60 Years of the New Zealand Catholic Indoor Bowls Federation
Our Federation was established in 1955 with players only competing in the fours discipline. The following year saw the singles and pairs added. The Federation was founded by Jack Thurlow who was to become the first President and was assisted by his wife Thelma as Secretary / Treasurer, a position that they both held for sixteen years.
Over the fifty years the tournament has been held in twelve different centres around the country. It has seen two clubs dominate in taking out titles with St John Vianney winning the singles in 1973 and since then going on to win a further 35 titles. A further twelve titles go to Holy Cross Papatoetoe.
My first association with the Federation was working on the Canterbury committee in 1967 in preparation for the first South Island tournament held by the Federation in 1968. My recollection of the way the Federation was administered then was that it was totally centred around Jack and Thelma, whatever they said you did. They were already both Life Members of the Federation at this time.
My first financial records of the Federation are 1966 & 1967 and these show some interesting comparisons when you look at todays figures. The hall rent for these years was $270 and $279 compared with $5650 this year. Affiliation Fees drew in $146 and $153 compared to $524 last year. Entries in 1967 were 607 players, a record up to that time.
The 1968 tournament in Christchurch received a number of accolades in the following annual report and also produced the first South Island titleholders with Eddie Hall winning the Singles and George and Noeline Fox the Pairs. It was also recorded that a number of the trophies we compete for today were presented during this two-year period.
In 1970 neither Jack nor Thelma sought re election so ending a 16-year administration period of the Federation. This AGM saw a notice of motion asking for the Constitution to be revised by a special committee set up for that purpose and the new Constitution be presented for ratification at the 1971 AGM. A vote on the motion resulted in 39 for 39 against and being passed on the Chairman's casting vote. George Fox and I were part of this committee from Canterbury and following a large amount of preparation we attended this meeting in Wellington. It was a very full on long day to put the Constitution together. I can still remember the mad dash with Paddy Mills to make our flight that evening. 1970 also saw Eldon Armstrong elected as second President of the Federation and Paddy Mills Secretary / Treasurer, a position they were to hold until Eldon's sudden death in 1987.
The 1970 Championships in Hastings saw Des Darby and his team from Holy Cross Papatoetoe achieve a remarkable feat of winning the Fours for the fourth successive year and gave Des his fifth National title. A special medal (later to become a gold star) was designed and presented to Des in recognition of his achievement.
The 1971 AGM had an attendance of 85 delegates. These were quite some affairs in those days. It saw the adoption of the new constitution and also prizes for the semi finalists along with the suggestion of a new badge for the Federation. The meeting finished at 10.00pm, a far cry from today's meetings of usually under the hour.
The 21st tournament saw the first appearance of a sponsor in Dominion Breweries Ltd. The trophies awarded were under discussion with vouchers proving difficult to cash and so as to avoid the possibility of infringing the amateur status of players it was decided to revert back to prizes. This year saw Peter Bowden win the pairs and this was to prove to be the start of many more with Peter picking up his tenth title last year, the first and only person to achieve this honour.
The 1976 Napier tournament saw the record entry of 816 players taking part with 605 singles, 385 pairs and 193 fours a huge task to complete each event. The Hawkes Bay has always been a popular venue so therefore it is fitting that we have the 50th tournament back in the Bay.
The 1979 report recorded the passing of Thelma Thurlow. This meeting saw the idea of setting up a six-year cycle of tournament venues.
The 9th January 1981 saw the passing of Jack Thurlow referred to in the report as the "Father of Indoor Bowls in the Catholic Community". Jack was the founder and first President of the Mirimar Catholic IBC, Wellington CIBA President a position he held for 10 years and of course our founder and first President a position he held for 16 years. This year saw the implementation of the "Player of the Tournament" for the St John Vianney Trophy.
In Christchurch 1985 history was made as it was the first time the three events were won by the same player namely Terry O'Connor of St John Vianney, he also achieved his Gold Star at this tournament.
