Wrexham & District Short Mat Bowling Associaton 2023/24

Chairman Secretary Treasurer
 Peter Kempster Francis Brady  Moira Griffiths
peter@jkes.co.uk  fpsdbrady@gmail.com  moigriffiths58@outlook.com   

Welcome to the Wrexham & District Short Mat Bowls Website

2023/24 season

 

Important Dates:

 

Latest information:

 

Thu 14th Mar 2024
 
Afternoon all,
 
Peter Taylor from Jojnstown BC, has now given the final arrangements and cost for the end of season presentation.
 
the details are below for you to view.
 
 
The Presentation and end of season get together will be held at Johnstown Pavillion ( Bowling Green) on Tuesday 26 th March 1 pm.
The price will be £8 per person for a buffet including tea and coffee.
There will be a bar service available at very reasonable prices, there are some 00 beers available.
We have tried to keep costs down as low as possible, to help with this we will be having a raffle and would be very grateful if people would kindly donate a raffle prize.
 
The most important thing is to let myself Peter Taylor prtaylor@live.co.uk or any of the WSMBA committee know if you will be attending.
 
You can pay by Bank transfer to Johnstown Bowling Club Sort code 40-38-14 Account No 91085433 and please reference it with your name, alternately payment can be made on the day in cash, we do not have credit card facilities at Johnstown.

 

Regards

Peter Kempster

Admin 

 
Wed 13th Mar 2024
 
 
Good Afternoon,
 
Firstly I have to sent hugh congratulations to Peter Taylor and his Johnstown team, for winning the League title
last Tuesday afternoon.
They played well all season, well done to you all.
 
Peter Taylor has arranged the end of season presentation, it will be on Tuesday 26th March 1pm at the
Johnstown pavilion (where they play crown green bowls)
 
 
Peter needs to have feedback on numbers asap to work out buffet costs,
Last season Trevor charged £10 per head.
There will be a bar service, I am not sure as yet if they will charge for tea and coffee but I hope to iron out all this soon.
 
So as soon as you can could you please get in touch with your teams and let Peter Taylor know asap whether you want to attend,
you could alternately you can contact, Moira,Francis or myself with numbers.
 
Thank you all
 
Peter Kempster
Admin
Wed 6th Mar 2024

 

 To all Wrexham County Ladies URGENT!!

 

I have received an email from the Welsh Ladies Team Manager asking if anyone from
Wrexham would like to attend trials in Llandrindod Wells on Sunday 12th May.
I must say that we have several ladies in this county who are on a par with those who
were chosen to play in the team last year and so for that reason I will ask you to think
seriously about this invitation.
If you are interested then please let me know and I will forward all names as soon as
possible.
For further information please contact me and I shall explain in more detail.

Thank you, Moira

Mon 19th Feb 2024

                                                           

                                               VENUE CHANGE

 

The County practice that was due to be held at Plas Madoc on Sunday 10th March 2024, will now take plce at Johnstown Centre at 10.00am.

All County team members are expected to attend. 

Thank you

Peter Kempster

 

Sun 18th Feb 2024

 

Vic Jones Memorial Shield 18th February 2024

 

The competition at Johnstown was well attended with 10 pairs entering.
The pairings were nicely matched and all players enjoyed the day with some interesting partnerships
playing some excellent bowls. The two groups of five enjoyed four games each playing 10 ends per
game.
The two group winners, Rhiannon & Malcolm and Cynthia & Steve, then played the final. It was
narrowly won by Rhiannon and Malcolm and after 10 ends the score was 10 all so a further end was
played for the final decision. A very close result indeed!
Thank you to Roy for sponsoring the event. The raffle raised £37 going towards the Wrexham & Dist
association.
Winners medals were awarded to Rhiannon and Malcolm, along with the Shield, and runner’s up
medals were awarded to Cynthia and Steve.

Moira

Sun 11th Feb 2024

 

                   Coaching/practice session


We will be holding a three hour session at Plas Madoc on Sunday 10 th March for players to come along
and practice that ‘elusive’ shot that they need to perfect!
We all need to have practice so don’t feel that anyone in particular is being targeted … this is for all of
us.
I know it’s nearing the end of the season, but it’s something to get your head around before you put
your short mat bowls away and head outdoors.
Then at the start of next season we’ll arrange further coaching/practice sessions, ready to take us into
competition mode!
We would like everyone to attend and would like to ask for £3 per person towards the cost of the hall.

Moira

Sun 11th Feb 2024

 

                      National Pairs at Plas Madoc 11th February 2024


The last national heat was played today, 11 th February, and although it was a poor attendance from
players there was some excellent bowling and those that did play seemed to enjoy themselves.
The qualifiers are: Francis and Mike, with Richie and Steve coming second, Moira and Peter third, then
Delia and Cynthia fourth. David will be stepping in to play with Mike in the final as Francis will be
unavailable.

