Gallow Bowls Junior section - summary of the season 2008-2009The junior section had up to 18 regular players over the last year. The ages ranged from 5 to 16 years, most being boys.

Gallow Bowls Junior section - summary of the season 2008-2009

The junior section had up to 18 regular players over the last year. The ages ranged from 5 to 16 years, most being boys. Generally playing on Friday afternoons at 4.15 pm they enjoyed a mix of structured skills and team playing.

There were two friendly competitions against other clubs, some drawn from the Norfolk Bowling Club with whom we have an excellent relationship, and also Pentney, Hunstanton Oasis and North Walsham. Competitions are an integral part of the development programme and almost all of the juniors took part in these.

The season started last autumn with the Anglian Junior League, played at Potters Leisure Resort. This resulted in a Gallow team winning the senior age group. Other competitions were attended at Norfolk Bowling Club, the Pentney IBC open tournament, and North Walsham IBC, the latter being won by a pairs team comprising two brothers from the Gallow club.

The County stage of the National School of Excellence was held in Norwich, and players performed well, winning through to heat two. This event is a structured tournament consisting of skills stages and then round robin stages. One Gallow player finished 4th overall, playing well enough to get invited to the Regional heat held at Chesterton IBC at Cambridge, an excellent result for a new player aged only 11.

Morrison's Supermarket very generously donated money for the benefit of the junior section, and introduced at an inaugural competition. Some of the money has been used to purchase a trophy, intended for the annual “Young Achiever” and this was presented at the event, which was also attended by young players from other Norfolk Clubs. The trophy will be presented in future at the Club's Finals night when trophies for all other Club competitions are presented.

Three of the young players featured regularly in the Club Men's “B” team, playing against other Norfolk Clubs, and did extremely well.

Following discussions about club identity for the juniors, a club member offered to provide club shirts for them. This generous offer was accepted, and our youngsters have worn these with great pride. Our thanks go to the member concerned, who has asked to remain anonymous.

During the next few months the club will be re-structuring the coaching format as part of the move towards accreditation as a “Clubmark” standard club. This accreditation is a first move in revising our methods into the framework proposed by Sport England.

The 2009-2010 season will start in the autumn, and anyone interested in taking up the sport should contact the Club, asking for their details to be passed on to Bryan Barnes, the Junior Coaching Organiser.

A group of Gallow juniors during a coaching session in December 2008