- New Zealand Indoor Bowls
-
New Zealand Indoor Bowls Nickname(s) NZIB First played 1908 Characteristics Contact NZ Indoor Bowls Federation website Mixed gender Yes Categorization Bowling Equipment Bowl & Jack New Zealand Indoor Bowls (NZIB) is a form of Indoor bowls that is a highly competitive strategic sport. As its only international fixture is a Trans-Tasman event played under Trans-Tasman rules, it is a sport unique to New Zealand.
Contents
History
Early Development, circa 1908-18th September 1948
NZIB started in Auckland, New Zealand around 1908. It is thought to have first been brought to New Zealand by a Mr John Jenkins[who?]. Until 1925 however there was a need for bowls that took a consistent green. The answer came when English bowl manufacturer Taylor Rolph began to produce four inch lignum vitae bowls in sets of 16 that were guaranteed to take a consistent green, these are believed to be the first indoor bowls made specifically for the New Zealand market. Another problem faced by the pioneers of the sport was finding a suitable mat, after many attempts at finding a mat suitable for the game by other pioneers, a Mr W Miller manager of the Onehunga woollen mills was approached to design a special mat that played in a way that satisfied the needs of the game, he did so. Everything was in proportion and the size eventually decided on was 22ft long by 6ft wide, these measurements are still in use today. After these standardisations the game began to spread rapidly, by 1938 there were an estimated 10,000 bowlers in the Auckland area alone. By the mid forties NZIB was growing rapidly in most areas, as a direct result this growth the New Zealand Indoor Bowling Federation (NZIBF) was formed on the 18th of September 1948.[1]
Post NZIBF Development, 18th September 1948-
The NZIBF is managed by an executive committee made up of 9 members all elected by vote. Canterbury, Hawkes Bay, Horowhenua, Hutt Valley, Palmerston North, Central Taranaki, South Taranaki, Wanganui and Wellington were the first member districts of the Federation. Waikato and Taranaki North joined in the 1949 but it wasn't until 1954 that the large Auckland Association affiliated, Their entry brought the total affiliated membership of the time to 21,000. Because the game has developed solely in New Zealand various rules have developed over time that make NZIB unique to New Zealand, Although seldom is there a major rule change, the NZIBF releases a NZIB law book every 5 years, one notable rule change was the completement of the harmonising of the game by introducing a 2" diameter Jack, as up until 1950 an outdoor jack had been used. It was around this time that Australian Bowl Manufacturer Hensilite first made its appearance in the NZIB market, Hensilite is now the sole brand of Indoor Bowl in use in New Zealand.[2] A bowl suitable for use in NZIB as defined by the '05 NZIB law book should have these characteristics
- 1.A set of bowls should be in a set of 16, 8 of black and 8 of a contrasting colour
- 2. They shall have a draw of not less than 840 millimetres in a run of 5.50 meters on an approved testing table.
- 3. Their size and weight should be within the following limits (i)94.5-100 millimetres (ii) 624-700 grams
Membership
New Zealand Indoor Bowls is made up of 37 centres and 767 clubs covering all of New Zealand. Membership peaked in 1963 with 73,100 affiliated members, today it has an estimated 30,000 members currently affiliated. Many members are attracted to the sport due to the competitiveness and skill required to successfully compete. [3]
This is an example of a player kneeling on two Knees using the pincer grip,this photo was taken during the semifinal of the fours at the '07 nationals
Stance
There are three main stances used by players of NZIB
- Kneeling on one knee
- Kneeling on two knees
- Crouching
Scoring System
A game of NZIB is made up of a series of ends,the winner of the game is the team with the most points when all ends are played or when the time limit is reached. Depending on the rules of play as dictated by the organisers of the competition, if and when draw results either
- a) A deciding end is played
- b) The scorecard is marked as a drawn game
International Competition
International competition only takes place bi-annually and takes place only between New Zealand and Australia on a home and away basis. Each country has different rules and conditions so to even the playing field the match is played on special mats which are longer and thicker than the ones commonly used in New Zealand, but shorter than those used in Australia. The match is also played under a different set of rules due to the variations between the two countries.
Each team comprises the top 7 Men and 7 Woman from each country. They combine to play in Mens & Womans Singles, Mens & Womans Pairs, Mixed 8 Bowl Pairs, Mixed 6 Bowl Pairs, Mens & Womans Triples, Mens & Womans Fours and Mixed Fours. Games consist of 3 sets of various ends. Each team that wins their set wins the Australasian Medal with the overall scores being combined to decide the winner of the Henselite Trophy.
