranks, like we did.
S: I donʼt have any concrete goals really. Hopefully, Iʼll win somejunior state titles up in Bundaberg.
And how are you going to approach the transition into opens?
S: Our standard of bowls has got to go up anotherlevel again.
You have both been extremely successful in Queensland juniorcompetitions over the last few years. Is it hard to perform at thelevel which is expected of you?
S: Yeah, expectations are pretty high from some people.
R: Some juniors look up to us so weʼre expected to do the right thingsand play well. You donʼt want to let yourself down either, though.
S: [Expectations within yourself] keep you going, I guess. If you settledown a bit, you might drop off a little bit so expectations can be a goodthing. They keep you doing well.
R: Itʼs also motivates me to improve. Itʼs like you know what you cando and so you try to push yourself that little bit more to try and standout, especially in juniors.
Looking to this yearʼs nationals, do you think more states will begunning for you after some really good returns in 2010 and 2011(Queensland won the overall trophy in 2010 and brought back mul-tiple medals last year)?
R: Weʼve probably got a big target on our back now. They want tocome out and beat us.
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Age: 17Club: BroadbeachGreatest bowls moment: Skipping the menʼs triples to the2011 QLD titleBest achievement outside bowls: finishing school (in2011)Best advice received: Bobby Marron always told me whenplaying a game, try to get [to the jack] as quickly as possible.Also, always to stay grounded.Greatest Influence: Ken Spilsted and my parentsFavourite sport outside bowls: Rugby LeaguePre-game routine: Zoning out and listening to musicMost dreaded opponent: My sister, Lauren, because shehas an ability to get inside my head.
Weʼll be playing against the likes of Case (Australian player MarkCasey] and other top bowlers. Those kind of guys donʼt give you muchroom to make errors.
R: It helps now, even in juniors, when you play for a strong club[Ingham plays at Broadbeach and Rohan is at Helensvale] even if youonly have one district player, theyʼre still pretty good. To play districtsin Queensland is a good achievement. Weʼre around the good playersnow and weʼll be playing against these top boys all the time. You reallywant to play well against them and make a good impression.
S: Also, playing with these sort of players, you realise that everyonehas a bad day. So if you do have a bad day, you donʼt get as hard onyourself because you see these guys do it. They all do it and it makesyou feel better.
Sean Ingham
Rohan, how has playing at a club like Helensvale with so manytop players helped your development?
R: You definitely learn a lot from them. The way they play underpressure and the way they play shots and when they play those shots.The first two years I played with [menʼs Queensland representative]Anthony Kiepe and I led for him for two years. Iʼve had games withNathan (Rice) and learnt from Nathan and Mark Casey. This year I waswith Brett Wilkie, so Iʼve played with them all.
It is really good experience in the big games because they help you,even if you are playing badly. They always try to keep you up for it. Itʼsalways nice to have some support.
I thought it would take a lot longer. A lot of them have been playing forlike 15 years and theyʼre just breaking into the Australian side whereasweʼve been playing for five and weʼre in the juniors team.
Sean, you recently made the move to Broadbeach. How has thathelped your development as a player?
S: Theyʼre really supportive, just like my old club. Broadbeach havegot a lot of future and theyʼre holding the Commonwealth Games.
Nerang built me up pretty well and a few of the guys there said youʼreprobably better off going to a better club and play with some betterplayers. The players at Broadbeach have had a lot of experience as
Wilson concentrates inthe 2011 junior singles
well. I played with Sean Baker heaps. He was really great to play withand heʼs young too. Heʼs left Broady now but weʼve still got othersthere.
What aspects of your game will you be focussing on improving?
R: End of the day, itʼs just consistency.
S: Trying to get nice and close all the time.
What would you say to other young bowlers trying to break intothe top level of bowls?
R: The best oneʼs probably to keep training and itʼs not all aboutwinning events. Itʼs about being consistent in events so you get noticed.If you make three finals in a year, itʼs better than not making any. Evenif you get to semis consistently, itʼs still all right.
Obviously you need to get away from bowls sometimes. Whatdo you like doing when you have time off?
R: Hang around with the family and spend time with my girlfriend(fellow Queensland player, Cass Millerick).
Follow thesebowls tweetersEach issue weʼll recommend some bowlingtweeters to add to your tweets for you to followso you can keep up with the world of bowls andconnect with those in the know.
Kelsey Cottrell is the Australian women’s singles representative. She has played over 150 international matches since her 2005 debut.Cottrell plays for Sydney’s St John’s Park and is studying Journalism(Sports Management) at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. She will be a key member of the 2012 World Championships team.
