Victorian Junior Country Championships

[*chook :>*]

I would like to thank all that took the time this weekend to come to Mildura to compete in the Victorian Junior Country Championships.

Dispite the small turn out of competitors, both Wodonga and Ballarat made a huge contribution to this small event.

I am not sure of the singles, teams, doubles and all events results but the masters 1st 2nd and 3rd results are as follows:

Open Boys:

1st Arron Lock (Wodonga)
2nd Brenton Davis (Ballarat)
3rd Stephen McCabe (Wodonga)

Open Girls:

Alicia Garioch (Mildura)


Well done to the boys as these 3 were the only 3 open graded boys that entered and myself being the only open graded girl.


Graded Boys:

1st William Riggs (Mildura)
2nd Chris Treffers (Wodonga)
3rd Cambell McKenzie (Mildura)

Graded Girls:

1st Roxanne Seckold (Wodonga)
2nd Katrina Williams (Wodonga)
3rd Melany Lock (Wodonga)


Congratulations to these bowlers. The finals of the boys and girls graded were both last frame deciders except the Chris, going through undefeted, repo-charged. I would also like to congratulate Will on his terriffic effort entering with a 78 average and finishing with a 110+ . A 40 pin variance.

Stil a little dissapointed with the turnout...thanks again to Wodonga and Ballarat. It was heaps of fun.

Alicia

 

[Power Penguin]

Congratulations Alicia your a legend!!, keep up the good bowling mate.



Kelly.

 

[courtney]

Well done to all who bowled over the weekend.. I'm sure it was a very well run tournament as it always is..

A big congrats to Alicia and to my little buddy, chris (little dude) from Ballarat.. Who bowled exceptionally well over the weekend..

Congrats to all who bowled..

Court

 

[Eraser]

Hey Guyz....
Congrats to all that bowled and a further congrats to those who were successful in their attempts...
What ever happened to Junior Country Champs....will this tournament ever be what it used to be?
DaN

 

[Crawf]

It's sad to hear of the lower numbers, as i remember this tourney being a lot more popular when i was a junior. My last one was a few years back in Ballarat, it was a lot of fun. I remember i was stoked at winning a few medals against country vic's best! Anyway, congrats to everyone that competed. Hopefully we can get more juniors interested in this event again in years to come.

 

[*chook :>*]

It could be because of the distance most have to travel to get to Mildura... although the equal furthest from here, Wodonga was able to come.

In a way I am dissapointed as us up here in Mildura do take the time and make an effort to represent ourselves and contribute to as many tournaments as we can.

 

[Eraser]

As compared to the numbers of the weekend, the Ballarat champs u refer to crawf, was a better turnout, however, the Ballarat year was still a pitiful turnout in comparison to the tournaments face of 5 years previous. This tournament used to bring together Country Victoria's best junior bowlers. My question is, how will it regain it's intended audience?

At the moment, Country Champs is a step up for the intermeadiate level bowlers...helping them move along to open grade competition (Never used to be this way). Because of the format of championships, it doesnt just attract the good bowlers, but also the lower grade bowlers, because they are given the opportunity to compete against "their own".
2 years ago, i bowled Country Champs for the sole reason that it was in Ballarat, and it would seem silly not to bowl. A grand total of 1 female contested the open girls masters and champs(or didnt contest as it so happened, and still had to pay the 30 bucks entry fee for the masters even though she wasnt bowling, so she could take home the trophy, the title and glory that goes with it!)
8 boys contested the boys open division, which im sad to say was 5 more than they got this year...
Think of it from a bowlers point of view. Take myself as an example. Championships this year are in Mildura, a 4-4 1/2 hour drive from Ballarat. So lets say $80 bucks for petrol there and back. Accomodation, 1 night for few, 2 for most of us because its such a long drive...Lets say $70 to $100 each there. Bowling...16 bucks per event, so thats $48 for bowling, $5 masters qualifying and $5 all events....around $60...then masters the next day which is another 30. Add on top of that food and drink etc, and you're looking at around $300 per bowler. For a full time student, working casual for 8 bucks an hour and trying to save the little bit of cash that they earn, 300 bucks is alot of money...I could buy a new ball!
Dont get me wrong....a medal for your younger or less experienced bowler is a huge thrill, but for the open grade bowlers, a medal just doesnt justify the expenses...and i can honestly say, that i cannot see this tournament ever rekindling the flame that once burned....

Are there any suggested solutions to this problem?

