HOT – Weather. HOT – Competition. HOT – Bowling.
What a spectacular day of bowling we had at Poole Park on Monday 8th August. 33 young bowlers from across Dorset came together to compete for trophies and titles of Under 18’s and Under 12’s champions for 2022.
Sid Steele ably assisted by Carol Thomas issued scorecards and order of play. They kept all the scores throughout the day. Penny Cresswell organised all the markers and umpires and made sure the day ran smoothly. Julie Leake, who had been responsible a lot of the pre-tournament planning, brought lots of Bowls England items for the raffle and the youngsters loved the chance of winning any of these prizes. Tony Ives, our chairman, supported the event but had to leave early due to a hospital appointment. Carol Williams organised all the trophies and ran the raffle with help from some members of Poole Park.
All players started off playing a round robin in groups of 3, with the winner of each section progressing to the singles knockout and the other two joining together to form a pair in the plate knockout.
By lunchtime we had our group winners, for the U12’s they were; Lucie Rankine McIntosh, Hadley Harding, Evie Hennessey and Bleu Wilson. And the U18’s were, Emma Langridge, Marc Collins, Millie Tuck and Liam Cockwell.
Suncream was plastered on and water drunk by the gallons – as they all continued to produce a fine bowling with determination and passion shining through.
By 5pm we had all our finalists lined up. The U12’s saw our defending champion Lucie Rankine McIntosh taking on Bleu Wilson and in the pairs Smaranda Rampelt and Max Monks played Mollyanna Trim and Josh Monks.
In the U18’s defending champion Millie Tuck played Marc Collins, whilst in the pairs Max Way and Matthew Yarnold played Luc Collins and Tom Gilley.
Could the lads beat the girls in the singles? Who would win the pairs, all to play for. Of course, the lads couldn’t beat the girls! (sorry lads, next year) Both Lucie and Millie defended their U12 and U18 titles successfully but the pairs was a different story.
Lucie Rankine McIntosh was presented with the Tony Ives u12 singles Trophy
Millie Tuck was presented with the Carol Williams U18s singles Trophy
Max Way and Matthew Yarnold won the U18 Pairs Tournament and were presented with the Sid and Joy Steele U18 pairs trophies.
Smaranda Rampelt and Max Monks won the U12 Pairs Tournament and were presented with the Sid and Joy Steele U12 pairs trophies
The day was made even more special with the support of not only both Dorset Men’s and Ladies County Presidents, who kindly marked the two singles finals, but also Bowls England Past President Paul Robson, who came along for the afternoon and presented all the players with certificates and the winners with their trophies.
This year we bought some new trophies, an extra Sid and Joy Steele plate for the U18 pairs. It is a pairs competition and previously the winners had to share the trophy.
We also introduced two trophies for the U12 pairs.
We decided that the winners of the U12 and U18 Singles should receive a trophy to keep forever and they will receive a “Star” trophy each year.
The youngsters all seemed to like this and there was fierce competition to win them!
We appealed to parents, guardians, coaches, committee members etc for prizes for a raffle to raise funds to pay for them. Thank you to all those who contributed and we raised enough to pay for the trophies and the engraving......with a little bit to spare.
A big “Thank you” needs to go to a good number of people who helped make this day so successful. Firstly, the parents, guardians and coaches who supported and cheered all day. All the markers, umpires and officials who gave up their day and the Bowls Dorset Youth Academy team for organising and running the event. I’m sure nobody would mind me giving a special thanks to Sid whose tireless work behind the scenes ensures events like this run so smoothly and are so successful.
Our final thanks go to Poole Park for letting us host the event at the club and for providing everyone with refreshments and drinks throughout the day. -Thank you, Linda and team and Tania. And a big thank you to Louise Collins for taking some great photos whilst also watching her two sons Marc and Luc play their games.
Here’s to next year!
Under 12's photos
Under 18's photos
More photos
Report of facts and figures from Sid Steele
DYBA Tournament Poole Park 2022
The annual tournament was held at Poole Park Bowling Club on Monday 8th August 2022 in glorious sunshine.
A total of 33 youngsters entered with 20 on the U12’s age group and 13 in the U18’s age group. They represent 5 clubs within the county these being Ferndown, Poole Park, West Moors, Blandford and Branksome Park. Within the age groups the young bowlers were split into groups of 2, 3 or 4 and they played a singles round robin competition with the winners progressing into the singles knockout competition. The remaining bowlers then played a knockout pairs competition. In total there were 50 matches played each of 6 ends which results in over 2400 bowls being delivered.
