Ontario Lawn Bowls Association
ANNUAL SPRING MEETING
April 30, 2011
Quality Hotel & Suites / Woodstock, ON
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by the OLBA President.
In attendance: 19 Board members, 15 District Reps., 164 members, 2 Past Presidents and 2 Board
Appointees for a total attendance of 202.
1.0
Those present were welcomed by the president, followed by an “In Memoriam” time of
silence.
2.0
In her opening remarks, the President:
Mentioned that she knows of a family of bowlers in which the grandparents, parents and
offspring all bowled, a clear example that the sport of lawn bowling was for both young and
old. She thanked members of the board for the hard work that they had done throughout the
winter, the results of which allowed the OLBA to provide such things as the Annual, Website,
newsletter and a number of other services that keep the sport functional within the province
of Ontario.
In conclusion the president asked that any questions from the floor be written (including
name and club e-mail address) and passed to the secretary.
3.0
Minutes of the Fall Meeting, October 23, 2010
MOTION: Moved “That the minutes of the 2010 Fall Meeting be approved as circulated.”
Carried.
4.0
Financial Report:
Total revenue at October 31, 2010 was $249,426, expenditures were $236,423. Current
position April 2011 - Cash $42,025, Long Term Deposits $100,000, for a total of $142,025.
2011 Budget: Revenue, $166,500. Expenditures, $151,000. Cash position at year end
$194,072.
Notes on the Budget
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6.
Extraordinary expenses on the National Championships of $10,000, partially offset by a reduced travel
subsidy for Ontario representatives to the National championships.
The BCB Affiliation fees will be shown in future years as a Current Liability rather than income. this will
result in an apparent reduction in both the Income side and Expenses side of the books.
There is an extraordinary expense on Player Development to cover the cost of the new rule books. It is
offset with and increased income on Misc. Sales.
The reporting structure of the Finances is being changed to better reflect to the members our current
position and where their money is spent.
None of the membership moneys that have come in to date in included in the current financial position.
It is anticipated that we will be in a position to have $150,000 in term deposits by the end of 2011.
MOTION: Moved that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted. Carried.
5.0
Membership Awards:
On behalf of the OLBA, the Membership Chair thanked MVP Sports for their generous
contributions to the OLBA Awards Program.
Membership awards were presented to the Stouffville Lawn bowling Club who had 36 new
members and to Pickering LBC who had 31 new members. The award for the biggest
increase in junior bowlers went to Deep River LBC who had 18 new junior bowlers. Each of
the clubs received a new set of bowls courtesy of MPV sports.
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6.0
VOTY Award:
We were provided with the qualities and work done by this year's award winner, mentioning
that this individual had been an avid bowler for many years and had contributed to the sport
in that respect. It was also mentioned the work provided by this bowler within his own club.
He was greens keeper for many years, a coach and someone who went out of his way to
welcome new bowlers. The winner of the Volunteer of the Year Award award for the 2010
bowling season was a member of the Woodstock LBC.
7.0
Demonstration of Arm Extender:
A member of Windsor LBC demonstrated a piece of equipment for bowlers who have lost the
flexibility needed to play the game well. This item has a grip for the bowl at one end and a
rod and spring release on the end so that the bowler can deliver his bowl from the mat onto
the ground with kneeling or bending from the waist. He noted that this piece of equipment is
available from Australia through our regular equipment suppliers here in Canada.
7.1
Lawn Bowling Manager:
We were introduced to Lawn Bowling Manager which is a tool used to create a club's
website, manage lawn bowling club membership, league information and game results as
well as to communicate with existing and potential members. The annual fee depends on the
number of members. For a club with 100 members, the fee would be $29.95 per month.
LUNCH BREAK / MEETINGS - OLBA Officiating Committee and District Chairs
8.0
OLBA Board Appointees
8.1 Annual Editor
The editor announced that some club envelopes still needed to be picked up.
A calendar/day book is included in the annual this year and if it is helpful to members will
remain.
Sarnia is hosting a Bowl for the Cure (Breast Cancer) and all income will be donated to
the Cancer Society.
The board has decided to include a Good Deeds section in the Annual. Details are on
page 70 of the Annual.
The editor apologized to Dufferin LBC for the misspelling of their club name.
8.2 Coaching/Indoor Bowling
It was reported that the past year had been a testing one for Ontario. A Pilot course for
the Competition Introduction course was held in Guelph and we got five new coaches.