NZ has won the trophy 14 times to Australia's 4. Australia however are the current holders after defeating NZ 37-29 in Broken Hill, Australia in May 2009. Australia's first win since 1991.
Garry Flewitt and Ron Inglis have won the largest amount of Australian medals and share the highest honours. While Flewitt is still a current member of the team Inglis no longer plays for NZ. Dean Gilshnan from Manawatu is fast catching up to the pair. Among the Trans Tasmans top current players is Simon Thomas, Canterbury who has won his last 17 games in succession for NZ, and Australia's Monika Korn has won 13 successive games.
National Competitions
Junior Singles
Each Year each district selects one under 18 bowler to compete in wellington for the NZ Junior singles. To qualify for this event you need to be under 18 be affiliated to a club/centre and to of one the junior singles district comp. This event is also leads into the NZ secondary schools pairs and singles. This is a great event to get more young Kiwis to get involve with bowls
Paterson Trophy
The Paterson Trophies were introduced in 1964 as a means of enabling more districts to participate in high level inter-centre competition. The holders of Paterson Trophies at the end of each season compete in a round robin play off for the Welch Trophy this includes Singles, Pairs and Fours. Currently the Paterson Trophy is held over an area of six zones.(see below)
- Zone 1. Roskill & Districts, Northland, Auckland, North Harbour, Thames Valley, Counties,
- Zone 2. Poverty Bay, Hawkes Bay, Waikato, Tauranga , Bay of Plenty.
- Zone 3. Manawatu, King Country, Central King Country, Wanganui, Taranaki, North Taranaki.
- Zone 4. Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, Upper Hutt Valley, Horowhenua, Bush Ruahine, North Wellington.
- Zone 5. Buller, Marlborough, Canterbury, Ashburton, Nelson, Golden Bay-Motueka
- Zone 6. South Otago, South Canterbury, North Otago, Otago, Central Otago, Southland.
For 1989 districts were divided into twelve zones. A round-robin competition was staged within each zone. The winner of zones one and two, three and four, etc., played off for a Paterson Trophy. The six Paterson Trophy winners then met in the Welch Trophy.
From 1990-2004 the Paterson Trophies were run as follows: Zone 5 & 6 which had four districts meet in a round robin on the fourth weekend in June. Zone 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 competed on the third complete weekend in July. The winners of zone 5 & 6 meet on the Sunday of that weekend and the winners of each competition won one of the six Paterson Trophies (Zoning from 1991-2004 shown below)
- Zone 1 - Northland, Counties, Roskill & Districts, Auckland, North Shore
- Zone 2 - Waikato, Tauranga, King Country, Central King Country, Taranaki, North Taranaki
- Zone 3 - Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay, Hawkes Bay, Wanganui, Manawatu
- Zone 4 - Upper Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, Bush Ruahine, North Wellington, Hutt Valley, Horowhenua
- Zone 5 - Nelson, Golden Bay-Motueka, Buller, Marlborough.
- Zone 6 - Hokitika, Canterbury, Greymouth, Ashburton.
- Zone 7 - South Canterbury, North Otago, Otago, Central Otago, South Otago, Southland
Paterson Trophy Winners (When possible zone numbers are in front of name.) Year Winning Center 1989 Manukau, Waikato, Hawkes Bay, North Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury 1990 Manukau, North Taranaki, Manawatu, Upper Hutt Valley, Marlborough, Otago 1991 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.Hawkes Bay,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5&6.Golden Bay/Motueka,7.Otago 1992 1.Auckland,2.North Taranaki,3.Hawkes Bay,4.North Wellington,5&6.Nelson,7.Otago 1993 1.North Shore,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.North Wellington,5&6.Nelson,7.Otago 1994 1.Roskill&Districts,2.Waikato,3.Hawkes Bay,4.North Wellington,5&6.Nelson,7.Otago 1995 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.Hutt Valley,5.Golden Bay-Motueka,6.Canterbury 1996 1.Auckland,2.North Taranaki,3.Manawatu,4.Hutt Valley,5.Nelson,6.Canterbury 1997 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.Wairarapa,5.Golden Bay- Motueka,6.Canterbury 1998 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.Hutt Valley,5&6.Canterbury,7.Otago 1999 