It was Bowls England awards time again on Saturday (21st Feb) and Wadebridge was shortlisted for another award, after a success as Club of the Year last year. This time it was the Junior Development Program of the Year – a new award.
Seven made the trip to the Athena event centre in Leicester to see how we got on, and to support two other Cornish (indeed Group 2) nominees. Roy Lane of Kensey Vale was up for the Unsung Hero, whilst Bodmin were looking to emulate Wadebridge with Club of the Year.
(L to R) Kevin S, Barbara, George, Harry, Kevin J, Aly, Mark
Aly and Mark took a couple of days to reach Leicester, taking in Gloucester and the Cotswolds. Barbara set out even earlier, staying with family and friends. Kevins J and S travelled with George on Saturday morning, picking up Harry on the way after he finished an indoor match in Bristol.
Wadebridge was on a table front and centre, which last year was a good omen. Tables seated ten, and we were only seven. The three extra were David Parr and Christine Hore from Bowls Cornwall, and John Gunning who nobody knew. It turned out that David and Christine were both unwell and unable to attend. (Their uneaten food was well dealt with.) John was from Northamptonshire, representing a Team of the Year shortlister, their Mixed Over-60s Inter-County Team. The rest of his colleagues were on a nearby table. Our Cornish colleagues were on another neighbouring table
Sadly the omen was wrong. We were beaten by That’s How We Roll 24, a juniors project from Durham county. This award was near the beginning of the programme. At least we found out quickly and could focus on cheering everyone else. George and Harry were sitting right by the walkway to the stage and started high-fiving everyone who went past, whether we knew them or not (mostly not).
Unsung Hero came somewhat later on, near the end. Roy is entering his fiftieth, and final, year as Fixtures Secretary at Kensey Vale, and our table threw its (very) vocal support behind him as his citation was read out, and even more loudly as he was announced as the winner, in a popular vote.
We didn’t have to wait long to be on our feet again. Our new friend John won Team of the Year. And then came the big one: Club of the Year. The winner was not Bodmin but Crawford Park BC, Northumberland.
Barbara departed. The rest of us hung around till midnight, mostly on the dance floor, then back to hotel/Airbnb (delete as appropriate) and home on Sunday.