The Guelph club was thanked for their hospitality and to the five coaches for their
attendance. Three Community Coach Courses were held during the past year and
another 26 Club Coaches were qualified.
During the past year the High Performance Committee invited five coaches to attend
their camp in Arizona in order to work with an Australian coach who is the new Coach for
Team Canada. He has a lot of experience coaching in several countries. Because the
invitation was made at very short notice only one coach attended.
If any coach is interested in working and learning from a world class coach in how to
coach team Canada Athletes, they should send a notice expressing their interest to the
High Performance Committee. This is a working, learning experience and would be self
funded by the individual(s) attending the Camp. It is anticipated that this camp will
probably be in Arizona in January, 2012.
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There are two coaching courses scheduled in Ontario this year, as follows:
Sunday, May 15th at Pickering LBC
Thursday, May 19th at Galetta LBC
Any other courses will be placed on the website or on the Facebook page for Coaches
BCB Coaches.
Indoor: The indoor qualifier will be held June 4,5, and 6 at James Gardens.
8.3 Database Administrator
The administrator said that she was looking forward to working with everyone again this
year.
Club updates with regard to returning members, non-returning members and new
members should be sent to her soon after registration and prior to August 1st. The
update should be sent by e-mail if possible. Clubs should reconcile membership
numbers and if they have more members then they paid for the additional affiliation fee
should be sent to OLBA no later than August 31st. If you have fewer members then a
refund request form and unused OLBA stickers must be returned to her by August 31st.
Club Executive updates should be sent in before November 30th.
Club membership information can be found on page 16 of the OLBA Annual.
8.4 Website
The OLBA webmaster was unable to attend the meeting as he and his wife had a new
baby. The Past-President presented the following report on his behalf.
There is a lot of information on the OLBA website for members to access, including:
The Financial Statements, Fall Meeting Documents, Immediate announcements for clubs
and quick communications.
On the right-hand side of the website there are Live Links to the Go Lawn Bowl
promotional material as well as to advertisers who place ads in the Annual.
9.0
BCB Annual Meeting report
Board Meeting - February 4-5, 2011 Ottawa.
Two Ontario delegates attended the meeting with participation by four others..
The meeting focused on reports from Executive, Board, Committee’s and the provinces
throughout the two day sessions. The LTAD report was finalized and will be ready for
circulation early in 2011.
A major discussion centered on BCB governance with the idea of having less elected
positions contributing to the decision making processes to create a more efficient
organization. Papers concerning the issue of BCB governance were submitted for review and
a committee struck to investigate the procedure. I was included in the committee and
submitted a paper on BCB governance. Details of the conclusions of the group will be
forthcoming.
The Ontario position of international representation by winners of the Canadian
Championships was stressed and will be reviewed especially following the dismal
performance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This subject was cause for many different
views.
National Indoor Championships was discussed at length with a commitment by BCB to solicit
more provincial participation at the fixed British Columbia location with finals prior to the lawn
bowling regular season.
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10.0
Board of Directors
10.1 Achievement Awards
Two members from the Burlington LBC received Big Shot Awards for a perfect score of
8 during a MP tournament. Elmwood LBC is having their 100 years celebration on May
14th and received a plaque and certificate. Mitchell is celebrating their 120th
anniversary on June 4th. Windsor received two 20 year membership certificates. The
Director responsible for Awards thanked three board members for the assistance they
provided him since taking over the position.
In closing, he requested that club contacts use the forms that are located under the
AWARDS section on the OLBA website as this is more efficient and quicker.
10.2 Blind/Physically Challenged
OLBA has been successful in the application to include lawn bowling as a
demonstration sport at the 2011 Ontario ParaSport Games to be held in Sarnia, next
August after a successful debut at the 2009 Ontario ParaSport Games in Woodstock.
The application includes a singles competition for visually impaired and ambulatory
disabled bowlers.
There have been problems attracting bowlers from the visibility impaired group to
participate in the ParaSport program. The group has been successful in organizing
their own provincial and national competitions for blind and partially blind lawn bowlers
in past years, but are missing a great opportunity to promote the sport through an event
which highlights the sporting skills of athletes with disabilities.
The ParaSport Ontario program is funded by the province and major corporate
sponsorship.
10.3 Championships (Provincials)
The Chair reported that pennants and pins for District winners have been handed out at
the District play downs where often there are not many people in attendance. It is an
honour to win District championships and to give the winners the attention they
deserve, the pennants and pins will be handed out at the Provincial Play downs this
year.
