Not long to wait now . . . it’s only just over a week until the League’s 2023 season springs back into life with the first fixtures in the Monday divisions.

And one person who can’t wait is the League’s nomination to serve as this year’s County Deputy President, Brenda Slingo (PICTURED), who hopes to resume playing as well as coaching after a shoulder operation.

Fixture secretary John Palmer is dealing with various registration questions and, having consulted with fellow officers, he has made a key decision.

“Normally, Mike Beckett’s results service would be configured to prevent clubs from amending their player registrations once the first result has been input,” explained John.

“This year, however, there are over three weeks between the Monday and two of the Friday divisions being played. Consequently, we are leaving the system open for player registrations until divisions 1 & 2 start.”

Match fees in ALL divisions are 50p per player and the search continues to try and find an 8^th team to take up the current bye in the new Afternoon Division. Any club interested should contact the general secretary.

The Club Contacts on this site have been updated ahead of the return to action, with additional information regarding post match food and the nearest defibs included. Minutes from recent meetings, once approved as a true record, are also now available to download.

Dates and entry deadlines for both team and individual competitions are available on the site in two posts by new comps sec Rob Burroughs – see Competition News.

First up is the new Monday Night Merit with qualifying on Monday 1st May (6pm start) and the finals a week later. Entry costs just £5, book with Rob!

The new campaign to get more people of all ages playing bowls – ‘Roll up Shropshire’ – is gathering pace.

Just a week after launching the initiative, County Development Officer Pauline Wilson is pleased by the interest from Shropshire affiliated clubs.

“There’s been a strong start for ‘Roll Up Shropshire’ since the launch and we have 11 clubs already signed up,” said Pauline.

Four of them are member clubs of the League – Bridgnorth, Edgmond, Hadley USC and Newport.

“But there’s still plenty of time for other clubs to come on board,” she stressed.

“Clubs signed up are doing anything from one to four taster and coaching sessions.”

The county’s 50-strong army of qualified coaches will be available to run the sessions which will be advertised locally and more widely once clubs confirm their dates with Wilson– by email to [email protected] or by calling 07746-224824.

“So what is your club doing to get new members? Join us in ‘Roll Up Shropshire’ and get recruiting!” added Pauline.

“Let’s all get behind this initiative and see if we can get new bowlers started as soon as possible in the season.”

The fixtures for the 2023 season are now LIVE on this website – see Tables/Results

And the great news is that the League is starting to grow again after the pandemic with a super 6 new teams accepted to compete this year – plus a brand new division – with just 2 sides withdrawing.

Newport, Hadley USC and Wrockwardine Wood will field new teams in the Friday divisions while new sides from Horsehay and Bowring will feature in the Monday divisions and Castlefields were voted into the Dennis Lewis Thursday Division.

Sadly, Sir John Bayley withdrew from the Thursday Division due to a lack of interest and Wrockwardine Wood pulled out 1 of its Monday teams.

The format will be 12 teams in divisions 1 & 2 starting on April 28th and 13 in division 3 starting on April 21st and having to play 2 Wednesday night games – on 10^th May and 5^th July.

On Mondays, divisions 4 & 5 will have 11 sides with 12 in division 6, all starting on April 3 – with the New Monday Merit played early in the campaign, qualifying and finals night being on the Bank Holidays of May 1^st and 8^th.

And there will be 13 teams in the Dennis Lewis Thursday Division with opening night being on April 6th.

That was the headline news from the League’s March executive meeting, following which, delegates of 5 of the 7 clubs that have applied to enter the proposed new Afternoon Division, agreed they wanted to press ahead.

In an ideal world, 1 more team is needed to avoid bye weeks but, come April 6th, Highley, Donnington Wood, Edgmond, Albrighton, Madeley CC, Chelmarsh and Bowring will start to contest 6-a-side matches for men and women of all ages, primarily on Thursdays and starting at 1.30pm.

With regards to fees in 2023, the match & league fees proposals from treasurer Celia Miles – match fees in ALL divisions set at 50p; annual fee per team cut to £5; and no 25p per player annual registration fee – were approved using executive powers for one year only, to be review for the 2024 season.

And the same goes for the competition fees already published by organiser Rob Burroughs, with delegates accepting that, starting this year, the League will invoice clubs for all entries.

