Bowling

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 71, 16 December 1937, Page 12

Bowling

'Roamer. ")

PLAYERS KEPT BUSY Final Round of Shield on Saturday COMING T0URNEYS /

(By '

The Hawke's Bay Bowling wntre entertained a party of 48 members of the Manawatu Centre last Saturday and judging by the remarks of the visitors, they were well pleased with their short stay among us. They played in Napier in the morning, and in Hastings in the afternoon. The weather kept fine except for a short, light shower, which did not interfere with the arrangements. These inter-centre visits are to be lughly comlnended for, apart from in* creasing the populafity of the good old game, they foster a greater spirit of friendship among bowlers. As Mr W. Ross, the president ofo the Hawke's Bay Centre said, when welcoming ihe Manawatu players, it is hoped to visii will be made an annnal one, with & return visit by the Hawke's Bay centre. A New Club. , A number of enthusiasts got together recently at Otane and decided to form a bowling club. An area of ground has been donated and with the promise of a good memberehip the success of the club is assured. It will probably get going next season. "Roamer" will be pleased io hear from time to time news of the club 's doings for insertion in this col'm'ii:. Entries For Tourneys. The Kia Toa Club will hold an open pairs tourney on December 28 and 29, for which entries close at noon on December '20. The New Year tourney of the H.B. Centre will be held on January 1 and 3, and judging by the numbers of teams that have already been put up on the notice boards in the various pavilions, there is going to be a record entry. Secretaries should note that entriea close on Suturday, Dec. 18. Shield Competition. The fourth and final round of the District Shield Competition will be played on Saturday, and much interest will centre in the results. Waipukurau;, Kia Toa and Havelock North are leading in that order with only a few points between them, so that each of these clubs will be out to win. Dominion Tourney. Excellent entries have been received for the Dominion tourney to be held at Dunedin in January, but it appears as if Hawke's Bay will ,be represented by only one team. The majority of players prefer to patronise tournaments nearer home than go long distances. A Word to .Selectors, _ ' ' There is much more in picking a rink than in picking your best bowlei's, " writes "Rubber" in an exchange on "Advice to Seelctors." Bowls is not an individualistic game like tennis and it is not a game where team work alone is impcfrtant and where there is no room for the individual, such as football. It combinee the two, and perhaps that is where, to a great extent, the charm of bowls lays. But it has its difficulties in competition play. No difficulty arises when four clubmates meet on the green for a roll-up. The friendly spirit is there from the start. Everyone feels at ease and the atmosphere is conducive to good play. But what is the case when a rink, composed of men who are perhaps almost strangers, play? Everybody knows that in a club with a large membership it is hard for skips to knoif and understand tlie peculiarities of all, and that is why in choosing a team there is more to be considered than in the mere selection of a player because he is a good bowler; nobody would suggest that that should be overlooked; but much more must be considered. Would the four mix well with each other? Would thoy "fit in?" Has the skip the" match-win-ning temperament? Sometimes it will be found acfvisable for sele&tors to consnlt their skips before announcing the final choice, and it might be well for them to "test out the gfound" and find what they think of So-and-So, or even keep an .ear open to hear what So-and-So thinks of the skip. You may think that these are only small points — and so they are, but their consideration may just make all the differenee in the world both to a team's success and the enjoyment the members of it d» rive from the game. Game in the Dark. One Wellington club recently finished a particular competition in the dark — with the aid of matches. Such a happening is not unknown among bowlers, but what lent interest to this particular evening's play was that there was a shortage of matches, and there was a frnzied hunt in the clubhouse for discarded matches whicli could be relit from matches which were about at the end of their career of usefulness.