She thanked clubs for sending in applications to host provincial play downs and the
following venues have been selected for the year 2012:
FOURS
PAIRS
SINGLES
MIXED PAIRS
SENIORS
NOVICE
Burlington
Fairmont
Elmdale
Niagara Falls
Windsor
Hanover
She also mentioned that a venue was needed for the Provincial Singles this year.
Kingston LBC will host this event.
BCB is looking for a club to host the 2013 Canadian Senior Triples and will be
accepting applications until September 30th.
In closing, she thanked the Championship Committee for all their help.
10.4 Championship Awards
The Chair was unable to attend the meeting so his report was presented by another
board member.
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In 2010 the OLBA made the decision to make changes to the uniforms and the
company that was chosen to supply the uniforms is Kukri. There were a couple of
issues in regard to inventory and we ran out of stock for a few sizes. For those of you
who won Championships last year that did not receive shirts, they will be sent to you as
soon as we receive our order for the summer. If your club is looking at getting shirts,
etc. please check out www.kukri.com. Kukri and the OLBA have become partners for
the next three years so any sales from other clubs will benefit the OLBA as well as your
club. Details of our sponsorship will be online soon as well as an official press release
from OLBA and Kukri.
The conveners for this year's championships have received the packages with both the
pennants and the pins.
10.5 E-BANTER
The E-Banter has been and will be sent to members on a monthly basis. The editor
thanked everyone who had sent in contributions and hoped they will continue to do so.
As well as OLBA news and announcements, he hopes to include club information and
special events.
10.6 FUNDING GRANTS
OLBA has been successful in their continuing application for Base Funding from the
Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. The four year program assists OLBA with the
province wide promotion and organization of lawn bowling.
OLBA Clubs can apply for funds to the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the New
Horizons Seniors Program.
Clubs can apply to Ontario Trillium Foundation on-line or by hard copy. Written hard
copy applications are required for New Horizons Seniors Program. In both cases,
OLBA will supply a letter of support to accompany each grant application and can
oversee the fund reporting process.
To date, Trillium has provided funds to lawn bowling clubs in over 145 instances
for a total in excess of $2,700,000. To date, this year four clubs have made
successful application tom Trillium for an excess of $40,000.00.
The New Horizons Seniors Program web site can be found at www.hrsdc.gc.ca .
Application forms are available but must be forwarded by hard copy.
New Horizons Seniors Program includes a component that is available to lawn bowling
clubs under Capital Assistance and provides grant funding of up to $25,000 to nonprofit organizations, to upgrade community facilities and equipment related to existing
programs and activities for seniors.
10.7 Greens
The Chair of the Greens Committee introduced himself. He was the greens chairman
at Burlington for many years and is now the chairman of the greens committee for
OLBA. The committee consists of another board member who will represent the
western part of the province and two who will represent the eastern part. The Chair is
in the center of the province and between them they should be able to serve all areas
with any questions or problems that might arise.
There is a package in each club envelope for your greens chairperson. The webmaster
has also set up a question and answer section on the OLBA website and the Chair
thanked another committee member for this work.
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There are to IPM workshops currently scheduled. May 11th at Chesley LBC and one
hopefully at Uxbridge LBC on June 11th.
10.8 Juniors
The Chair thanked the Woodstock LBC for hosting this year's Under 18 Ontario
championships which will be held June 25th & 26th.
In years past, there have been as few as 5 competitors at the Canadian Junior
Championships. Discussion were held between the chair, the OLBA Board and BCB to
have Canadian Junior championships played with a full field of competitors. At this
year's winter BCB meetings it was announced that Ontario will now send Gold, silver
and Bronze medalists in both boys and girls to the Westmount LBC in Montreal,
Quebec August 3rd to 6th for the 2011 Canadian Championships. He feels that this is
a good direction to be going in, in growing the youth movement. The more juniors that
have the chance to compete for National championships will spread the word about our
sport.
The Under 25 Canadian Qualifier will also be at Westmount LBC following the Under
18 Championships.
There will be 12 Junior tournaments this year which will provide the Under 18's with the
opportunity to gain points towards Bowler of the Year. With some hard work the
Lindsay will be hosting their first Junior tournament in August. He thanked all the clubs
that continue to host Junior tournaments every year.
In looking for a way to assist juniors with funding to go to Canadian championships, he
suggested that raffle tickets be sold. The OLBA Board accepted this idea. In order to
do this we need to do it legally and apply for a Lottery License from the City of Toronto.