At the semi-final stage the youngsters still involved were:-
U18’s singles: Emma Langridge v Marc Collins, Millie Tuck v Liam Cockwell
U18’s pairs: Max Way and Matthew Yarnold v Maria Martins and Zach Evens Luc Collins and Tom Gilley v Leo Bramley and Daria Rampelt
12’s singles: Hadley Harding v Lucie Rankine- McIntosh Evie Hennessey v Bleu Wilson
U12’s pairs: Arthur Syms and Eloise Osborne v Smaranda Rampelt and Max Monks Charlie Crossin and Jack Surrey v Mollyanna Trim and Josh Monks
After some excellent bowling and close matches the finalist were:-
U18’s singles: Millie Tuck v Marc Collins
U18’s pairs: Max Way and Matthew Yarnold v Luc Collins and Tom Gilley
12’s singles: Lucie Rankine- McIntosh v Bleu Wilson
U12’s pairs: Smaranda Rampelt and Max Monks v Mollyanna Trim and Josh Monks
The results of the finals were:-
U18’s singles: Millie (for a second year in succession) U12s singles: Lucie (for a second year in succession) U18’s pairs: Max and Matthew U12s pairs: Smaranda and Max Congratulations to all the winners and well done to everyone who entered. The trophies were presented by Paul Robson the BE President 2021/22
Message from Bowls Dorset Mens President Allan Weech
Thank you for inviting me to the event. The day was very well run and the young ones looked as if they really enjoyed themselves although some of them were quite upset when they put down a bad wood. The competitiveness is definitely there. All in all there was some very good bowling by all concerned; a real tribute to all the coaches involved.
Well done to Poole Park for holding the event and to all the organisers of the Academy. As Paul Robson said "the largest and best academy in the country". That is some commendation.
Message from Bowls Dorset Ladies President Carole Beckford
What a lovely day. Superbly organised by Sid Steele the day got off to a good start with twenty under twelve’s and thirteen under eighteen’s battling it out in groups of three in a round robin of six ends each game with the third of each set marking for their opponents (with a little help from grown-ups!). No time to hang about – everyone got on with it straight away. Behaviour, both on and off the rinks, was excellent and very soon winners and runners up in the first rounds emerged. Those who did not win formed pairs and played each other; thus, all competitors were fully engaged. After a lunch break there were semi- finals and finals to play, however all the competitors received certificates which were presented by Paul Robson, Past President from Bowls England who had a word of encouragement for each of the players. Finally, winners were presented with their Trophies and Plates, and everyone went home tired but happy. A big thank you to Poole Park for hosting the event, to the two umpires who showed such kindness and support to all competitors, to Penny for giving clear instructions, to Carol for the excellent raffle and finally to all the parents, grandparents and friends who supported such a well-run day.
We asked this year’s Under 18 Tournament winner, Millie Tuck, to let us know how and when she started bowling and what she has achieved.......
When I was 7 years old, I became interested in playing bowls after attending an open day at Blandford bowling club. This open day contained a mixture of fun activities including the target, the wedge and skittles, which made the sport extra interesting and fun matching my age at the time. After this, I joined Blandford bowling club as a junior member alongside a few of my friends, some of which are still my teammates now. Sid and Joy Steele who ran the junior section at Blandford at the time ensured that our training sessions continued to remain fun and enjoyable to keep us all interested in the sport. These fun sessions allowed Sid and Joy to correct and shape our techniques so that they would be effective on the bowls green. As I grew older, they began to introduce the rules of the game to me, so that I could begin to play in bigger, more competitive matches. Last year, after 8 years of training by Sid and Joy Steele, which I am very grateful for, I made the decision to move to Poole Park outdoors, to increase the level of competitive bowls that I was playing at.
Sid and Joy, along with some other extremely generous bowls coaches and helpers, set up the Dorset Youth Academy in 2017 to help all young bowlers, up the age of 18, develop their ability, technique and competitiveness by regular coaching sessions, interaction with other young bowlers across the county, and organising competitive matches against other counties and clubs. I entered the youth academy when it was first set up, when I was 12. So, over the past 5 years it has shaped me into the bowler that I am today. The academy has not only developed my bowling ability but has also encouraged me to improve my confidence and social skill when on a bowls green. This has meant that I am now able to successfully read a head and communicate this information to my teammates.
A few years ago, the academy has set up and run an u18 and u12 singles tournament, which included a pairs plate competition for those who didn’t make it past their group stage. This year I have won the u18 competition for the second year running, receiving the Carol Williams trophy. These tournaments have allowed myself and other junior bowlers the chance to play against other junior bowlers of different ages and abilities. This helped me to progress when I was younger, because I began playing bowlers who were better and more experienced than me. Giving me the opportunity to watch how they played and learn from them, to develop my own game. Since joining the academy, I have been county u25 pairs runner up, county u25 singles winner two years running, representing Dorset at Leamington. Indoors, I have reached nationals in the u18 singles and u30 double rink as well as being selected to be travelling reserve in the u19 England squad going to Northern Ireland in October, representing Dolphin (my indoor bowls club), none of which would have been possible without the Dorset Youth Academy.
Thank you Millie a great inspiration to other youngsters. We wish you well for your future Bowling career.
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