In 1987 came the passing of Eldon Armstrong, the Federations second President a position he had held since 1970. Eldon was a born organiser and administrator and his contribution to Catholic bowls was immense. The third President was Len Barber who had held the position of Deputy through Eldon's term. Len's term was to be brief with his sudden passing and at this stage the administration, as we know it today, was put in place with Auckland CIBA taking control for the next two years.
Since this time the Federation has continued to provide a weekend of competition and enjoyment for those taking part in the annual championships. As with the general trend of indoor bowls we have also faced declining numbers attending and a drop in affiliated clubs but fortunately in the past three years this appears to have been arrested. The Federation has been very fortunate in having many dedicated persons who have worked hard over many years. The Federation has recognised some of these with Life Membership, in 1983 Eldon Armstrong, Len Barber, Paddy Mills, in 1989 Ken Samson and in 1998 Barry Chapman and Dave Thompson.
An integral part of our Nationals has been the special Bowlers Mass held at the various venues throughout the country. We were fortunate to have our Patron Cardinal Williams celebrate this Mass on one occasion and of course we should also acknowledge the various priests who have enabled this very important part of our tournament to continue. Mention should also be made here of the late Father John Simson who not only celebrated a number of our Masses but was a long time supporter and competitor.
Since our 50th tournament we have been fortuante in that our numbers have held up well at a time that has seen a number of clubs and members disappearing from our sport. Our 60th tournament saw Hamilton being used as our venue. With no local club we were blessed with some wonderful help from the venues we used to make the tournament a great success with entries in excess of what we predicted. Owen Griffiths win in the Fours saw him become the second player to acheive ten National titles along with Peter Bowden.
This has only been a brief summary of 60 years but I hope it adds a little to your knowledge of our history for those of you taking part today.
As to the future we can only hope that in the years to come the Federation will continue to flourish and provide the enjoyment and competition that has been enjoyed by so many over the past 60 years.
BARRY CHAPMAN
(Life Member)
Our Federation was established in 1955 with players only competing in the fours discipline. The following year saw the singles and pairs added. The Federation was founded by Jack Thurlow who was to become the first President and was assisted by his wife Thelma as Secretary / Treasurer, a position that they both held for sixteen years.
Over the fifty years the tournament has been held in twelve different centres around the country. It has seen two clubs dominate in taking out titles with St John Vianney winning the singles in 1973 and since then going on to win a further 35 titles. A further twelve titles go to Holy Cross Papatoetoe.
My first association with the Federation was working on the Canterbury committee in 1967 in preparation for the first South Island tournament held by the Federation in 1968. My recollection of the way the Federation was administered then was that it was totally centred around Jack and Thelma, whatever they said you did. They were already both Life Members of the Federation at this time.
My first financial records of the Federation are 1966 & 1967 and these show some interesting comparisons when you look at todays figures. The hall rent for these years was $270 and $279 compared with $5650 this year. Affiliation Fees drew in $146 and $153 compared to $524 last year. Entries in 1967 were 607 players, a record up to that time.
The 1968 tournament in Christchurch received a number of accolades in the following annual report and also produced the first South Island titleholders with Eddie Hall winning the Singles and George and Noeline Fox the Pairs. It was also recorded that a number of the trophies we compete for today were presented during this two-year period.
In 1970 neither Jack nor Thelma sought re election so ending a 16-year administration period of the Federation. This AGM saw a notice of motion asking for the Constitution to be revised by a special committee set up for that purpose and the new Constitution be presented for ratification at the 1971 AGM. A vote on the motion resulted in 39 for 39 against and being passed on the Chairman's casting vote. George Fox and I were part of this committee from Canterbury and following a large amount of preparation we attended this meeting in Wellington. It was a very full on long day to put the Constitution together. I can still remember the mad dash with Paddy Mills to make our flight that evening. 1970 also saw Eldon Armstrong elected as second President of the Federation and Paddy Mills Secretary / Treasurer, a position they were to hold until Eldon's sudden death in 1987.