It is hoped that this will be in place for next year.
He was approached by the gym teacher at the local elementary school in Peterborough
in December regarding his class coming for a field trip to their greens in May. On
March 22nd a bus of 34 students and 2 teachers went to the MLS in Toronto to try lawn
bowling and had a great day. He thanked MLS for making the arrangements to use the
facility. He also thanked a member from Cobourg who with his coaching expertise
explained the game and kept the students busy. The MLS was opened for the day at
no cost. He requested that he be allowed to borrow a short mat to introduce lawn
bowls to the rest of the school. With the help of the indoor club in Cobourg this event
was held on April 18th and 19th with four high school class and eight elementary
classes participating. Over 260 students. He hopes to plan day trips for classes in
May.
Hopefully this will inspire clubs across Ontario to get involved with schools in their area
and promote junior bowlers.
10.9 Officiating
RETESTING The Head Umpire for OLBA reiterated that ALL Accredited Canadian
Umpires residing in Ontario must be retested every three years. This requirement, set
out by Bowls Canada Boulingrin (BCB), has been in effect for several years and applies
to all umpires, irrespective of their years of service.
The Officiating Committee of OLBA via the Chair of the Committee, credits umpires
who officiate at District and Provincial Play downs and Canadian Championship events,
as having been retested as of the date of the particular event and revise their test date
accordingly. All Umpires who DO NOT offer their services for the aforementioned
events should contact their appropriate Zone Officiating Representative and make
arrangements to be retested at an early date. ALL UMPIRES who require retesting
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and do not make arrangements to be retested, will be removed from the
Accredited Umpire List effective January 1, 2012.
RULES The "Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark Edition, 2007" is now
redundant and has been replaced by "Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark 2nd
Edition, 2011" as issued by World Bowls and applies from January 1, 2011 or April 1,
2011 as decided by individual Member National Authorities. Included in the new rules,
are many updates and clarifications to specific working applicable to many Rules.
Law 18.4 has been changed to "In all ends after the first but apart from an extra
end, the winner of the previous scoring end should place the mat and then
deliver the jack and first bowl".
Law 23.5.3 of the new Laws of the Sport of Bowls, Crystal Mark 2nd Edition, 2011
gives National Authorities the discretion to change the minimum jack length from
23 m to 21 m.
After careful consideration, Bowls Canada Boulingrin, the National Authority for
Canada, has decided to change the minimum jack length from 23m to 21m for ALL
Play in Canada. This decision leads to a number of other changes to distances set out
in the Laws, as further detailed in Rules 23.5.1 to 23.5.3, and will necessitate changes
to the positioning of "hog line markets" at clubs across the country.
For safety reasons in particular, an exemption will apply for the Pacific Indoor Bowls
Club and the Qualicum Indoor venue, which may continue to use a minimum jack
length of 23m.
New rule books are available for sale at a cost of $7.00 ea (incl. HST). Rule Books
ordered after the Spring Meeting will be subject to shipping charges.
DATE STAMP ON BOWLS All bowls used by Players who are contemplating playing
games leading to Provincial/National/International events, are to bear a recognizable
stamp. Bowls marked "Coaching" or bowls with "DISKS/PLUGS" are not permitted no
matter what the date stamp is.
OLBA BOWL AND SHOE INSPECTION Due to the inappropriate use of a mixed set
of bowls in a District Play down in 2009 it has become necessary to enforce the Rules
more stringently. The Umpires used for District and Provincial Play downs will check,
and record the District, name of player, color of bowl, make, serial number, any
distinguishing marks, and shoes. Appropriate forms have been prepared and have
been included with each District Chair's package. Forms for Provincial Play downs will
be distributed by the zone Reps who are part of the OLBA Officiating Committee. It
cannot be overstated that anyone found to be using an unmatched set of bowls in
District or Provincial Play downs will face an immediate suspension for the subject
tournament and will in all probability, face additional penalties, including a possible
lifetime ban.
CHANGE OF DATA Any umpire who has moved since initially providing their address,
e-mail, telephone or postal information is requested to forward this data to the Chair of
the Officiating Committee as soon as possible in order to update the files.
ACCREDITATION OF POTENTIAL UMPIRES There were 10 new umpires last year
but we lost 12. Currently 2 candidates who have passed the Written Section of the
Accreditation process will take the new WBB Oral and Measuring Exams at an early
date. Both the Oral and Measuring exams require a pass mark of 90%. Some districts
are extremely short of Umpires, as can be noted from the List of Provincial Umpires in
the Annual or on the OLBA Website. If you have in excess of 3 years bowling
experience, you may apply to become an Accredited Canadian Umpire.
