Welcome to Shepparton Park Bowls Club. We are a relatively young club formed from the merger of Shepparton Bowling Club and Kialla Park Bowls Club in 2004. We think lawn bowls is a great game and we are proud to have the best facilities in the area, if not in regional Victoria.This page will hopefully provide answers to some of the questions you may have about our club, lawn bowls and how you can become involved in this great game. If you want further questions answered you can contact anyone at the club or specifically those listed on our Contacts page. A brochure containing much of this information is available here. |
Where are we? | ||||||||
Our club is located at the Kialla Park Recreation Reserve. The best
access is via Raftery Road and Recreation Drive. There is plenty of
parking. A map showing our location is available here. |
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When can I play? | ||||||||
Affiliated members can practise whenever the greens are open. Pennant
matches are played on Tuesday and Saturday and there is a regular
tournament each Thursday. Other tournaments are played at various stages
throughout the season. A social competition which includes
non-affiliated bowlers takes place on Wednesday evenings and is very
popular. A full list of the seasons activities is available here.
Affiliated bowlers are able to play in tournaments at any club.
The weekly schedule for the greens is as follows: Monday:
Greens closed for maintenance until approx. 1pm. |
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Where can I play or practise? | ||||||||
There is a board near the northern entrance indicating which greens are available, and which direction to play. Please observe this sign as often greens must be rested to encourage growth. You may see a sign indicating East/West or North/South. This is because the direction of play needs to be varied to prevent undue wear. Please follow these signs. The Foundation Green is in front of the clubhouse, the Members Green is the other grass green and the Rose Green is the undercover synthetic green. |
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Club contact persons | ||||||||
There are many people in the club who can help you out and answer
questions you may have. The principal contacts are listed on our Contacts
page. |
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Club activities | ||||||||
We are not just about bowls. The club has many social activities for
members to enjoy. Each Thursday afternoon we have Happy Hour, which
starts about 5.00pm. Each month we hold a Chicken and Salad night where members and their guests enjoy a sit down meal, often with some form of entertainment. Our club has a packaged alcohol licence, and non-members are asked to sign the visitors book near the bar. |
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Categories of membership | ||||||||
We have three main membership categories, each with their own level of
entitlement. Full time students over the age
of 18 years pay a reduced club membership fee plus appropriate affiliation
fees, while retaining the entitlements of full membership.
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Membership application process | ||||||||
If you wish to become a member, you will need to complete an
Application for Membership form. These can be obtained from the notice
board beside the bar, or downloaded from the website here.
This will then be considered by the Board at its monthly meeting. |
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Costs | ||||||||
Playing bowls isn't too expensive, once you have your set of bowls and
uniform. This can be an expensive start-up, but they will last for quite
a long time. Membership fees for 2022/2023 are: Affiliated $180 and Social $50. Green fees for Pennant are $10, Club Events are $10 and tournament entry fees vary between $20 and $50 depending the length of the event and what is provided. |
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How do I get a uniform? | ||||||||
If you wish to play pennant, or just want to show off your club
membership when playing tournaments at other clubs, you will need to
purchase a club shirt. These are available at the club, and the contact
person for this is Joy Gardam, phone 0422 214 954. |
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Bowls discs | ||||||||
If you wish to play pennant, or just want to show off your club
membership when playing tournaments at other clubs, you will need to
affix a set of club stickers on your bowls. These are available from the
Tournament Office, and are free. |
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Club coach | ||||||||
This year the club has the services of a club coach. Many
senior members will also happily provide instruction in all aspects of the
game. |
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Membership Director | ||||||||
The Club has a Board member responsible for membership development.
This role is to encourage new members and initiate programs to assist in
this end. This year the Director is Leonie Freeman. |
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Club booklet | ||||||||
Each season we produce a booklet listing all planned club events,
contact people for the various activities of the club and a list of all
members and their contact details. You will be provided with this booklet
and membership card on payment of your annual subscriptions. The club year starts on May 1st and ends on April 30th the following year. |
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Newsletters | ||||||||
Each month during the Summer season the Board Secretary publishes a
newsletter to let members know what is happening around the club.
Members who have email addresses notified to the club receive an email
letting them know that the newsletter is available on the web site.
Those without email are able to collect a printed copy in the clubhouse.
By using email we can reduce printing costs, so please notify the
secretary if you are happy to receive communications this way. The
newsletters are found on the Documents page. |
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Tournaments | ||||||||
Tournaments are one-off bowls events held at this club, as well as
most other clubs. Affiliated bowlers are able to enter these events and
must pay an entry fee. Most tournaments require a team entry (usually
pairs, triples or fours). Sometimes club stipulate single entry, and
entrants are placed into teams. Tournaments are different to playing pennant, and are a great way to see other clubs and play with or against players you may not normally play with. Our tournaments are listed here as well as in our club booklet. Tournaments at other clubs are listed on the Region website as well as on flyers placed on noticeboards in the clubhouse. |
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Club events | ||||||||
Each season the club match committee conducts club championships and
all affiliated members are invited to participate. These championships
are conducted in various forms, with most being handicap events. This
allows newer or inexperienced bowlers the chance to compete on an equal
footing to better bowlers. Entering these events is a great way to
improve your game and also to learn from other bowlers. A small entry
fee is charged for each event. |
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Handicaps | ||||||||
The handicaps are re-calculated each season and are displayed on the
club noticeboard. |
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Club involvement opportunities | ||||||||
We are a volunteer club. This means that people undertake roles within
the club because they wish to help the club. Without volunteers we would
need to employ staff with the associated dramatic increase in cost to
members. New members are encouraged
to help out in some way so that they get the most from their membership.
You might be interested in helping out on one of the many committees,
help behind the bar or catering activities, or working on the greens,
cooking the barbecue, help with visiting corporate groups, etc, etc,
etc. The range of jobs is endless. For more information on how you can
become more involved in the day-to-day activities of the club, you can
contact anyone listed on the Contacts page or
the Bowls Committee page. |
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Sponsors | ||||||||
The club relies heavily on generous sponsors to help with our
finances. Without their generous support our club fees and charges would
need to be a lot higher. Our sponsors are listed here. When seeking
goods and services please consider our sponsors in your deliberations
and let them know you are from our club, so that they can see they are
getting value for their sponsorship. |
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Solving problems | ||||||||
If you experience problems or conflicts with other club members, there
are Welfare and Member Protection officers listed on the Bowls Committee
page
who you can contact to help resolve the issue, or you could approach a
Board member. There is a clearly defined conflict resolution procedure
set out in our club constitution. The Constitution is on the Documents
page. |
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Club management framework | ||||||||
The responsibility for the overall management of the Club rests with
the Board of Management. The Board is elected at our Annual General
Meeting in May each year. In practical terms the Board looks after the
finances, membership and facilities aspects of the club, and delegates
some responsibilities to Managers who report back to the Board. The
current board members, managers and club management structure are listed on the
Board page.
The Board delegates responsibility for the bowls activities to the
Bowls Committee. This committee has many sub-committees which handle
different aspects and segments of our bowls activities. The committees
and their members are listed here. |
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Bowls hierarchy | ||||||||
Lawn Bowls is a truly international sport. The sport is governed by World
Bowls, and many international events are held each year. Lawn Bowls
is also a sport played at the Commonwealth Games every four years.
In Australia, bowls is governed by Bowls
Australia, with each State and Territory having its own governing
body.
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