DaN

 

[kimmyj]

Daniel,
have you ever thought what the Mildura bowlers have to go thru? they have to do that for every comp that they enter. im behalf of the Ballaratians that made the effort to get to Mildura and bowl in the Country Champs and id like to thank the Mildura bowl and all the other people who got there to bowl. it was a great weekend and i hope that the Country Champs keep running in the future it is a great event, so what if you dont get any money there was a time that juniors didnt get awarded money, its just like Country Cup all you get is a Trophy for that but you enter that and pay for it all!! its about representing your centre and having a good time.. that is just my oppinion.thanks

Kimberlee

 

[*chook :>*]

Sorry I've put the wrong results :x

Graded Girls:

1st Roxanne Seckold (Wodonga)
2nd Katrina Williams (Wodonga)
and
3rd Kimberlee Mattei (Ballarat)

Sorry Kimmy

 

[Eraser]

Kimmy,
Perhaps u misunderstood my post. I presented POSSIBLE reasons for the lack of numbers at championships over the past few years, i certainly wasnt having a go at those who did make the effort...
I know those reasons certainly contributed to my absence...
DaN

 

[Crawf]

Yeah i remember Sonja was pretty cut about still having to pay that year. In hindight, Sale bowlers probably made up a lot of the field that year in Ballarat.

Since then, not many of those bowlers bowl in Sale anymore, and i'm not sure whether the younger juniors have much idea about what the tournament is all about.

It's a good point about Mildura, because it's a huge call for those bowlers to come down to a centre like Sale, being so far away. Even when it was held at Sale last year, it wasn't so hard for numbers from the likes of Morwell etc. to come down, because it didn't cost so much to travel that short distance.

i guess that's the difference about Junior Country Cup. It's a team effort, no one is concerned about prize money, it's just all about centre rivalry, great fun and getting to know bowlers around Vic. Paying a bit for that is accepted, because it is so much fun and an awesome tournament. Just think how awesome it would be if all those bowling Country Cup bowled champs as well? That would be sensational!

As for how we get this ball rolling, i'm unsure. I guess somehow the reputation of the tournament has to be enhanced, to be something as loved as Country Cup.

 

[kimmyj]

Daniel.
Maybe you misunderstood my post. I'm saying you dont mind forking out the money for Country Cup but when it comes to something like Country Champs you do..whats the difference you only get a trophey IF you win Country Cup and nothing else i mean if the older Juniors dont make the effort to bowl in this event then it spoils it for the younger Juniors i mean alot of the centres are struggling for Juniors and when a torny like this gets thrown there way they need some of the older bowlers to support them.

Crawf i agree Country Champs would be awesome if they had everyone enter like it was Country Cup..

Kimberlee

 

[bowlrig]

Hi all,
One option that I have thought about is if you want to bowl Rachuig or De Veer you must bowl State Championships.

Maybe one way to get both Junior and Senior Country Championships back to what they used to be is that to be eligable to bowl Country Cup or Junior Country Cup you must bowl Country Championships.

Just a thought.

Also thanksyou to those that did make the effort to pop up to sunny Mlidura, it was a very good weekend, with quite a few bowlers acheiving personal best games and averages.

Rob

 

[Eraser]

The competitive spirit still lies in tournaments like junior country cup, and I have a ball at these events, and find the fun to be worth my money. Having bowled Junior Country Champs before, 2 years ago when there were more entrants than the year after and so on for mildura, i can honestly say that the champs are no where near the fun, nor the rivalry of JCC.
I think the champs are a great idea, however, it has to be worked out as to how this tournament will get its bowlers back....
Ryan, you and i seem to be working on the same angle here...maybe you're onto something without realising it. Perhaps you could make bowling Junior Country Championships a pre-requisite for bowling Junior Country Cup?
Any Thoughts on this?
DaN

 

[Eraser]

Lol, did i not read robs post or did we post at almost the same time....im freaked!
DaN

 

[Crawf]

Yeah i seem to have stumbled across that without even noticing! I think what Dan and Rob have suggested is probably the most logical road to take at the moment. One question i have is what were the numbers like at Senior Country Champs?

I guess it's no easy thing to implement though. How many events must prospective Country Cup bowlers participate in? If all events, is it logistically possible for some country centres to deal with all of these bowlers, as well as the younger grades, in a single weekend?

It's a great idea though. Give the younger kids a look at what they need to do to make it to Country Cup. There would be greater interest in the tournament around the centres amongst the older juniors, and this is bound to rub off onto the younger ones.

All that needs to be done is establish this as a precedent or 'the norm', and i think it would be accepted by the country bowlers as a required step to participate in Country Cup. It's certainly not unreasonable, as Rob pointed out in regard to state championships being compulsory for Rachuig and De Veer.

It also can't be a negative giving young bowlers more compulsory tournament experience, with a unique individual competition differing from Country Cup, that is still just as much fun!