Welcome to this edition of your Club Newsletter.
Let me begin by informing members (if they do not know already) of the recent death of Ronnie Harper. Ronnie was an Honorary member of BIBC and he was a great supporter of our game in his day. Sadly, there is no-one writing about our sport in the way that Ronnie did.
Coffee Morning: Our yearly Coffee/Tea morning went extremely well, raising over £1200 for Macmillan Cancer. Many thanks are due to Nan McBride and her willing team of lady volunteers. Thanks, are of course also due to Alberta for supplying the tea and coffee. Talking of Alberta, think ahead and book a date for your Xmas dinner. Think of your Short Mat’s night out.
Data Protection Policy: Members please note: to comply with the new GDPR requirements, we need you to give us your consent for us to hold your data. If you have not yet ticked the appropriate box in your application/renewal form, please call in the office and do so.
CANCELLED GAMES: You may remember that last year we lost over £5000 in lost matches. Now, we do not want to repeat that again this year. Consequently, our Competitions Secretary, Chris Eadie, made out a sheet which was sent out with the summer packs asking “Do you really need to cancel that game?” Any games cancelled prior to 31st December will have TWO months to be played rather than one. All games cancelled after Christmas will still only have ONE month for the match to be played --- so PLEASE make the effort to postpone games and not cancel them completely.
To date we have had 63 games cancelled in September and October. 18 have been played, but 3 walkovers have been given at a cost of £108 to the club.
Subscriptions: The cut -off date for paying subscriptions (October 16th) has passed, and I’m sorry to say that a good number of members waited until the last minute to pay. That means they had over a month’s free bowling. I have to warn members that we are thinking of changing the cut-off date to much earlier for next year. Outdoor bowlers are aware that they cannot play a league game until they have paid their subs, so why not the same rule for indoors? As at the end of October we have 100 new members, but overall are 66 members down on last year!!! Remember our offer – introduce a new full member and you will receive a £30 voucher for the shop!!
Coaching: our Monday nights are going very well, with approx. 30 beginners attending weekly. They have informed me that they came to us because of friends letting them know what a great establishment we have here. So, thanks for spreading the word, and please help in making new members feel welcome in the stadium.
Thought: It is said that the Positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the IMPOSSIBLE.
General news: Not for the first time I have been asked to remind all bowlers not to hurl the rubber mats at the wall - in frustration (admittedly this tends to be a male habit). Mats cost money. And another thing – slow play! It was reported that only 8 ends were played recently in a Friday Pairs league game. Let’s try and reduce the conferences that sometimes take forever, especially when the next shot is fairly obvious.
Rubbish: Please, all you sweet eaters will you deposit your wrappers in the nearby bins and not in the ditch or left on the tables!!
Potters: Our Assistant Manager John has taken on the task of organising a BIBC tour to Potters next January. There will be 35 in the party, and John tells me he is planning a similar trip next year.
Dates for your Diary:
Sat 3rd & Sat 10th Nov Short Mat Inter Zone Championships
Fri 7th Dec Christmas dinners start
Fri 21st Dec Christmas dinners finish
Sat 15th Dec Enjoy your Christmas dinner with live music from “Tommy the Singing DJ”
Inter Stadium Results:
Men: Belfast1 91 v 66 Belfast 2; Belfast1 84 v 47 Co Antrim; Belfast1 87 v 54 Ballybrakes
Ballybrakes 88 v 71.5 Belfast 2; Ballybrakes 71 v 67 Belfast 1
Ladies: Belfast 63 v 51 Ballybrakes
Editor
Ken Armstrong