Coast locked in as national focal point for bowls
National bowls coach Steve Glasson expects to spend so much time on the Gold Coast in the next few years he is considering shifting here, as Neil Grundy reports for the Gold Coast Bulletin.
In the wake of yesterday’s announcement that the Coast would host the 2020 World Bowls Championships, the Sydney-based Glasson said it made sense to be living locally.
“It’s great news for the Coast, it’s great news for bowls, great news for players … it’s doesn’t get any better really,” the former world number one said.
“We can now wholly and solely make the Gold Coast our base now for the next five years or so.
“I’m even thinking about moving back here, that’s how big this is.
“Nothing concrete yet but the wife and I have had a couple of talks about it already.
“I’m going to be spending an awful lot of time up here in the next five or six years so it would be a good fit if it can be achieved.”
Glasson said the Gold Coast was now clearly the epicentre for bowls in Australia and would remain so for the foreseeable future.
The Australian Open is locked in on the Gold Coast for the next five years across a variety of clubs, Club Helensvale will host the World Champion of Champions in November this year, the World Junior Championships return to Broadbeach for three years from 2016 with the Commonwealth Games and World Championships further down the track at Broadbeach, Helensvale and Musgrave Hill.
“With all due respect to the rest of Australia, bowls on the Gold Coast is massive,” Glasson said.
“You have something like 70 or 80 greens in a small radius, they are all in general terms world class and the facilities are wonderful.”
Given the fact the Jackaroos enjoyed unprecedented success when Adelaide hosted the worlds in 2012, Glasson said the reaction of players to news the event would again be hosted on home soil in 2020 had been overwhelmingly positive.
“It’s just an exciting period of time to follow on from the 2018 Commonwealth Games and then to have our Olympics – the outdoor world championships – here as well just highlights that for the next number of years,” Glasson said.
“We’ll have the resources available to us to get here as often as we possibly can for selection trials, for training camps, for practice and series.”
Broadbeach, Helensvale and Musgrave Hill will also host the Asia Pacific Championships in 2019.