Tuesday’s vital March executive meeting is the deadline for a number of League issues – see the full agenda below.

MOST important of them is that it is the cut-off point for applications from new teams – and fixture secretary John Palmer is getting a lot of interest . . .

BUT 1 more team is needed to guarantee the propose new Afternoon Division has lift off this year (see previous post)

ALL Competition dates are now on this Website (see Competition News) and new man in charge Rob Burroughs is now busy taking entries in team and individual events.

NEWS from Bowring:  “Could you please inform the clubs of the Mid Shropshire League that our greens at The Bowring are now private and players from other clubs can no longer practice on them. This is indicated by the signs Telford & Wrekin Council have installed at the entrance of the park. Many thanks, Bowring Bowls Club

March 2023 Executive Committee Meeting Agenda

To be held on Tuesday 7th March at the Sir John Bayley Club at 7.30pm

1  Chairman’s remarks to open the meeting

2  Apologies & In Memoria

3  Minutes of the February Management Committee Meeting

4  Matters arising

5  General Secretary’s report

6  Correspondence

7  Fixture Secretary’s report – deadlines for 2023 campaign

• Applications for new teams / withdrawals
• Constitution of League for 2023 and start dates
• Confirmation of green choices

8  New Afternoon Division in 2023 – the way forward

9  Treasurer’s report  confirmation of match fees, entry fees & prize money

10 Competition Secretary’s report – finalised details for 2023

11 County matters –issues for next Executive meeting on Mar13th

12 Any Other Business

13 President / chairman to close the meeting

CLUB INFO FORMS FOR 2023 TO BE RETURNED BY THIS MEETING

DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Management on Tuesday the 4^th April at SJBC at 7.30pm

A super 7 clubs have applied to enter teams in the League’s proposed new Afternoon Division.

So just 1 more is needed to give the division lift-off in 2023 – the clubs to express an official interest to date being: Highley, Donnington Wood, Edgmond, Albrighton, Madeley CC, Chelmarsh and Bowring.

It seems vice-chairman’s Steve Wall’s hunch was right – there is a demand for afternoon matches for male and female bowlers of all ages – and that is what this proposal tries to cater for.

And this is the actual proposal sent to member clubs ahead of the League’s February meeting, then discussed at that gathering – and which will need to formally nailed down before any afternoon action can start:

Mid Shropshire League ‘Sponsor’ Afternoon Division

* Minimum of 8 teams (and possible maximum, taken on a first come, first served basis once a club commits)

* 6-a-side singles matches for males and females of all ages

* Matches played predominantly on Thursday afternoons (starting at 1.30pm), with the possibility of a couple of Tuesdays

* Fixtures completed by end of July to avoid disruption of Mid Shropshire Senior Citizens League competitions

* All matches and games are to be played in accordance with the MSBL rules – with the exception of the following, which are specific only to this division:

Any member of a club who has signed to play for the Mid Shropshire Bowling League is eligible to play in this division.

Any player who has signed for another Mid Shropshire League club (their primary club) may play for one secondary club in this division, as long as they fulfil all the usual obligations to their secondary Mid-Shropshire ‘Sponsor’ Afternoon Division side. A player will not be eligible to compete against their primary club, either home, away or on a neutral green in this division.

No player may play for two different teams within 6 days.

Re-arranged games are to be played within 26 days of the original fixture date.

The points scoring system will be: 3 points for an aggregate win (final details yet to be set in stone, but looking likely to be 1 point for each individual game).

 The team with the most points at the end of the season will be declared the champions. In the event of a tie then it will be team with the greatest number of matches won. If this too is the same then the winner will be decided by the highest number of individual games won. Best aggregate will be the final deciding factor to determine the champions. If that is the same there will be joint champions.

If a team fails to fulfil a fixture the match shall be awarded to their opponents and the score shall be 3 points with an aggregate of plus 30. An aggregate of 50 will be deducted from the offenders’ accrued divisional total.

Match fees will be 50p per player and there will be end of season prize money for the top 3 teams and the winner of the divisional averages.

We are so proud that this person agreed to be the nomination of the League to serve as County Deputy President for 2023.

