BOWLING

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 23 September 1907, Page 2

BOWLING

THE NORTHERN BOWLING TOUENAMENi. QUESTION OF A DOMINION AUTHORITY. Per Press Association. Auckland, Saturday Niglit. Delegates to the Northern Bowling Association held a meeting during (ho week to consider the best way in"which to receive and entertain the visitors who will be in Auckland next .January for the Northern Bowling Association's tournament, which takes place here. It was reported that all arrangements were well forward, and good entries were anticipated. A letter was receivd from the secretary of the Northern Association in Wellington stating that the Council, intends giving a £8 8s prize (which will practically be a third prize) to the club whose representatives had the least number of points scored against them during the tournament. The first and second prize winners at tile tournament will be debarred from winning this prize. The, necessity for one central governing body for bowling, such as the formation of a New Zealand Bowling Association, representative of tlie whole of the Dominion, lias been felt for some time, and with the great increase in the followers of the gillie in the Dominion, thy need for such an organisation is being more keenly felt, says the Herald athletic writer. There would be provincial associations to control-, all local matters. The formation of such an authority would enable uniform rules to lie adopted, while it is contended tint the government of the game could \ic conducted more cheaply than at present, and tournaments could be the more , easily arranged. It would also, in all . probability, induce the Australian asso- . ciations to arrange matches on a better i basis than can at present be done in ; New Zealand. It is estimated that ; there are between 8000 and 10,000 bowl- - ers, and yet there is no central organi isation to look after their interests. It is understood that all clubs in Auckland approve of the formation of such an association. The Auckland provincial association is very strong, for there are lb clubs affiliated, with over 1000 members, while four additional clubs are expected to join this season. Taranaki, too, has recently formed a provinical association, and Wellington, it is said, contemplates moving in the same direction. It is also on the cards that Canterbury will sever its connection with the New Zealand Bowling Association, which really represents Otago and Canterbury, and is purely a South Island organisation. An additional plea for a central body is that competitions could be held between the various centres for the championship of New Zealand, by means of, say, the winners of the Auckland pennant playing the pennant winners in Wellington, and so on. Such contests, if all the provinces could send their teams to one centre, would only mean two or three days' play, and at the same time lead to a greater spirit of eomaraderie among bowlers generally.