First Club Official of the Year Awarded
Bowls WA Awards Night – Club Official of the Year
A role that often requires long hours and certainly dedication to the sport Bowls WA was pleased for the first time to recognise the officials who contribute so much to our game with the inaugural Club Official of the Year Award.
The award is directed towards the Match Committee and Umpires of our clubs that enable the vast majority of bowlers to simply to turn up and play.
The winner has spent not only the previous season in both these roles but many years, that person being Patsy Smith from Halls Head Bowling Club.
A summary of all Bowls WA Award winners can be found via this link
Bowls WA Board Member Vince Del Prete presented Patsy with her trophy on the night.
Patsy said her journey as an umpire basically started out through educating herself around the rules of the game, adding that her husband pointed out when she took on the role of Vice Captain after just a few years playing that she should get a rule book and learn the rules if she wanted to do the job properly. “So I did that but I wasn’t an umpire and I really did study that book, so much that I thought I knew my rules really well.” Said Patsy. “We had very experienced bowlers who sometimes disagreed with me, so I thought I better do my umpires course.” Which of course added the credence she needed when issues around the rules arose. As Master of Ceremonies Clive Adams noted Patsy has been an umpire for many, many, years with her knowledge no longer in question.
Patsy has also worked hard to help not only her club but many others in developing a software program called PAMI which assists in generating draws for round robin carnivals, she has worked on Match Committee at her club understanding the importance of how competitions are run successfully. She also noted that the club has a big project happening at the moment, specifically around mentoring, etiquette, and helping new bowlers. Something which she is helping with, and feels is very important for her club given how large it has grown.
A tremendous contributor to our sport and a well deserved winner as our first Club Official of the Year we say well done once again to Patsy Smith.