Moira

Tue 6th Feb 2024

 

Notification from Gresford Village hall

 

Please note that there will be no bowling at Gresford Centre after the league season has finished

on Tuesday 3rd March 2024.

It will resume bowling roundabout October 2024.

Regards

Peter Kempster

pp Francis Brady

 

 

 

 

 

Mon 5th Feb 2024

 

County Weekend 3rd & 4th February 2024

 

Thank you to all the County team for taking the time out to support the county at LLandrindod Wells last weekend.

As I mentioned in my team address on the Saturday morning, we were up against top opposition but just go out relax and enjoy the game.

Unfortunately. there were a few players who in their opinion were playing with players who in their personal opinion were not good enough.

Normally we would be holding trial sessions a few weeks before the event, but unfortunately the way that events were running we simply ran out of time to hold any sessions.

I was disappointed by hearing that some players were criticising the performances of their own team members, this is not acceptable as it

causes friction throughout the team and must stop.

Picking the County team is not easy, especially for last weekend, we had 7 new inexperienced players taking part, and trying to fit them into a team and get a Skip and lead to match proved challenging, this was why certain players never had regular players in the team.

Every member of each team tried really hard and should not have felt or made to feel dissapointed with their performances.

Before the end of the season, we will be holding practice and training sessions, we would like all County team members to attend,

we must now move forward and get Wrexham SMBA fully functional again, it will take time but i`m sure that we can achieve this with a bit of serious work.

Regards

Peter Kempster

Team Manager

Sun 14th Jan 2024

 

National Finals Weekend


The singles and fours finals at Llandrindod were attended by our Wrexham qualifiers.
The fours was an intense day of bowling and out of the twelve games played in the group stages only
three were won by Wrexham teams. Mike Seenan’s team won one game and Steve Jones’s team won
two games.
The other teams had some very hard games but played well.
With the singles games, our Wrexham players found the day hard as the majority of games were played
against Welsh squad players. We had no winners but we all tried hard and have agreed that it was a
learning experience.

 

Moira

Sun 10th Dec

 

                                                 National singles report


There were ten entries in the singles and some excellent bowling all round.
The final for 1 st /2 nd position was won by Francis Brady who beat Steve Jones. The 3 rd /4 th play off was
very close but was won on the last end by Peter Taylor who beat John Jones.
Many thanks to Celia and Brian for turning up and for marking and measuring during the day.
Also many thanks to the players themselves for putting out (and putting away) the mats and
equipment. I couldn’t have done it without you.

 

Moira

Thu 7th Dec

 

           Dates for your calendar – at Llandrindod Wells


Saturday13th January - National fours final (against the other Welsh counties)
Sunday  14th January. - National singles final (against the other Welsh counties)

Sunday 28th January. – Border Challenge Cup
(Up to 20 of our county team players in a ‘fours’ format against Shropshire, Herefordshire, Brecon
& Radnorshire and two teams from Montgomeryshire)

Saturday & Sunday 3rd & 4th February
County Team challenge against the other Welsh counties in a fours format (for this we require 20
players)

Saturday 24th February – National Triples final (against the other Welsh counties)
Sunday 25th February – National Pairs final
(Against the other Welsh counties)

                             *****************************

The following events are at Plas Madoc

PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE DATES!!
Sunday 21st January – National Triples heat
Sunday 11th February – National Pairs heat

Moira

Tue 5th Dec

                        BORDER COUNTIES CHALLENGE CUP

 

Hi all
On Sunday 28 th January at Llandrindod Wells, Wrexham & Dist Bowls Association will be taking part
in the Border Counties Challenge Cup against teams from Shropshire, Herefordshire, Brecon &
Radnor and two teams from Montgomeryshire.
We took part in this competition for the first time last year and it was very enjoyable and a fabulous
experience for those who had never competed against other counties.
We need to provide a team of 16 players (minimum) but are hoping to take more.
We have been told that we will get 5 games during the day so there is plenty of chance for everyone
to have a few games. The format is fours or rink games as they like to call them!
If you would like to be part of our county team on this occasion, then please speak to Peter
Kempster or Moira Griffiths. This is a wonderful chance to gain experience before we travel down to
Llandrindod wells on the following weekend for our national county games against the other Welsh
counties.

Moira

Sun 3rd Dec

 

                                                                    National 4s Report

 

There were 6 teams entered in the heat at Plas Madoc and the results were very close during the
group games.
Although the games should have started at 9.45, it was actually nearer to 10 o’clock before we got
under way. The games consequently ran late but we managed to finish before 4 o’clock.
The winner team was skipped by Mike Seenan and the second placed team was skipped by Peter
Kempster. Steve Jones took third position and Geoff Haffenden’s team were fourth.
These four teams will now represent Wrexham at the National fours final at Llandrindod Wells on
Saturday 13 th January.

