Men’s Saturday Pennant Confirmed To Play
Saturday Pennant
A decision has been taken to continue with Saturday Pennant on 14th December.
This decision was not taken lightly but has been made knowing there are venue rules in place to vacate the green when the temperature reaches and exceeds 40C. The relevant Conditions of Play are within the Bowls WA Handbook and must be adhered to.
Also, in looking at the Bureau of Meteorology site, maximum temperatures for the following suburbs were forecast for Saturday as at 4.20pm Friday;
Joondalup 39
Scarborough 38
Fremantle 38
Rockingham 38
Midland 41
Kalamunda 41
Armadale 41
Swanbourne 38
Although many of these are near the coast it does suggest that a majority of the fixtures will be completed as required. With Saturday looking very similar to today, it is noted that of the venues that reached 40C today almost all remained there for no more than 15-20 minutes.
The Bureau has also predicted a late morning south-westerly which should assist around game start time.
Some will question why Thursday’s Midweek matches were cancelled.
Saturday is our primary competition and it was believed that many of our older brigade would not play both Thursday and Saturday given the hot conditions, forcing a greater number of forfeits on Saturday than would otherwise be the case. There are no other team sports that have the age spread that bowls has, hence we try and balance our regulations as best we can to meet such a variation in players – it is not all about Premier League !
We trust members at least understand the basis for this difficult decision.
Ken Pride
Chief Executive Officer