So here are the speeches made by chairman Sean Round and then Pauline Wilson at the official ceremony at the end of the SCGBA AGM at Sinclair:

“Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,

It gives the Molson Coors Mid Shropshire League the greatest of pleasure to nominate Brenda Slingo – PICTURED – to serve as County Deputy President for 2023.

League secretary Malcolm Fletcher had dearly wanted to make this nomination himself but, being unable to attend today, he’s proud to have written this nomination for a person everyone in Mid Shropshire land feels deserves this honour.

In fact the official announcement that Brenda had agreed to accept the nomination was met with a round of applause at the League’s AGM this week, showing how highly she is regarded.

Brenda thought long and hard about being put forward after enduring a tough year when she lost her husband Brian. But thankfully, a spell in some sunshine abroad over Christmas gave her the time to reflect and make what we all believe is the right decision.

She took office with the Mid Shropshire League in 2018 as a junior team selector as well as joining the selection panel of the Shropshire under-18 team.

And it is fair to say that, without her commitment, the League’s junior scene would not be in the sound state it is today.

Her wholehearted efforts have kept our young bowlers organised and motivated, kept the conveyor belt going and helped to deliver two proud Shropshire junior inter-league championships triumphs in 2019 and again just last year.

In Brenda we are putting forward someone who lives and breathes bowls – and who will serve the county for the next two years to the best of her considerable abilities.

Everyone in Mid Shropshire feels this is a nomination that Brenda Slingo richly deserves, given her outstanding services to the sport as a player, junior selector and top class coach.

It is just a real pity that the League can’t claim to have come up with the idea of nominating Brenda Slingo . . . for that plaudit belongs to her good friend, County Development Officer Pauline Wilson, who will now second it!”

County Development Officer Pauline Wilson:

“I am delighted to second Brenda as our nomination for future County President

Brenda followed her county bowls player dad Charlie into the game with mom Kath & sister Doris at Hadley. Not surprising her own family have gone the same way with daughter Karen, son Ian & of course husband, Brian all players too. So she has decades of involvement in bowls.

Brenda has played at various other Mid Shropshire clubs: Bowring, Madeley Court, Broseley & Sinclair.

As well as club bowls she played Ladies County getting her first cap in 1981 & continuing until 1999 gaining 71 caps. She is also a previous Ladies Merit winner in 1984

In recent years a shoulder injury has frustratingly left her unable to play and at this point many would just have given up but Brenda has turned her hand to coaching wanting to continue her involvement with bowls and to give something back to the game. So she qualified as a Coach at Levels 1 & 2.

She has been at the heart of all the coaching we have done in the last few years in Shropshire & together we’ve written material for the junior Awards scheme much of which went into the current BCGBA Coach Awards practical work. She brought a wealth of experience to this task as well as a red pen when checking my work!

She has introduced some great Juniors into the game at Sinclair and is currently involved at Bowring developing new members & new coaches. As you have heard she is also a Shropshire junior selector and heavily involved with the Junior County squad.

I’m not sure we could ask much more from a county president & I know Brian would have been very proud of her nomination.

I’m sure she will be a supportive deputy in 2023 and a great president for 2024 & I commend her nomination to the floor.”

History was made at the February meeting when President Mike Potter became the first to nominate the charity that the League will raise money for this year.

Mike, who is PICTURED receiving a thank you gift of a special MSBL coat supplied by sponsors Local Print Pros from secretary Malcolm Fletcher at the annual presentation dinner, has picked Parkinson’s UK to benefit.

What else happed at the meeting? Well here goes . . .

Treasurer Celia Miles proposed cutting all match fees to 50p for every division this year, doing away with the 25p per player annual registration fee and reducing the annual team fee to £5 from £10. This is after the League made a big profit last year and due to the continuing desire to give something back to member clubs, especially in such a difficult economic climate. Proposals need formal approval at the March executive meeting and would then be reviewed next year.

New Competition Secretary Rob Burroughs unveiled his finalised dates for 2023 – which will soon be on this website under Competitions News. The Mid Shropshire Merit qualifiers and finals night for the last eight will be played before the Friday division matches start. And the new Monday Night Merit will be played on two Bank Holidays in May. The Harris Cup and Ashton trophies dates do not clash. And when a bowler enters any comp they will pay their clubs, who will then be invoiced for the money by the League in October.

