RECAP
OF SOUTHWEST WOMEN'S DIVISION ANNUAL MEETING
By EILEEN MORTON
The Southwest Women’s Division
Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, January 30 at Santa Anita Bowling Club
in
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A point system
has been set up for the women’s tournaments in order to form a Team Southwest
Women. This is a system the men have
been using for a few years and now the women will also have a “Team Southwest”. Points will be awarded to women who win or
place in the tournaments which are sponsored by the SWWD as well as the SW
Open, the US Open and the pairs and singles play-downs.
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A new tournament
has been added to the lineup and this will be a singles, consisting of four 15-point
games. A tie-breaker will consist of
three ends played with one point per end.
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In a report on
the USLBA Council Meeting held before the US Open last year, it was announced
that the Bowls Magazine will no longer be published and the October issue will
be the last. Instead the magazine will
be available on line. The money formerly
spent on the magazine will be used for the new marketing scheme.
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Annual dues for
membership in USLBA were raised to $20 per year.
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The so-called
“hammer rule” is being discussed at World Bowls and most likely will be
rescinded.
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Women’s
membership in USLBA is currently 476 and in the SWWD 728.
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The open houses
last year brought in 42 new members. The
open house concept started at
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Our website,
with Myrna Chan keeping it up to date, is getting more and more hits and is the
best way to communicate with everyone who might be interested in lawn bowling.
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New SWWD
officers were installed with Jan Hargraves taking over as President and Melanie
Vizenor, Vice President. The new
secretary is Patti Lucas and Dee McSparran will remain as treasurer.
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Jan announced
that this year she and her committee will be working on merging with the men to
make a united Southwest Division. It has
been arranged to have the services of an attorney to help with this
merger. Results of the meetings will be
discussed at the next meeting and she hopes to have a vote on the merger at the
2011 annual meeting.
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The US Open will
be held in
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The marketing committee is working on national
visibility for the sport of lawn bowling. There will be a handbook on the website for
clubs who need help with recruitment. They
are also working on an updated data base of clubs and contacts.
There will be a national video competition with great prizes for the
best video about bowling.