Bowls Australia media release: 31 January 2012

 

Finalists named for bowls night of nights

 

Bowls Australia has today (31/1) announced 22 of the nation’s finest lawn bowlers and administrators as finalists for the prestigious 2012 BCiB Awards Night.

 

Testament to his stellar performance over the last 12 months, including bagging gold and silver medals at the 2011 Asia Pacific Championships and claiming the title of World Champion of Champions, NSW’s Aron Sherriff has been named as a finalist for both International and Male bowler of the year.

 

Sherriff will go head-to-head with two of his four’s team mates from the Asia Pacifics, Queensland’s Mark Casey, who took out the International award last year and Queensland’s Nathan Rice who seized gold and silver at the Asia Pacifics making him a strong chance to be named Male bowler of the year.

 

Following the success of last year’s inaugural Award’s Night which saw the male and female top honours given to Casey and his club, state and national teammate Lynsey Armitage, this year’s event will be held at Melbourne’s Park Hyatt on the eve of the Australian Open, Saturday, February 18.

 

The categories and finalists include:

 

·         BCiB International bowler of the year – Mark Casey (Helensvale, QLD) and Aron Sherriff (Ettalong Memorial, NSW)

·         Male bowler of the year – Nathan Rice (Helensvale, QLD) and Aron Sherriff (Ettalong Memorial, NSW)

·         Female bowler of the year – Karen Murphy (Cabramatta, NSW), Natasha Van Eldik (Raymond Terrace, NSW)

·         Under-18 female bowler of the year – Kristina Krstic (Manning, WA) and Renee McPharlin (Balaklava, SA)

·         Under-18 male bowler of the year – Dylan Fisher (Melbourne, VIC) and Sean Mawdsley (Warilla, NSW)

·         Professional administrator of the year – Paul Barnes (Moama, VIC) and Greg Kelly (Tweed Heads, NSW)

·         Rising Stars Volunteer administrator of the year – Mark Cowan (Sunbury, VIC) and Peter Delaney (Mulgrave, VIC)

·         ACEIT Coach of the year – Jack Hawkins (Cronulla, NSW) and Faye Luke (Bowls SA)

·         Official of the year – Peter Delaney (Mulgrave, VIC) and Beth Young (Mt Barker, SA)

·         Story of the year – Patrick McErlean (Lawn Bowls World radio show) and Tim Noonan (Channel 7, SA)

·         Bowlswear Volunteer of the year – Pamela Hockings (Engadine, NSW) and Valerie Savage (Webbcona, VIC)

 

After receiving a large number of high caliber nominations for this year’s awards, Bowls Australia chief executive officer Neil Dalrymple said reducing these down to just 22 finalists was no easy task.

 

“We would like to congratulate the finalists who have all provided a major contribution to the sport over the last 12 months,” Mr Dalrymple said.

 

“The quality of entries was exceptional and it was difficult to narrow the field to just two for the 11 categories.

 

“After the success of last year’s Awards Night we expect an outstanding evening which will be a great opportunity to celebrate the amazing talent and people who make up our bowls community.

 

“Like last year the night will be the perfect way to commence an exciting week of bowls at the Australian Open,” he said.

 

Limited tickets are still available for the Awards Night. Priced at just $75, the package includes a two course meal, beer, wine and soft drink. Tickets can be purchased at bowlsaustralia.com.au or by phoning (03) 9480 7100.

 

Thanks to Bowls Australia