The 1970 Championships in Hastings saw Des Darby and his team from Holy Cross Papatoetoe achieve a remarkable feat of winning the Fours for the fourth successive year and gave Des his fifth National title. A special medal (later to become a gold star) was designed and presented to Des in recognition of his achievement.
The 1971 AGM had an attendance of 85 delegates. These were quite some affairs in those days. It saw the adoption of the new constitution and also prizes for the semi finalists along with the suggestion of a new badge for the Federation. The meeting finished at 10.00pm, a far cry from today's meetings of usually under the hour.
The 21st tournament saw the first appearance of a sponsor in Dominion Breweries Ltd. The trophies awarded were under discussion with vouchers proving difficult to cash and so as to avoid the possibility of infringing the amateur status of players it was decided to revert back to prizes. This year saw Peter Bowden win the pairs and this was to prove to be the start of many more with Peter picking up his tenth title last year, the first and only person to achieve this honour.
The 1976 Napier tournament saw the record entry of 816 players taking part with 605 singles, 385 pairs and 193 fours a huge task to complete each event. The Hawkes Bay has always been a popular venue so therefore it is fitting that we have the 50th tournament back in the Bay.
The 1979 report recorded the passing of Thelma Thurlow. This meeting saw the idea of setting up a six-year cycle of tournament venues.
The 9th January 1981 saw the passing of Jack Thurlow referred to in the report as the "Father of Indoor Bowls in the Catholic Community". Jack was the founder and first President of the Mirimar Catholic IBC, Wellington CIBA President a position he held for 10 years and of course our founder and first President a position he held for 16 years. This year saw the implementation of the "Player of the Tournament" for the St John Vianney Trophy.
In Christchurch 1985 history was made as it was the first time the three events were won by the same player namely Terry O'Connor of St John Vianney, he also achieved his Gold Star at this tournament.
In 1987 came the passing of Eldon Armstrong, the Federations second President a position he had held since 1970. Eldon was a born organiser and administrator and his contribution to Catholic bowls was immense. The third President was Len Barber who had held the position of Deputy through Eldon's term. Len's term was to be brief with his sudden passing and at this stage the administration, as we know it today, was put in place with Auckland CIBA taking control for the next two years.
Since this time the Federation has continued to provide a weekend of competition and enjoyment for those taking part in the annual championships. As with the general trend of indoor bowls we have also faced declining numbers attending and a drop in affiliated clubs but fortunately in the past three years this appears to have been arrested. The Federation has been very fortunate in having many dedicated persons who have worked hard over many years. The Federation has recognised some of these with Life Membership, in 1983 Eldon Armstrong, Len Barber, Paddy Mills, in 1989 Ken Samson and in 1998 Barry Chapman and Dave Thompson.
An integral part of our Nationals has been the special Bowlers Mass held at the various venues throughout the country. We were fortunate to have our Patron Cardinal Williams celebrate this Mass on one occasion and of course we should also acknowledge the various priests who have enabled this very important part of our tournament to continue. Mention should also be made here of the late Father John Simson who not only celebrated a number of our Masses but was a long time supporter and competitor.
Since our 50th tournament we have been fortuante in that our numbers have held up well at a time that has seen a number of clubs and members disappearing from our sport. Our 60th tournament saw Hamilton being used as our venue. With no local club we were blessed with some wonderful help from the venues we used to make the tournament a great success with entries in excess of what we predicted. Owen Griffiths win in the Fours saw him become the second player to acheive ten National titles along with Peter Bowden.
This has only been a brief summary of 60 years but I hope it adds a little to your knowledge of our history for those of you taking part today.
As to the future we can only hope that in the years to come the Federation will continue to flourish and provide the enjoyment and competition that has been enjoyed by so many over the past 60 years.
BARRY CHAPMAN
(Life Member)