Due to the latest restrictions just imposed by our Premier Daniel Andrews, the club will be closed from midnight Wednesday 8 July 2020 until restrictions are eased again.

Keep safe and stay at home.

David Quin, aged 92 and a long time member of MCC Bowls Club, died yesterday after a prolonged illness.  He played pennant for the club until required to resign for health reasons, some years ago.  An excellent club member for all his time at the club.  Although he was aged, there may be some members of the club who still remember him and would be pleased to be informed as to his death.  An excellent man in every respect.  There is no funeral notice yet or details re a funeral.  In this current Covid-19 time the idea of a formal large scale funeral is unlikely.  If any further details are required his daughter Catherine can be reached on mobile 0404017418.

UPDATE (28/6/20) – All BV Events Postponed again due to COVID-19 – more to come

With the Victorian Government easing restrictions on bowling activities, Bowls Victoria has released an altered version of the Victorian State Championships for Season 2019/20.

Instead of all events being played at Bendigo over a week and a half (commonly known as Champions Week) the State Championships will be played over 4 weekends starting in Shepparton (July 10-12), Geelong/Metro (July 18-19) and Warrnambool (July 24-26) for the Preliminary Rounds (R16, QF and SF) plus Super Saturday where Deer Park will host all the Finals on August 1.

MCC has 10 bowlers competing in this years State Championships across an impressive 10 events. See below the details of all our bowlers in action.

Good bowling to all our members. More details can be found on the Bowls Victoria website CLICK HERE

We’ll keep you posted on more details if spectators will be allowed and on any results we can.

Update 5th June 2020

Approval has been granted for us to now open our greens, please see below full details on the procedure and requirements for practice.

The Committee has decided that we will only open one venue at this stage due to the MCC and Council requirement to have a person monitoring the 20 people rule on a green. Accordingly, Swinburne Avenue will be open on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10.00am to 4.00pm. Our Bowls Director Ian Smith has volunteered to attend during these times to supervise the adherence to the guidelines below.  While this still doesn’t give all members the flexibility to have a roll when you want, it is still great to be back on the greens and I am hopeful things will progressively open up in the near future.

Unfortunately, the fences around Glen Street are currently being replaced and these greens will not be available until the week commencing 15 June 2020. The Committee will make a decision before the week commencing 15 June as to which venue we open from that week on.

Please note that the club is adhering to the guidelines below and any breach of guidelines may be subject to:

• individual being fined ($1,652) and the club being fined ($9,913)
• individual breaches may be subject to club disciplinary action if warranted.
• Club may be closed again by MCC and/or Council.

As per the BV Restrictions Guidelines for Clubs:

• Maximum of 20 people permitted per green (maintaining a maximum of 4 people per rink).
• 1.5m social distancing still required at all times.
• Spectators not permitted at the club unless required driver.
• Members must sign attendance book on arrival and departure, including contact details.
• Clubrooms open for access to toilets only.
• Bar facilities closed at this stage.
• Club social bowls is permitted but no club competitions can be played at this time.

The club will have the following general hygiene practices in place:

• Wash hands before and after play, hand sanitizer will be readily available.
• Refrain from shaking hands and ‘high-fiving’ others.
• Mats to be handled by only one person per rink.
• Jacks to be positioned by foot only.
• Refrain from handling other people’s bowls.
• All mats & jacks will be thoroughly cleaned before opening. Members to return of mats & jacks to tubs/buckets supplied after use.
• Do not attend the club if you are feeling unwell.

To manage numbers on the greens, and so members can check the availability of spaces, we have an online booking system to book a time on a green. Please put your cursor on the following highlighted link then hold control key and click to book your green time to practice: https://www.trybooking.com/BJVWI .  Instructions are attached explaining how to book and cancel. Please note that bookings will close at 9:00 am each day the greens are open.  After that time, please check with Ian Smith (0425 759 544) regarding late availability. Rink allocation for members will be undertaken by Ian Smith upon arrival.

Booking slots will be:

                10:00 am to 11:45 am

                12:00 pm to 1:45 pm

                2:00 pm to 3:45 pm

This allows time for members to leave before the next bookings are taken up by the next lot of members.

If you are having trouble or unable to book a time on the online then please contact either our Bowls Director Ian Smith (0425 759 544) or myself to book a time on your behalf.

Dear Members,

Further to the announcement from our Premier yesterday that sporting facilities can open from midnight tonight as per the Stage 1 guidelines, the club is awaiting approval from the MCC and the Boroondara Council to be able to open as per the guidelines. Accordingly, our club facilities will remain closed until these approvals are given.

Once I have approvals to open our club facilities I will inform all members and provide details regarding numbers and distancing requirements.

In the meantime keep well and safe.

Regards,

Ian McKay

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all are well and keeping safe.

Even though we are unable to bowl at the moment, the Committee is still planning for when restrictions are eased, and finally lifted. As mentioned previously, the AGM will be later than in previous years. If required, we will apply to Consumer Affairs Victoria for an extension to the time limit in which it must be held. This being the case, the current Committee will continue until the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted sufficiently to hold the AGM.

Again, in planning for future lifting of restrictions, if possible, we will aim to get all unfinished Season 2019/20 club games completed before Opening Day for Season 2020/21 (which is tentatively set for Saturday 5 September 2020). Of course this will only be possible if restrictions are lifted.

I will be in touch with everybody again as things evolve in the Covid-19 world we live in.

Regards

Ian McKay – Secretary
MCC Bowls Section

Bowls Victoria has advised that any official requiring re-accreditation during 2020 will have their current accreditation extended for a further twelve months due to Covid-19.

Fellow Bowlers

I hope and trust that you are all well and staying safe! At this time of the year we are generally finalising club events, preparing for the AGM and Presentation Night, having a roll on our greens and generally enjoying each other’s company. As you are obviously aware, the AGM and Presentation night have been postponed to a later date. There’s an old Greek saying , in fact it’s an Ancient Athenian phrase, that the great orator and aristocrat Pericles often used whilst addressing his peers, roughly translated is “we live in changing times”.

In the last week we were informed that John Burrows has passed away. John was an absolute gentleman, an excellent bowler and a great clubman. I got to know John over many years whilst playing with him at Glen Street in the winter months. I always enjoyed his company and it is very sad that as a Section  we were not able to attend his funeral to show him and his family the respect  we had for him.

Whilst writing this communique I have also been informed that Graeme Connelly had lost his long battle with cancer who was another massive contributor to our section. His hard work and commitment to mid-week bowls will be greatly missed.  Again, it is so sad that we won’t be able to show our respect for such a fine man.

On a brighter note, our Division 1 side won our section, then played off in a semi-final and won promotion to the Premier Division for next season. It was a very strange feeling  playing all our finals without spectators. After our win against Warburton BC we came back to celebrate at the club. Although we couldn’t enjoy the occasion with you, we certainly made the most it. Thank you to Michael Wilson’s wife Amanda, for driving me home, the rest of the team very sensibly took Ubers home, except for Peter Marget who caught an ambulance to the Box Hill Hospital and spent a night in emergency. He is okay now but I suspect his ego isn’t.

I would encourage you all to make a few phone calls or send an email to your fellow bowlers. I have received several calls from members just wanting a chat. We will get through this together but in the meantime let’s still communicate with each other. Stay safe and stay connected.

Best wishes to you all.

Manny Galanos

Chair – MCC Bowls Section