John Palmer, the Fixture Secretary, confirmed the divisional start and finish dates as – Fridays 28^th April to 22^nd September; Mondays 3^rd April to 2^nd October; Dennis Lewis Thursday Division 6^th April to 28^th September.  

Proposed new Afternoon Division – plan fully explained (the information that was sent to clubs and other leagues will posted on website soon) and meeting ended with 5 of the required minimum – or possible maximum – of 8 teams applying:

Highley, Donnington Wood, Albrighton, Edgmond, Madeley CC.

Ian Evans of Madeley CC has agreed to captain the League’s veterans team this year, saying it would be a “pleasure”.

London Hearts, the leading heart charity dealing with the funding, procurement and supply of life saving defibrillators in the UK, are offering sports clubs Charity Grant Funding towards the cost of each Defibrillator they supply.  With every Defibrillator, they also provide free online CPR/Defibrillator awareness training. Equipment is available now. Any queries contact Jess Morris either by telephone on 02070432493 or by email reply at:  [email protected]  To receive further information on the Defibrillators we supply along with a non-obligatory quote, simply complete our short online application at:  https://www.londonhearts.org/apply-for-a-defib

 The future of the flat green at Hartshill Park in Oakengates – the former hope of the now defunct Telford & Wrekin Club – was discussed at the request of Telford & Wrekin Council, with clubs urged to contact the secretary if they had any ideas.

As discussed at the end of the recent AGM, there will be a February management meeting of the League on Wednesday 15th February at BOWRING BC, starting at 7.30pm

“There is so much going on right now, meaning a packed agenda, that we hope member clubs will do their very best to be represented,” said general secretary Malcolm Fletcher.

A updated plan for the proposed new Afternoon Division in 2023 has been emailed direct to club officials today and will be discussed fully at the February meeting.

FEBRUARY MANAGEMENT MEETING AGENDA

1  Chairman’s remarks to open the meeting

2  Apologies & In Memoria

3  Minutes of the December Management Committee Meeting

4  Matters arising

5  General Secretary’s report

6  Correspondence

7  Treasurer’s report – proposed reduction in fees for 2023

8  Fixture Secretary’s report 

9  Competition Secretary’s report – dates for 2023

10 New Afternoon Division in 2023 – the proposal

11 Hartshill Park (Oakengates) – future use of the currently flat green

12 Annual Dinner review

13 Life Members and annual charity for 2023

14 County matters –feedback from SCGBA’s AGM on Feb 4 at Sinclair

15 Any Other Business

16 President / chairman to close the meeting

DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Executive on Tuesday the 7^th March at SJBC at 7pm

A healthy profit, a successfully re-launched presentation dinner and new teams in the pipeline resulted in a quickfire AGM of the League.

The 58 minute annual meeting also saw the launch of a new competition for bowlers in the lower divisions as all of the rule change proposals were approved unanimously.

Called the Monday Merit, the singles knockout for those playing primarily for teams in divisions 4-5-6 will be introduced this year with new competition secretary Rob Burroughs in charge.

He succeeds Phil King in that role, with all other officers elect en bloc by delegates at Wellington’s Bayley Club – but the league is still searching for a new veterans team captain to take over from Peter Spragg.

Treasurer Celia Miles’ accounts showed a surplus of £8,109, despite two Covid hit years previously, but auditor Steve Anyon was quick to point out the true picture.

“A more accurate figure for the 2022 year’s profit would be derived by deducting the monies be paid for prize money, £5,510, and the amount shown in the accounts from clubs paying for invoiced annual dinner tickets of £1,250,” he said.

(That would make the profit figure £1,349)

Moves to streamline the management of the league with fewer meetings during the playing season were passed along with a tweaking of the handicaps for the main team knockout, the Harris Cup, now that it is 10-a-side.

And Hadley USC’s bid to encourage more entries by stopping registered Premier League bowlers from competing in the main Senior Merit – even if they play in Mid Shropshire’s Dennis Lewis Thursday Division – also got the nod.

“As for new teams, the early signs for the coming season are positive,” said league secretary Malcolm Fletcher.

“I have had an application from Castlefields to join the Thursday Division and have already been contacted about two possible new Friday teams from Hadley USC and Wrockwardine Wood and also Horsehay on a Monday.”

