Bowls North Harbour AGM & Awards Report 2023 – Lindsay Knight

The excellent season Hobsonville enjoyed not only on the green but with also for its innovation and successful recruitment ideas off it, was recognised at the Bowls North Harbour’s annual awards function held at the Browns Bay club at the weekend.
Hobsonville was named the centre’s club of the year, a thoroughly deserved honour, even considering the exploits of other strong clubs like Birkenhead, Browns Bay, Mairangi Bay and Takapuna.

Takapuna’s Lauren Mills was named the centre’s supreme bowler of the year, having won the women’s award as well. Browns Bay’s Neil Fisher won the men’s bowler of the year.

Again, there were many other creditable contenders within the centre including Orewa’s multiple centre champion Elaine McClintock and internationals and national championship winners in Selina Goddard and Tony Grantham.

Other special awards went to one-to-five male bowler of the year, Shaun Goldsbury (Takapuna), one-to-five female bowler of the year, Gaye Horne (Mairangi Bay), volunteer of the year, Colleen Rice (Mairangi Bay), coach of the year, Graham Dorreen (Takapuna), greenkeeper of the year, Tony Rickerby (Takapuna), umpire of the year, Brendan Wilson (Orewa), administrator of the year, Jenny Wilson (Manly), official of the year, Pete Sheehan (Browns Bay), President’s Cup, Raewyn Thomas (centre treasurer, Orewa).

Winners and runners-up in both centre and national championships received their awards, as did the centre’s Commonwealth Games national representatives, Grantham, Selina Goddard and Graham Skellern.

And those who achieved gold stars in centre championships received their badges: a foursome from Birkenhead, Trish Croot, Millie Nathan, Connie Mathieson and Daymon Pierson and Takapuna’s Trish Hardy, while Elaine McClintock received a second bar to her gold star.

Former sports journalist Wynne Gray, now a Takapuna club board member, was a thoroughly accomplished master of ceremonies and conducted a diverting interview with one of the centre’s stars, Selina Goddard.

At the annual meeting Neil Connell was elected president in succession to the retiring Maureen Taylor. Mike Beretta became vice president and elected to the board were Laurie Kean and Tony Popplewell and re-elected were Garth Partridge and Robyne Walker, with Trist Croot halfway through her term.

A modest increase from $23 to $25 was approved for membership fees as were two motions to make minor adjustments to the composition of the board to enable it to operate with greater flexibility.