Wilkie is the current Australian men’s singles representative. He de-buted for Australia in 2009, the same year that he won the WorldChampion of Champions. In 2012, he will be attempting to regainthat title as well as juggling club, state and national commitments.2011 saw Wilkie reach a career-high world number two ranking.
He tweets pretty much everyday but won’t clog up your homepagewith spam and pointless retwists.
Wilkie travels around the world to play bowls and his twitter is like a140 character diary of his adventures and career, giving his followersa unique insight into the lifestyle of an elite bowler.
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As a journalism student, Cottrell provides great insight into what’sgoing on in her career in an interesting way.
Her messages of support to other bowlers also show the fellowshipin the sport of lawn bowls and point you to some of the other highprofile bowling personalities on Twitter.
Why follow him: Who:
Why follow her:Who:
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As a student of or new lawnbowls player, there are certainimportant areas that are regu-larly overlooked.
Some key aspects of the gamethat are often overlooked arecoaching, how to deliver a bowl,etiquette, training, and a range ofother basic elements of bowls.
These things may be neglectedbecause there are so many thingsto remember in the sport or be-cause they can be so basic thatyou sometimes assume that youhave taken them into account.
If youʼre at school, a good ex-ample of this is thinking aboutyour morning routine.
Every morning you get up andget ready for school in prettymuch the same way.
Even though it is the same eachday, sometimes you forget to grablunch or homework or your sportsclothes or some other equally im-portant item.
Because you do it everyday, youfollow your routine almost auto-matically each morning during theschool week and, without real-ising, it can be easy to forget thedaily necessities.
As a bowler, you have probablyimproved a lot since you began inthe sport and most likely still havea long way to go to.
That being said, it would bealmost impossible for you to list allthat you have learned sincepicking up your first bowl becausemany of these lessons are simplyingrained in your game now.
Your coach or club starts to helpyou along the pathway to yourbowling career and they can helpyou to remember some of thethings you may have forgotten.
Looking specifically at the de-livery of a bowl, you might neglecta part of your delivery.
This could lead to missing an im-portant link of your delivery se-quence and in training or gamesyou may bowl nothing bowls.
So, how can you go back anddiscover what you missed unlessyour coach picks it up?
Well, the place to start is at thevery beginning.
Many new bowlers or juniorbowlers never take a close look at
the beginning of the delivery ortheir pre-delivery routine.
Because you are so focused onthe process of rolling a bowl toreach the best finishing point (thetarget area), bowlers often forgetto look at the sequence thatoccurs leading up to the deliveryof the bowl.
I know when I first startedplaying bowls, and I think youwould as well, I would ask why mydelivery resulted in a narrow,wide, short or long bowl.
Your total delivery can be im-proved by looking at what takesplace before the bowl leaves yourhands in a match.
This is where a pre-deliveryroutine comes into play.
When I was first playing bowls, Iwas more concerned with gettingthe bowl close to the jack andbarely thought about what I didbefore I delivered the bowl.
As I became more experiencedin the game, I began to considerthe difference my pre-deliveryprocesses could make to the endresult of my shots.
Having a pre-delivery routinehelps to organise all the se-quences that you go throughbefore stepping on to the mat todeliver your bowl.
A simple pre-delivery routinehelps the bowler to prepare toplay a bowl.
A regular pre-delivery routine willensure that you: have a suitablegrip on the bowl, check the bias,visualise the line, step on the mat,focus on the spot where you wantyour bowl to finish, get into the de-livery stance and, finally, deliverthe bowl.
If you donʼt have a pre-deliveryroutine, speak with your coach orclub coach and discuss how to goabout it and the benefits of such apractice.
As a coach I would recommendyou think about having a pro-cedure in place as a starting pointto assist you to do the same thingover and over when playing abowl, with either a draw shot orrunning shot.
If you do, the pre-deliveryroutine will be the same for bothshots and you will be able to alterthe swing of your arm to achieve
Establish a new routineBill CornehlsCurrent Queenslandcoach and Australianrepresentative bowler
1. Suitable grip2. Check the bias3. Visualise the line4. Step on the mat5. Focus on finishing spot6. Get into delivery stance7. Deliver the bowl
Creating a pre-delivery processwill help you do the little thingsright every time you roll a bowl.
these different types of shotswhen you want to.
If you have a pre-delivery routinein place already, thatʼs great.
If you donʼt have a routineplease consider seeing yourcoach and get them to help youestablish one to suit you.
Each person plays bowls differ-
ently so you need to establish anindividual routine .