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10.10 Player Development
The Player Development Camp will be at the Caledonia Lawn Bowling Club who has
graciously accepted our offer to host the camp. Once the date has been selected it will
be posted on the website. The camp provides a wide range of drills and strategy
sessions that will help everyone become a better bowler. Once the date has been
selected flyers will be sent to clubs to promote the event and an announcement will be
made on the website.
10.11 Sales/New Bowler Kits/Go Lawn Bowl
New Bowler Kits are provided for Beginning Bowlers only, who have had their
instructions and have paid their membership fees. I would suggest that the kits be in
the hands of the instructor and that saves a lot of confusion as they are the one dealing
with new bowlers.
Please do not hand them out at your Open House Day. That group is not members
yet. Before your open house go on line to Bowls Canada Go Lawn Bowl and get some
pamphlets for the guest bowlers.
10.12 Trade Show Report
There are 7 exhibitors this year and they paid a fee of $150.00 per table.
10.13 Safety/Risk Management
The OLBA provides its members with $5,000,000 Commercial General Liability
(including Accidental Death and Dismemberment). This is an important requirement for
OLBA clubs to qualify for provincial grants. It cover the Association as well as the
member clubs if someone is injured at an event and sues the club.
When clubs require a very specific insurance certificate which names your city or the
place where members are doing a lawn bowling demonstration Youngs Insurance
Brokers have been very helpful in providing them upon request by clubs. This is often
required in order for clubs to qualify for grants available through their municipalities and
for renewal of permits.
On the website you can print copies of waiver forms which all OLBA members must
sign. There is one waiver for adults and one for younger bowlers. These can be found
under Membership/Forms (the Certificate is under insurance coverage.)
If individual clubs want Directors and Operators (D&O) coverage, the OLBA policy
cannot provide this coverage. Each club would need to complete the Non Profit
Organization D&O application, showing all Board members from the club, as well as
financial statements, etc. Each club needs their own insurance policy to provide
coverage for equipment and buildings.
All OLBA members and participants must sign a waiver every year. Visiting bowlers
and non-OLBA members who are volunteers are required to sign waivers. Keep the
original forms on file and sign and date each time. Group waivers are acceptable
(team participants may sign the same page). Non-bowling spectators do not need to
sign a waiver.
In the case of an accident, if you incur expenses that are not covered by OHIP, the
OLBA insurance will cover the expenses (i.e. during indoor bowling in a clubhouse).
As long as there is no liquor served, your annual banquet or meeting and fundraisers
will be covered under the OLBA policy. If you want to serve liquor your club will need a
special event policy or a liquor liability policy.
Regarding IPM and use of pesticides, the sprayers are not covered. Anyone using
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pesticides should be qualified and therefore have their own coverage.
To ensure that all OLBA members have the required $5,000,000 in liability coverage, in
the best interests of the clubs and bowlers, it is advisable that OLBA members be in
good standing, with paid affiliation fees, signed waivers, etc.
10.14 Youngs Insurance Presentation
Youngs Insurance clarified the coverage that was being provided and how that
coverage was put into effect. The main point to understand at this time in the bowling
season is that each one being insured must sign a waiver. This requirement extends to
each club member each year as well as visitors to the club. A paper on this topic is
currently being prepared which will appear in a future issue of the E-Banter.
11.0
New Business
11.1 Ltad/Competition Review
BCB are undergoing a review of our Competition Structure as a follow up to Long
Term Athlete Development.
The Basic question is: What is the purpose of the Canadian Championships?"
Is it a Canadian showcase for "the best in Canada' to show their talents? If so, is how it
is currently being done the best way to go about it?
What are you recommendations? Open Championships, all Championships held at the
same time, (Majors, Mixed Pairs, Seniors). Juniors are scheduled at a separate time
due to school and the Indoor is also separate, due to the only championship size facility
being in B.C.
Should we hold Seniors and Mixed Pairs? Should we have a triples event? Should we
have a Novice event? Is the third week in August the best time to hold the
Championships, or later in the year?
All recommendations should be forwarded to the Committee in order that they can take
them to the meeting on Sunday, May 8, 2011.
12.0
Adjournment
13.0
Fall Meeting will be held on October 22nd in Peterborough
Spring 2012 meeting will be held in Woodstock.
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