Well played everyone!

Moira

Fri 1st Dec

 

Good Evening,

The National Triples Entry form is now on the website ready to download, it can be found in the drop

down list on the left hand side of the main page under the heading NATIONAL TRIPLES ENTRY FORM (1)

and NOT under the link titled Triples Entry Form.

If anyone has any problems then please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind Regards

Peter

Fri 1st Dec

 

Good Evening,

The National Triples Entry form is now on the website ready to download, it can be found in the drop

down list on the left hand side of the main page under the heading NATIONAL TRIPLES ENTRY FORM (1)

and NOT the link titled Triples Entry Form.

If anyone has any problems then please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind Regards

Peter

Thu 30th Nov

 

 

Hi all 

Final update for Sunday 3rd December. 

I require everyone to turn up between 9.30 and 9.45 as we need to start promptly at 9.45 (or as near as possible please!)  The mats need to be put in place too!  There will be seating along one side of the hall so once you’ve got your shoes changed, please make sure that bags are stored under the seats out of the way of players walking past. 

There are two groups of 3 so everyone gets a minimum of 2 games.  However, we will be having two extra mats out for the two teams (1 from each group) that will be sitting out each session, so that they can have a practice on the spare mats and get a feel for the number of ends, or even have a few ends against each other.  We will be playing 9 (nine) ends and this should take approx. 72 minutes per game. I’m hoping we can keep to schedule and don’t overrun each game or we won’t be having any breaks in between . . . 

The teams that sit out in each session should make good use of refreshment time, i.e. get your lunch when you can, and remember that food SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT INTO THE PREMISES.  If you bring your own lunch, then you will have to go out to the car to eat it.  Food is available on the premises from 10.30am to 3.30pm, after which time the café upstairs will close. 

Once the group games are finished we will have a session whereby the two group winners play off against each other for the final first and second positions.  At the same time, the runner’s up from the two groups will play off for the final third and fourth positions, as we need four teams to represent Wrexham down at Llandrindod. 

I know I’ve said this before but I have a habit of repeating myself as I always get someone emailing/texting me to find out what is happening, even though I’ve tried to explain it in detail. 

Those who qualify can get county stickers for their bowls from me, if they haven’t got them already. 

Also, I need to know if there are any more entries for the singles heat at Plas Madoc on 10th

So far I have 16 entries, but I will bring a list with me so that players can confirm their intention to play and maybe others will enter if they haven’t already. 

Anyway, we can discuss this more on Sunday.   If I've missed anyone out please could you pass these details on to them for me please.

I look forward to seeing you all then. 

Regards 

Moira  

Thu 30th Nov

 

 

 

Wed 29th Nov

 

 Tuesday Afternoon League

 
To all Team Captains
 
You may have noticed that in the game between Trevor Ramblers & Isycoed Rollers on 28th November 2023, a Trevor Ramblers player had played in two different groups, because one of the team memers due to play was late arriving. 
I realise that this could happen when the Captain has set up the team and it all goes haywire, because a player doesn`t turn up until late. 
So can I please ask all Captains to make sure that all players are at the venue ready to play their game on time.
I realise that all clubs are very good, but sometimes ( like now) mistakes are made. 
We have let it go this time, because the game was lost by the fault pair.   
Penalty points may have to be applied if teams persist in doing this.
 
Regards
 
Peter Kempster
 
Admin
  
Wed 29th Nov

 

                                                                    IMPORTANT NOTICE

 Foot faulting

There have been a few incidents lately of players not standing properly on the mats and foot faulting
during games.
Most times when this happens the player’s bowl usually has a positive impact when it gets into the head
and can alter the score quite dramatically.
Players should make sure their foot is TOTALLY on the mat (not over the end or side, not even by a
millimeter) and should be TOTALLY inside the delivery lines (again, not touching them at all!). Players
who step forward when bowling are usually the guilty ones as when they stand with their toe near the
front of the mat, it usually goes over the end as they step forward.
Team captains (or preferably an umpire if present) should call a fault and stop the bowl before it reaches
the head.
Any team members, sitting out can warn their team who are bowling at the time, so as to stop any faults
occurring.
I know this might sound petty, but we play to the British Isles rules…
I didn’t make the rule, but I will make sure it is adhered to.

 

Moira

Wed 22nd Nov

 

                                              CHRISTMAS DRINK AND QUIZ

 

ROY BEBBINGTON FROM JOHNSTOWN, HAS ARRANGED A CHRISTMAS DRINK AT THE SUN INN IN RHOS,

ON THURSDAY 14TH DECEMBER 2023 AT 2.00PM.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A QUIZ, TO KEEP YOU ALL ENTERTAINED.

