Juniors to experience fast-paced BPL action with unique competition
The Bowls Premier League continues to grow, with another sidearm of the event taking place for the first time over the new-year period.
The inaugural Junior BPL Challenge qualifiers took place over recent weeks, with some aspiring young bowlers enjoying some of what the BPL has to offer.
Similar to the BPL Cup, the Junior BPL Challenge brings the fast and exciting format of bowls to a different crowd, this time with under-18 players getting involved.
Two qualifying events were held at the Moama Bowling Club and Club Sunbury, with players vying to compete at the inaugural Junior BPL Challenge final. The final will be played at Moama on February 23, parallel to #BPL19 action.
Addy Ryan, Joshua Cartwright and Kane Wilson tasted victory at Moama’s qualifier, and will don the green and black of the Steamers in the challenge final.
Emilee Davies, Jonty Hayes and Logan Marshall were successful at the Sunbury event, and will represent the Melbourne eXtreme in the decider.
Moama Bowling Club’s Stuart Whyte said the idea of a Junior BPL came out of Moama and Sunbury’s desire for more junior bowls events.
“We both have a passion for junior bowls and developing it, and we recognised their aren’t an awful lot of events for juniors,” Whyte said.
“After discussion with Marc Bullows from Sunbury, we decided to roll out the Diamond Jack singles last year, and ended up thinking a BPL Cup style event for juniors would be a great opportunity.”
15 teams competed across the two venues in the inaugural qualifying rounds. Whyte said he can see the event picking up momentum moving forward.
“We’ve had conversations Sunbury and other BPL franchises about how we can grow this to have more opportunities for players around the country,” Whyte said.
“Bowls Australia have been really supportive too which has been fantastic.”
The inaugural Junior BPL Final will be live streamed by Bowls Australia’s Rinkside Live team from 1pm AEDT on Friday,February 23.
