Headington Bowls Club
 
Founded 1924
Green:  Osler Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9BH
Telephone: 01865 761340
 
Affiliated to Bowls England, Oxfordshire Bowling Association & Bowls Oxfordshire Ladies

Members Booklet

FOUNDED 1924

 

Headington Bowls Club

 

MEMBERS BOOKLET

First Edition 1st March 2020

 

Headington Bowls Club

Osler Road Headington, Oxford

OX3 9BH

 

Telephone 01865 761340

CONTENTS

 

Introduction and Objective of this Booklet

Management of Headington Bowls Club

Coaching

Bowling Activities

Competitions

Representative Matches

Etiquette

The Game of Bowls

Monitoring and Review & Safeguarding / Welfare

Introduction & Objective of this Booklet

This booklet has been produced to provide members, particularly those new to the Club, with basic information about how the Headington Bowls Club operates, what happens at their club, where information is located, who to speak to and what they can do to help the club as it moves forward.

The aim of this booklet is to help new members settle down quickly and enjoy their time at Headington BC. The Club administration is managed by volunteers who willingly give their time to ensure the Club runs smoothly. Which also includes the Premises, the Gardens and the Green. The Bowls Green is looked after by a group of willing volunteers, with the support of professionals, Avonmoor Associates who do the treatment / maintenance on the green.

As time passes the current volunteers need to be replaced by other members. In this way the workload is shared, and the Club will continue to prosper.

As with any organization, procedures change over time, so this booklet will be updated periodically to reflect those changes.

If in doubt about anything, please speak directly to any member of the committee.
The names of Committee Members are shown on your copy of the Fixture Card.

It is hoped members will find reading this booklet interesting and worthwhile.

Any constructive comments to enable us to improve this document would be welcome and can be advised to any Committee Member.


 

Management of HBC


CLUB RULES

The Club Rules are determined by the Members and updated to suit changing circumstances. A copy of the rulebook is given to each Member on joining. Club rules can only be changed at an AGM.

COMMITTEE

Your committee are responsible for the activities at the club and meets regularly through the year.

It is chaired by the President, and comprises the Secretary, Treasurer, and 7 club committee members.

VOLUNTEERS

Each committee member carries out an allocated duty on a voluntary basis.

The committee can also seek or ask any other member to help the Club with a voluntary duty, especially if they have an expertise that the Club needs at any given time.

COMMUNICATIONS

The club aims to ensure that members are kept fully aware of events being held, how the club is faring financially, and future activities.

The Secretary will issue copies of the minutes to any member who would like to ensure they know what is happening in the club on request.

The Treasurer submits an up-to-date financial statement at every committee meeting. This is also available to any member on request.

MEMBERSHIP

Subscriptions are due by the 30th April each year. The amount is determined by the previous year’s AGM.

Part of the subscription fee to the Bowls Club goes to cover affiliation fees to the various bowls bodies. These are Bowls England, Oxfordshire Bowling Association and Bowls Oxfordshire Ladies, any County Cup Competition fees will be added to individual bowlers’ subscriptions.

To make the subscription match the length of playing time available during the season, new members joining after the 30th June will receive a 50% reduction.


COACHING

The club provides free coaching to existing members or any member of the public who wishes to come and try bowls.

Coaching bowls are available, and the only requirement is that flat(heelless) shoes are worn.

Coaching sessions can be arranged through the Bowls Coach or Club Secretary.
Any person is entitled to three free coaching sessions before they must join the club.

BOWLING ACTIVITIES

All members of the team are responsible for ensuring that Jacks, Mats, Bowls Gatherers and Scoreboards are returned to their rightful place at the end of any play on the green.

All members playing in a match must wear the Club shirt. They must also ensure they have club stickers on their bowls.

It is preferable for bowls shoes to be worn. But in the short term, considering that other forms of footwear can be so much cheaper, the main requirement is that all shoes must have a totally flat sole, the footwear should be preferably white.

The use of mobile phones for texting, calls, internet access or social media contact is not allowed on the bowls green or surrounding walkways. They must be set to silent during the formalities before and after a match.

Every person playing in a representative match must pay a rink fee to cover the cost of catering. This will be collected by your skip after each match.
It is necessary when playing on the green in a competition that a rink booking is made. The rink booking sheet is on the club notice board and you must show the commencement time of the game. This ensures that the green keeper can plan his work without affecting your game.

Any other play, normally referred to as a “roll up” can be played at any time.

Every Tuesday afternoon throughout the season there is a triples competition on the bowls green.

COMPETITIONS

When playing competitions, it must be noted that County and National competitions take priority when choosing rinks to play on.

Members are eligible to enter all County and National competitions. Forms are provided to the Secretary by the bodies concerned.

Members are notified which Club competitions are being arranged each year and can enter these by completing an entry form. This form will be provided to each member at the beginning of the outdoor season by the Competition Secretary.

