Kingswood High School Bowls

Term 2 has been extremely successful for our school’s high-performance bowlers. Our six students have been attending the STEP program for two hours each Wednesday afternoon at Glenbrook Panthers Bowling Club. Most of them also attend a couple of days a week outside of school hours.

The players have all become members of Glenbrook Panthers Bowling Club and have been competing in a range of Championship events at the Club, including u18 as well as Open Championships.

In the Sydney West section of the NSWCHS Statewide Competition, all six members of our side played in Triples formation and went through undefeated, including a big win over last year’s Champions, Blaxland High, and defeating Nepean High who was led by a multiple State u18 Champion. As Sydney West Champions, we now progress to the State Final 16 series to be held at St Johns Park in August. Congratulations to Cleo Bayes, Peytan Bunn, Reaghan Bunn, Lara Hayes, Jayden Lewthwaite and Sophie Payne! Jayden and Cleo qualified with Michael Markas last year, yet Covid prevented them from travelling to Tamworth for the State Finals.

The NSWCHS Singles and Pairs Championships were held at Warilla in Week 7, with all six of our STEP members in attendance, Peytan acting as an Official. With the exception of Jayden, all were debutantes at this level which is a testament to the level with which they have improved in less than 12 months. The conditions were totally new to all our players - freezing cold and howling winds on a very fast green. The highlight was Sophie achieving 8th in the Singles, including a loss by a single shot to NSW’s top u18 female bowler.

NSWCHS Singles & Pairs Summary:

Last term is the NSWCHS Championships were held, with Jayden, Sophie, and Lara representing Sydney West. Sponsorship money meant that there were no levies, and each player was decked out in a free uniform. No Sydney side has ever won this event in its 21-year history. Sydney West was 2nd last year and, obviously, hope to go one better. Our kids will also be vying to impress the selectors and book a berth in the NSWCHS side which travels to Melbourne in September.

We also have over 20 students playing in the Bowls NSW Inter-Schools Cup on the last day of term. Each side can only have one registered bowler, so our regular STEP kids will be helping a new bunch of our students learn the game.