Thankyou AMF

I agree with all these positive comments

It was a fantastic event from start to finish

We spent days working on and trialing the pattern and the staff
were very , very helpful and did all the stuff we asked

John Coxon has been given a hard time over the years for being
a bit of a worry !!! But he was sensational, must be age mellowing him.....

All the staff were great and did such a good job and smiled doing it
It would be unreal to see that attitude day to day

The Air cond issue was a real issue but hey that's life , nobody died
and it really did not effect anything, except levels of BO for some !!

I do think the TBA deserve to get some credit for a change
as they did a fantastic job

I too hope it is at Rooty Hill (Shaggers Ridge) next year it is THE venue in Aust

Cheers
Geoff
 
Peter you are starting to worry me! when you want to start looking at Mens legs, your best bet is to move to North Queensland as they all wear Shorts up there whilst Bowling.

Having worked in Bowling Centres for 38 years, I can tell you that because they do not Air Condition the Backend, the whole system will struggle when it gets busy. The best place for Air Conditioning I ever worked at was Mackay, and thats one place that needed it.

willey
 
My thoughts on the week:

A very, very well run tournament - kudos to everyone involved in the whole setup, the professionalism was an absolute credit to the TBA, AMF and the centre staff :)
To me that was probably the most professional Nationals that's ever been run and it was excellent to see some of the pro's come out for the tournament, also wonderful seeing Lovey, Batson, Mackie etc around the centre too.
Yes, it was hot out on the lanes as others have mentioned, but with a reasonable amount of people in the centre and the high humidity Sydney gets, that was always going to be a bit of a factor.
Very nice centre too, my only bugbear with it was the approaches, it was the first time I've ever bowled on synthetic approaches and unfortunately I had a whole heap of trouble with them, lost my timing completely and everything that could go wrong ended up going wrong, but I'll learn from that next time.
All in all, a very steep learning curve that I probably needed to modernise my game in all aspects.
The RSL across the carpark was excellent, I think I put on about 3-4kgs from all the meals I ate over there during the week. Beautiful!
Wouldn't mind staying in the Novotel next to the RSL if it's held there next year, I heard it was nice and certainly a whole heap better than that cockroach infested, falling to bits "Fawlty Towers" (aka Blacktown Waldorf Apartments) where we were staying this year, complete with its own Manuel, rotting rubbish outside the door from Mr Ping's restaraunt, stench, grime and Sudanese gangs roaming the place. An absolute dive.
Speaking of the Sudanese gangs, one of our Rachuig boys ran into a bit of strife after the dinner with a group of them trying to mug him on his way to Maccas.
They picked the wrong bloke there! Belted the sh*t out of the main one and the rest scarpered. Could have been a lot worse though.

Was a good week, not for me personally, but for the sport as a whole it looked like a real turning point and hopefully the whole sport comes back together in time and supports what they're trying to achieve.

Great job everyone!!
 
Though not there myself I have stayed at the Rooty Hill RSL before and it is a wonderful venue but there is only one thing wrong with the sentiments on this thread.

The Australian Masters deserves to be showcased at the Nationals so we need to consult with AMF and centres and other third parties (potential sponsors) to come up with a similar scenario in which to run the event in the other states to continue with the rotation between states that should remain for the Nationals event.

The National is supposed to move from state to state so I don't think it would be an ideal situation to plant it in Sydney again next year or for a few more as that defeats the purpose of what the Nationals event is supposed to stand for.

I'm sure like everyone says it was a wonderfully run event by the parties involved this year but let's not forget it's easy to rejoice in the afterglow of an event and forget practicalities. Every bowler deserves the chance to bowl in the Nationals in their home state and I'm sure that would be most bowlers preference against travelling to the same place each year.
 
Youth Nationals is run in the same centre year after year after year after year....& Junior Nationals has been known to be in the same centre for consecutive years - if you have a top quality venue it should be utilised.
 
Terry

Whilst i agree that the nationals should move around the country (because a lot of people use nationals as a holiday and it is not very cost effective for the majority of teams), i would be quite happy for the nationals to stay in Rooty Hill for the next few years for several reasons.

1. The bowl is new and provides a lot of space, 34 lanes that were well serviced and hardly any breakdowns, and the staff are well informed, seem to know what is happening and were always helpful
2. It is right next door to accomodation, pretty good food and a gym (whilst not all the teams utilised that this year, im sure they will if it returns), and this reduces the need for teams to hire buses for the whole week.
3. The possibilty for additional sponsorship from the RSL and Novotel due to the increase in revenue during the period of Nationals (getting the RSL to provide transfers to and from the airport, discounted meals, discounted accom, more money into prizefunds or help subsidise travel costs for teams). Trust me the club certainly wouldnt lose money by having more people staying there.

Providing keeping the nationals at Rooty Hill for the next few years actually has a positive outcome for the sport of bowling via more exposure, more entries, increased sponsorship/funding and more memberships then i think bowlers wont mind so much. Its only going to benefit us in the end.

Maybe im being a little too optimistic however i think alot of people who want to see Australia part of the world stage in bowling might agree with me. Who knows, in 5 years we might be bowling for 250k prizefund against the worlds best.

Robbie T
 
In a perfect world the Nationals would move from state to state Terry however there are many things to consider. As Robbie said, 34 lanes with plenty of space meant that it was comfortable for bowlers and spectators alike. It also meant that you could bowl squads for masters at pretty much anytime, even while Rachuig was on. No need for hire cars or buses and people from Vic, Sth Queensland and obviously NSW, could drive. (majority of bowlers) While l'm sure it would be lovely to go to Perth, in reality you just aren't going to get the same entries as you will in NSW. For those that need to fly it's only 45min from airport, and Novetel across carpark with enough rooms for everyone.... to many positives to shift it...hopefully it stays there for many years to come.
 
People, TBA, everyone - please be careful - take a deep breath, etc.

In the wake of something so obviously successful, in what was an ideal centre, whose staff exceeded all expectations, with the TBA people likewise, even before we move to the accomodation, the RSL, and the other on-site facilities, - Why wouldn't everyone be enthusiastic?

Oh, and I forgot the MONEY. How could I forget THE MONEY?

Still, in the overall national long term interest of the sport ( for which to survive and prosper the 'entertainment' side must prosper), and centres need to be distributed all around the country, it is legitimate to very carefully weigh up the States interests, for both equity and cohesive reasons.

It is also, I believe, proper to be mindful of what percentage of our sporting players, from leagues upward, are catered for by independent centres, most of whom belong to ABPA.

All I'm saying is, don't rush to judgment.

Some other sports organisations have run into difficulties, as a result of being over reliant on one sectional interest or party, others have benifitted.

Just let's slow down a bit, huh?
 
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