A range of competitions are planned, some of which are designed to ensure that novices as well as experienced bowlers have a chance to appear in a final.

The Competition Secretary will provide a program of playing dates when all entries have been received.

There are also a few Open Competitions available for entry. Entry is up to the individual members. If in any of these competitions prize money is available to the Club, entry fees will be paid by the Club, who will also cover the cost of catering. However, club members will be expected to pay the normal rink fee.

REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES

All the matches arranged by the Fixture Secretary are mostly Mixed, with just a few Ladies only games, all the matches are open to all Playing Club Members.

The club have two teams that play in the Oxfordshire Bowls League, (A & B teams) the game consists of 4 rinks (16 bowlers) which is a men’s only competition, the games are played on Thursday  evenings through the season.

The two league captain’s place notices in the Club House for members to register their interest in playing in league games. The Two Captains then select their squads.

It should be noted that in Friendly mixed matches there will be lists of matches (on the match notice board) for bowlers to put their names down for games, this helps the club captain to pick the teams.
For Men’s League matches, the Captain reserves the right to select the team that will play.

All players in a match must wear a Club shirt.

ETIQUETTE

An area that members need to be aware of is the etiquette of bowls. It is a sport with a long tradition of sporting behavior. New bowlers are invariably left to find out for themselves what is expected of them, or they find themselves confronted by another bowler who delights in telling them what they are allowed and not allowed to do. This latter approach can be very disconcerting, and in our club, we want every new bowler to feel welcome in a friendly environment. This section on etiquette is included to help new members understand the sport whilst reading it in the comfort of their armchair.

1. Each bowler during a game is expected to be ready to bowl when it is their turn and to concentrate on the match.

2. Players are expected to be quiet and not move at the head end when a player is preparing to bowl. Avoid obscuring the rink number and rink markers from the bowler.

3. Be aware of players on adjacent rinks. Keep to your own rink and do not become a wanderer and distract other bowlers. Do not walk past the end of a rink when somebody is about to bowl.

4. Encourage and praise the rest of the team including the skip. Don’t applaud a team member who has outrageous luck and admit a fluke shot with grace.

5. Compliment your opponent’s bowls and don’t wave your opponent’s bowls through the head.

6. Minimise the distraction and interference with bowlers on adjacent rinks during movement between ends by walking, as far as possible, along the centre of the rink.

7. Be gracious whether you win or lose.

8. At the end of the game shake hands with your opposition. In a singles game thank the marker and offer to buy them, as well as your opposition, a drink.

9. After matches be prepared to offer your opposition a drink and socialise with them.

10. NEVER CRITICISE YOUR OPPONENTS, THE BOWLS GREEN OR YOUR OWN TEAM.

11. All members are recommended to read the Laws of Bowls to familiarise
themselves with laws governing the sport.


THE GAME OF BOWLS

Always arrive in good time.

Before a match, the Captain will normally stand on the green and hand out the score cards to the skips of each rink after calling out the names. You should then make your way to the appropriate rink. You should then shake hands with everybody on both teams wishing them good luck for the match ahead.

It should be noted that the person standing on the mat and their skip have possession of the rink from the moment that the previous wood came to rest until their own wood comes to rest. Once the wood has come to rest possession of the mat transfers to the opposing team. When you are not in possession of the rink you must retire away from the head.

The role of the lead is to deliver the jack to the length requested by the skip and then to deliver their bowl to rest as close as possible to the jack.

The number 2’s follow suit by delivering their bowls as close to the jack as possible unless the skip asks them to do something else. They will normally also record the score on the scorecard.

The number 3’s will be asked by the skip to either continue to build the head, play defensive bowls to cover positions where if the jack is moved the opponents could score many shots or to play attacking shots to either remove opposition bowls or move the jack.

The skips will play similar shots to the number 3 carrying the ultimate responsibility for the result of each end as they play the last bowls.

Once all the bowls have been delivered the number 3 with their opposite number will determine how many shots are to be awarded to the team whose bowl was closest to the jack.

If the bowls are a similar distance from the jack, then the person who challenges the number of shots requested by the opposition will measure the distance between the jack and the bowls.

No bowls are to be disturbed until these people have agreed the number of shots and they will then communicate the score to their skips.

No other players are to become involved in the measuring process and must stand away from the head and not comment.

As soon as the score has been decided the lead who will deliver the jack is expected to place the mat as quickly as possible.

The other lead is expected to use the bowls gatherer to collect the bowls and place them behind the mat. If the bowls gatherer is not used the members of the team will push the bowls back using their feet.

Monitoring and Review

  • The Headington Bowls Club Safeguarding / Welfare policy which can be found on the Main Notice Board in the Club House, will be reviewed one year after being introduced and then every three years or in response to significant new legislation by the Management Committee and amended as appropriate. Guidance from Bowls National Governing Bodies will be sought as part of the review process.
     
  • The policy will be monitored in partnership with the National Governing Body and Bowls Development Alliance procedures.