A one-off management meeting has been called for Wednesday, 15th February, at Bowring BC in Wellington (7.30pm) to try and nail down plans for the 2023 campaign – including a possible new Afternoon Division – ahead of the crucial March executive gathering.

A ROUND-UP FROM THE AGM WILL BE THE NEXT POST ON THE WEBSITE BUT, AS A TASTER, HERE IS THE:

General secretary Malcolm Fletcher’s report to the 2023 AGM

“Good evening everyone! I hope you will forgive me, but this is going to be quite a lengthy and detailed report – and I suppose that’s a reflection of the fact that, after two horrible years, we thankfully got back to some kind of normal in 2022.

After surviving Covid, member clubs, their bowlers and the League are now facing up to a cost of living crisis . . . but, if we all pull together, we WILL get through this too.

So let’s be positive, both as we reflect on last season and also look forward to what 2023 might have in store for us.

And there were plenty of achievements to be proud of last year. The highlight was surely the 90^th anniversary celebration day at St Georges – a real success, especially for winner David Wolverson of Much Wenlock!

That came in June, after normal league action had resumed. A couple of late team withdrawals did not exactly help new fixture secretary John Palmer, but he coped admirably and is a great addition to the team.

Sadly the Saturday Division had to be put into cold storage, but most of the League’s competitions were played during a summer that saw us cope with two heatwaves and the sad passing of Queen Elizabeth II and former League chairman Gerald Penny.

We launched a re-vamped website, welcomed two new sponsors in Local Print Pros and Shropshire Verti-drain & Turf Services Ltd, hosted the Shropshire veterans inter-league championship at Wrockwardine Wood and were proud winners of the county junior inter-league crown again, with selectors Brenda Slingo and Derek Killen at the helm.

Looking back at the League season, I feel I must pay tribute to first division winners Horsehay as the founder members ended an 85-year wait to get their hands on the trophy again. There were notable divisional doubles for Bridgnorth and Wrockwardine Wood.

Our team knockouts produced three cracking finals and Shrewsbury village club Hadnall were rewarded for entering the Harris Cup for the first time   by going all the way and winning it!

It was a special year for Sinclair as they hosted the County Senior Merit finals and also for Trench as they had the honour of being voted the best green in Telford, with greenkeeper and club secretary Dave Evans receiving a Shropshire Unsung Hero award for his unstinting efforts.

The League’s sincere thanks go to all clubs who hosted events for us last year, one which saw League President Mike Potter serve for a second time as County President. Well done Mike, Mid Shropshire is so proud of you.

I hope we showed that pride at the successfully re-launched annual presentation dinner earlier this month. The popularity of this event continues to amaze me and it was great to see so many new people there celebrating and enjoying themselves. The evening rounded off a near normal campaign – but it wouldn’t have been half as good without the efforts of the real organiser, my wife Margaret. Thank you Marg.

And so to 2023 – well the League’s planning for the year started last summer when we consulted with clubs about trying to return to 12-a-side fixtures, especially in the Friday divisions. The survey showed that the majority of them did not think now was the right time – so we remain at 10-a-side . . . but delivering the dozen is still our ultimate aim so that clubs are encouraged to try and grow their memberships and income.

Our plans include a new Monday Merit to be voted on later tonight, a more streamlined management of the League with far fewer meetings during the main playing season and hopefully a new six-a-side Afternoon Division,

We already have the Moslon Coors sponsorship money for this year, have our other two backers on board and we will soon have talks with June Lewis about boosting the prize money for the League’s junior set-up.

That division should be back up to 14 teams if the Castlefields application is accepted at the vital March executive meeting and, as for other new teams this season, the early signs are positive.

The League has been contacted about 2 possible new Friday teams (Hadley USC B and Wrockwardine Wood B) and 1 on a Monday (Horsehay D) – and I sincerely hope that, as recruitment boosts from things like the Big Bowls Weekends work through, there will be more to come.

However many teams compete this year, we want to encourage them to put on food after their home matches.  We need to reinvigorate the social and friendship side of the sport – and clubs need to do all they can to boost income. It will come down to club choice, but it’s an issue that needs serious consideration.

And clubs can rest assured that this League will do everything in its power to help them get through another difficult spell by keeping fees as low as possible and continuing to offer grants to help them to try and grow.

We remain here to serve and to try and help. Thank you.”