1.Northland,2.Tauranga,3.Manawatu,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5&6.Canterbury,7.Otago 2000 1.Auckland,2.North Taranaki,3.Manawatu,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5&6..Nelson,7.Otago 2001 1.North Shore,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.North Wellington,5&6.Canterbury,7.Otago 2002 1.Auckland,2.North Taranaki,3.Manawatu,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5.Southland,6.Canterbury 2003 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5.Nelson,6.Otago 2004 1.Auckland,2.Tauranga,3.Manawatu,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5.Canterbury,6.Otago 2005 1.Roskill & Districts,2.Tauranga,3.Manawatu,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5.Ashburton,6.Southland 2006 1.Roskill & Districts,2.Waikato,3.Wanganui,4.Upper Hutt Valley,5.Canterbury,6.Otago 2007 1.Auckland,2.Manawatu,3.Canterbury,4.Tauranga,5.Upper Hutt Valley,6.Southland 2008 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.Manawatu,4.Hutt Valley,5.Canterbury,6.Southland 2009 1.Roskill and Districts,2.Tauranga,3.Manawatu,4.Hutt Valley,5.Canterbury,6.Otago 2008 1.Auckland,2.Waikato,3.North Taranaki,4.Hutt Valley,5.Canterbury,6.Otago Welch Trophy,
The Welch Trophy was founded in 1951 and is considered NZIBF's premier inter-centre challenge, the title of which is hotly contested,although the format has changed over the years the Welch Trophy is currently played for in a national final between the six Paterson trophy holders for that season
Welch Trophy Winners Year Winning Center 1989 Waikato 1990 Otago 1991 Waikato 1992 Auckland 1993 Waikato 1994 Waikato 1995 Waikato 1996 Manawatu 1997 Waikato 1998 Manawatu 1999 Otago 2000 Manawatu 2001 Otago 2002 Manawatu 2003 Otago 2004 Manawatu 2005 Upper Hutt Valley 2006 Waikato 2007 Auckland 2008 Canterbury 2009 Canterbury 2010 Canterbury NZIB Nationals
The Nationals is the premier open Tournament of the NZIB season,almost every affiliated member aspires to winning a nationals title. Currently they take 8 days of intensive play to complete.[citation needed]
The titles contested for during this time are:
- Singles
National Singles Championaship Winners Year Winning Center 1950 H Hubbard, Wellington 1951 J McGuiness, Wellington 1952 C E Minifie, Waikato 1953 O Jordan, Taranaki 1954 G McDonald, Hutt Valley 1955 C W Hancock, Manawatu 1956 J Pirrett Jnr, Auckland 1957 A H Thomas, Wellington 1958 R J A Pinhey, Hutt Valley 1959 W Wells, Wellington 1960 J W Woods, Wellington 1961 G A Keith, Mid Canterbury 1962 T Burr, Waikato 1963 B McLennan, Waikato 1964 L Bellis, Greymouth 1965 R McK Bethwaite, Wellington 1966 S Johnstone, Southland 1967 J C Michie, Hutt Valley 1968 R Cumberland, Waikato 1969 G N Taylor, Canterbury 1970 C Taylor, Auckland 1971 K Darling, Otago 1972 K Boothby, Taranaki 1973 G Dunlop, Bay of Plenty 1974 T Wright, Waikato 1975 B O Stewart, Auckland 1976 G Barnes, Canterbury 1977 R Fleming, Auckland 1978 R Dockary, North Wellington 1979 R J Frelan, Waikato - Pairs, won by Blair Spicer & Rob Osborne, Canterbury '09
- Triples(Added in 1993), won by Fred Persico, Hayden Warnes & Chris Moffat, Nelson '09
- Fours, won by Joseph Zino, Richard Correy, Denise Clarkson & John Zino, Hutt Valley '09
Special trophies
- Patrons Cup,For the centre with the most game points gathered by its members during the course of play. Won by Canterbury '09
- Truth Cup,For the woman going the farthest in the national singles. Won by Sue Burnand, Ashburton '09
- Bob Malcolm Memorial Tray, The married couple going the farthest in the national pairs. Won by Simon & Julie Thomas, Canterbury '09
- Cliff Thompson Trophy,Junior(Under 18 as of the 1st of March of the year of the championship)that goes the farthest in the Singles won by Teri Anderson, North Wellington'09
- Kath & S.E.N. Smith Trophy,Farthest senior(Over 65 as at 1st of June of the year the championships are played)won by Audrey Martin, Canterbury '09
- Robertson Trophy,Player of the Tounement won by Fred Persico, Nelson '09
References
- ^ http://www.nzindoorbowls.co.nz/ NZ Indoor Bowls Federation website 'History tab'
- ^ http://www.nzindoorbowls.co.nz/ NZ Indoor Bowls Federation website 'History Tab'
- ^ http://www.nzindoorbowls.co.nz/ NZ Indoor Bowls Federation website About NZIBF tab
External links
Categories:- Bowls
- Sport in New Zealand
- Bowls in New Zealand
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