Once you have a pre-deliveryroutine that feels right for you, youwill be less likely to forget to do thebasic things right.
Consistency is key and fo-cussing on the process ratherthan just the end result will helpyou perform better all the time.
Seven steps to success
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The time for new junior bowlers to shine is coming up fast.
The 2012 Junior State Championships will be held from March 31 –April 5 at Bargara, Tantitha and Burnett Bowls Clubs.
All of these clubs have produced good juniors in recent years, so theywill relish the chance to host the event in 2012.
A number of title races could go to anybody this year, most promi-nently the open girlsʼ singles.
Carly Griffiths from Pine Rivers has hogged the trophy for the pastfour years but, now ineligible, she has no way of nabbing a fifth.
Whoever succeeds Griffiths will be joining an exclusive club ofbowlers, many of whom have gone on to become household names.
National singles representative, Kelsey Cottrell, and her captainLynsey Armitage have both won the trophy in recent years.
The 2011 boysʼ singles champion, Helensvaleʼs Rohan Wilson, willbe back to defend his title.
Wilsonʼs title kicked off a stellar year for him, in which he collected anational bronze singles medal and was selected to represent Australia.
He will have the perfect preparation coming into the championships,with the Trans-Tasman test earlier in March sure to provide some toughmatches.
His Australian teammate, Sean Ingham, will also have a chance todefend his pairs and fours titles in what will be his final year in the juniorranks.
Your time has come
Queensland representative Natasha Jones will attempt to retain hergirls pairs title without the help of 2011 partner Jessica Parolin, whomoved up into Under-25s this year.
Jones has also lost her triples teammates Cass and Bolivia Millerickto their 18th birthdays, leaving the competition wide open.
The girlsʼ fours title is similarly up for grabs with Lauren Wilson,Elizabeth McKillop and Parolin all ineligible after their 2011 win.
Braidan Leese will be a massive threat in the boyʼs competition,moving out of under-15 competition this year.
Leese has won the boyʼs under-15 singles for the last three years andhas also been part of the winning open triples side in all of those years.
The boysʼ fours title winners will also be back for the most part,missing only Mitch Wilson.
The under-15 open pairs should be an interesting contest, with de-fending champions Josh and Joel Andersen moving up to the openjuniors competition.
Taleah Putney, the 2011 under-15 girlsʼ singles champion, will be onher home turf to claim back-to-back wins and should prove tough tobeat in her division.
Queenslandʼs best will battle it out in the Bundaberg region fromMarch 31-April 5.
If you would like to nominate in any of the disciplines, turn to pg 10.
Taleah Putney (right) with 2011 state under-15s singles runner-upBrittany Wiley (left). Putney is hoping to retain her title in 2012.
Shrekʼs Say
Sign up forAll Schools2012 now!
Are you a high school studentwho loves to play bowls?
Want to represent your schoolin the sport that you love andmaybe bring back a trophy foryour school?
Well, weʼve got the compe-tition for you.
The eighth annual All SchoolsCup state finals are being heldin September this year andweʼre looking for bowlers justlike you to get involved.
September might seem likeages away, clubs should bestarting to organise play offs todecide their representatives.
The competition moved fromtriples to an open pairs compe-tition last year and we will besticking with that format again,so all-girls, all-boys or mixedteams are eligible to play.
Teams will play three bowlpairs, with two nine end setsand a tie breaker if necessary.
Both members of the pair mustgo to the same high school, withTAFE students ineligible.
If you are the only bowler atyour school, try and get a friendto come along and representyour school in a club play-off.
If you are at a club with playersfrom more than one school, youare going to have to fight it outfor a place in the district finals.
Your club must host their play-offs in Term 1, with the winners
to be decided by close ofbusiness on Monday April 23.
Once you make it through theclubs, your district winner mustbe announced by July 23.
District winners will competeas one of twenty teams in theSeptember state finals.
If you make it to the statefinals, you and your partnercould join the ranks of some topbowlers who have won the prizein the past.
You donʼt need to be a bowlingmember to enter but you doneed some support from a su-pervising teacher.
Once you have a staff memberto help you, may need to have acompetition at your school todetermine your representative.
The successful team can thenhead to your schoolʼs closestclub and register for the state-wide competition.
You will then compete againstother schools, with the winnermoving on to represent the clubat district level.
With only two months to gountil club winners must be an-nounced, time is running out toget involved in Queenslandʼsonly school-based bowls com-petition.
For all the nitty gritty, go tothe Juniors page on the BowlsQueensland website,http://www.bowlsqld.org.
2011 winners Joel and Josh Andersen, from Pialba.
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