Bowls Victoria, established in 1880 is the governing body for the sport of
bowls
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-g ...
in the State of Victoria. In addition to its specific responsibility for governing the sport and the development of the game at all levels, it also has a social objective to enhance existing bowling communities and to position bowls clubs and the sport in the wider community.
Bowls Victoria has a responsibility to govern the game as directed by
World Bowls and
Bowls Australia, to run events at state level and also to run Pennant competition in the Metro region. We have representative teams at senior, under-25, under-18, over-60 and bowlers arm levels.
They also have a responsibility to promote the sport in the community at large and in minorities. Clubs can lean on Bowls Victoria for support in a range of areas.
There are over 520 bowls clubs across Victoria, with 50,000 plus members affiliated with Bowls Victoria.
History
Whilst the game of bowls was well established in Victoria from the 1860s, there was no governing association for the sport until 1880. As early as July 4, 1867, the six clubs in existence at the time, including the oldest
Melbourne Bowling Club
The Melbourne Bowling Club, nicknamed the Demons, and affiliated with Bowls Victoria (BV), is the oldest lawn Bowls, bowling club in Australia. Founded in 1864, the club has been based at Union Street, Windsor, Victoria, Australia on a continuou ...
, met and agreed to a set of rules for the game to be used in inter club matches.
[International Bowling Council, p. 18-22, Bowls Encyclopedia by J.P. Monro, Wilke & Co, 1951] Whilst the clubs had regular competition, it was not until 1880, when a Victorian side visited New South Wales, that the Victorian Bowling Association was founded on 23 July 1880.
[
The sport in Victoria continued to be governed by its own set of laws, which differed to those applied in other parts of the country, particularly New South Wales, and Western Australia. It was not until after the formation of the Australian Bowling Council on September 22, 1911, that uniform rules across the states began to be consolidated into a single set of rules.][
In 1947, the association was granted "Royal" status, and became known as the Royal Victorian Bowling Association (RVBA).
Following the unification of the RVBA with the Victorian Ladies Bowling Association (VLBA) (see Women's bowls in Australia) in December 2009, the organisation was renamed to become Bowls Victoria.Bowls Victoria Strategic Plan 2013–2017]
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Structure
Bowls Victoria is governed by a Board of Directors, including a president, deputy president, finance director and 5 ordinary directors.
The organisation coverage across metropolitan and regional Victoria is structured on a regional and divisional basis:
* Bendigo Campaspe Bowls Region
** Bendigo District Bowls Division
** Campaspe Valley Bowls Division
* Central Goulburn Murray Bowls Region
** Murray Bowls Division
** Central Bowls Division
** Goulburn Valley Bowls Division
* Central Victoria Bowls Region
** BallaratDistrict Bowls Division
** Central Highlands Bowls Division
** Goldfields Bowls Division
* Eastern Ranges Bowls Region
* Geelong Bowls Region
*Gippsland Bowls Region
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It co ...
**East Gippsland Bowls Division
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
** North Gippsland Bowls Division
*Metro West Bowls Region
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...
*Murray Malley Bowls Region
Murray may refer to:
Businesses
* Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles
* Murrays, an Australian bus company
* Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust
* D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian whol ...
**Murray Valley Bowls Division
Murray may refer to:
Businesses
* Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles
* Murrays, an Australian bus company
* Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust
* D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian whol ...
**Northern District Bowls Division
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
** Bowls Sunraysia Division
** Tyrrell Bowls Division
* Northern Gateway Bowls Region
* Ovens & Murray Bowls Region
* Peninsula Casey Bowls Region
**Flinders Bowls Division
Flinders may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
Australia New South Wales
* Flinders County, New South Wales
* Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour
* Flinders, New South Wal ...
** Peninsula Bowls Division
* Sandbelt Bowls Region
* Strzelecki Bowls Region
** West Gippsland Bowls Division
** South Gippsland Bowls Division
* West Coast Bowls Region
** Corangamite Bowls Division
** Far Western Bowls Division
** Western District Bowls Division
* Wimmera Bowls Region
** Grampians Bowls Division
** North Central Bowls Division
** North Wimmera Bowls Division
** Wimmera Bowls Division
* Yarra Bowls Region
See also
* Bowls Australia
References
External links
*
*
* {{Facebook User, BowlsVictoria
Bowls in Australia
Sports governing bodies in Victoria (Australia)
Sports leagues established in 1880
1880 establishments in Australia
Organisations based in Australia with royal patronage
Bowling organizations
Organisations based in Melbourne