IF IT`S ANYTHING LIKE LAST YEAR, YOU WILL ALL BE IN FOR A TRULY ENTERAINING AFTERNOON.

 

REGARDS

PETER KEMPSTER

Wed 22nd Nov

 

                                                                   GRESFORD BOWLING       

 

 

THE WEDNESDAY PRACTICE SESSIONS AT GRESFORD SHORT MAT BOWLING CLUB, WILL CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY 13TH DECEMBER 2023,

AND RE-OPEN  AT 1.00PM ON WEDNESDAY 03RD JANUARY 2024.

 

THANK YOU

PETER KEMPSTER

pp Francis Brady     

Tue 21st Nov

 

                                                         COUNTY TEAM 

 

HI EVERYONE, 

WE ARE RUNNING ASSESSMENT GAMES FOR ANY PLAYER WHO IS INTERESTED IN PLAYING FOR THE COUNTY TEAM.

IT WILL BE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS ON SUNDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 2023 FROM 10.00AM TO 12.00PM AT JOHNSTOWN.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ALL THERE.

 

REGARDS

PETER KEMPSTER

COUNTY TEAM SELECTION COMMITTEE

 

Fri 10th Nov

Good Morning All,

Our County team is in jeopody due to the fact that we have lost some players due to personal reasons.

We were unfortunately in this postion a few years ago, and we had to pull the team out of County competitions.

After a long struggle and hard work, we managed to ressurect the team and eveyone, including other Counties, were adsolutely delighted with what we had achieved.

So we are now looking for new players to join our team,I know that we have got some very good players

that are capable of playing in the team, so if anyone is interested could you please send your names to  myself or Moira as soon as possible, so that we can arrange a County trial as soon as possible.

Thank you All

PLEASE REMEMBER YOUR COUNTY NEEDS YOU

 

Kind Regards

Peter Kempster

(County Selector)

Wed 8th Nov

 

                               IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL  TEAM CAPTAINS

 

Good morning all,

 

Can all team captains please make sure that all their team details are correct.

During one of the matches played yesterday (7th November) a players name was entered twice for the same game.

Though i can accept that it could have been a mistake, i must stress that it can cause a real headache for admin and opposing captains to get it sorted.

It is the responsibility of the home captain to make sure that all names and scores are correct prior to posting.

Incidently, all captains can alter the names and scores in their relevent games for up to 24 hrs after the match (just as in outdoors) after which time you would have to contactact myself.

If anyone has any problems etc,regarding the website please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Regards

Peter Kempster

(Admin)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue 7th Nov

 

Open Competitions

Hi All,

Here are the reports from the two recent open competitions held at Johnstown. . .
Last week’s triples competition had a few upsets and I can only apologise for my part in those
mistakes.
Julie and Peter ran the competition on my behalf and had a headache from the start. However I
believe everyone enjoyed their games, even though they overran.
Well done to the winners, Anthea, Peter and Mike and to the runner’s up Geoff, Doug and Roy.

The Open pairs was very well attended with five teams of players from further afield.
The games were played well and the final was a bit of a cliff-hanger. Well done to Chris and Carys
from Montgomery who managed to pull it out of the hat, beating Andy and Freda on the very last
end. A truly outstanding performance from all concerned.

Moira

Sun 22nd Oct

 

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE, 

IN READINESS FOR THE NEW SEASON WHICH STARTS ON THE 24TH OCTOBER 2023, HERE ARE A COUPLE OF REMNDERS.

1. ALL MATCHES START AT 1.00PM, EXCEPT GRESFORD WHO HAVE TO START AT 12.30 PM SHARP, AS THE HALL HAS A ANOTHER BOOKING AFTER THE BOWLS.

2. FARNDON WILL BE PLAYING ALL THEIR HOME GAME AT HOLT.

AND ALL THE VERY BEST FOR THE 2023/24 SEASON.

 

THANK YOU

PETER

Thu 24th Aug

 

                                                               BARBARA EDWARDS

 

IT IS WITH VERY DEEP SADNESS THAT I HAVE TO REPORT THE PASSING THIS MORNING IN HOSPITAL OF THE LOVELY BARBARA EDWARDS AGED 88 YEARS, AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS.

AS YOU ALL KNOW BARBARA PLAYED FOR ST MARGARETS FOR MANY YEARS AND HAD WORKED TIRELESSLY WITHIN SHORT MAT BOWLS ASSOCIATION.

I`M SURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO MISS HER, I KNOW I SHALL. BUT THERE IS ONE THING FOR SURE WE WILL ALL REMEMBER HER.

FROM WREXHAM AND DISTRICT SHORT MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION, WE SEND SINCERE CONDOLANCES TO ALL BARBARA`S FRIENDS & FAMILY. 

 

REGARDS

PETER KEMPSTER

CHAIRMAN W&DSMBA