A message from the County Communications Officer (and Junior Section Chairman) Ryan Full:
As you may or may not be aware, Oxfordshire as a County has undergone some changes over the offseason, and that includes the structure and running of the Junior Section.
Firstly, as the County has now unified into one, rather than separate Men’s & Women’s organisations, under the separate umbrella of Bowls Oxfordshire, everything is united as part of a new “Bowls Oxfordshire”.
Seems minimal, yes, but matters a lot in how we as a County are run from a logistical, as well as a political standpoint, which is to progress equally and positively for the betterment of bowlers in Oxfordshire.
That being the case, the new County governing structure is as follows;
Bowls Oxfordshire Executive Committee
Which will be the main governing body for all collective matters, and will be made up of several standard roles, as well as representatives from each of the newly formed specific committees within the County, which are:
Men’s Section
Ladies Section
Mixed Section
Junior Section
Each of these sections will have their own committee made up of several members, depending on size and requirement.
Which brings us, secondly, to our section, which despite Bowls England bringing the age for participation in national competitions to 24, will remain Under 25 for County level, because Junior Homes Counties League is still Under 25, and we hope in time, Bowls England reconsider their decision and revert the national age back to 25.
Our new section, consists of several roles, rather than just one individual running the whole system, which myself and my predecessor, Dave Leighfield, were very much in agreement that it was too much of a task now for just one person. So essentially the duties & responsibility have been shared to ease the burden; a problem is a problem halved, or in this case, split into fifths.
I, myself, have stepped back from the role of Manager, due to family responsibilities, and have in a sense, moved upstairs as the Chairman of the section, essentially making sure everything is running smoothly, and representing and pushing for the best interests of the young bowlers of Oxfordshire at the executive level.
I would like to put on record, what a great pleasure and joy it has been to be Team Manager for the last 2 years, and would like to thank players and their families alike, for all their support and goodwill in an ever growing County to get the balance right.
As well as seeing the team reach the White Rose Regional Finals in 2023, my proudest achievement as manager, I hope, is making our new influx of young bowlers feel a part of the County.
A special thank you goes to my predecessor Dave Leighfield, and Ladies Manager Zoe Pratley, for their immense support as I navigated an ever growing position.
You will be pleased to know though, that we have a fantastic new manager in, Craig Morphet of Carterton BC, who was my first and only choice to take the position and I’m thrilled he has.
He’s dynamic, ambitious and forward thinking, and like me, being an ex Under 25 player himself (for Wiltshire) has a personal interest in the development of young bowlers within our sport.
Craig will be sharing this email with me, and will of course introduce himself to you in due course.
As well as Craig, Zoe Pratley has stayed in her role as Ladies Manager, and will also be a representative at the executive level.
Dave Leighfield will now officially be Fixtures & Competition Secretary.
And, Jazz Alder is another excellent new addition to the team, being our Welfare Officer.
We feel this is a young, exciting and progressive team, which is exactly what the future of Oxfordshire bowls needs & deserves.
There are a few big changes to competition formats, both internally and at national level, but for now I will let you digest the above changes, and be back to you with the format changes once we are certain on all the details (this off season is filled with a lot of waiting for answers)
I hope you are all wintering well, and I hope to see you all in the spring.
Best regards
Ryan Full
Junior Section Chairman
