Rolling along: The volunteers at the Seymour Bowling Club are keeping the club on the ball.
Kings Park Reserve is one of the most tranquil settings in Seymour, but the next-door neighbours have a lot to boast about in their own right.
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The pristine lawn and synthetic greens at the Seymour Bowling Club provide the perfect conditions for the most experienced bowlers and those just beginning the sport.
That’s not to mention the picturesque outlook on offer.
Important job: Club Treasurer Milton Howell behind the bar.
On the afternoon of Friday, February 9, there was a buzz around the club as the final matchup of the Mixed Pair’s Championship was poised to get under way.
President of the Seymour Bowling Club, Jan Wesselman, and Treasurer Milton Howell said the event always draws a crowd.
“It’s a sought-after one (the Mixed Pairs Championship),” Howell said.
“Last year, Jan and I were against each other in the final, but we’re not this year for whatever reason.”
“We weren’t good enough,” Wesselman said.
In discussion: Partners Max Hammond and Gail Krzciuk and Bernie Dillon and Dot Dillon talk tactics in between ends.
It hasn’t always been smooth-rolling at the Seymour Bowls Club, as the 2022 floods threatened the club’s existence.
Howell said that, at points, the club looked to be in the worst possible situation.
“Post-floods, it was a disaster,” he said.
“We looked like losing everything, it looked like really tough work.
“All the greens were flooded, and we didn’t know if we would recover.
“We didn’t have flood insurance, but it worked out alright, and we managed to keep our heads afloat.”
The Seymour Bowling Club is a community-minded organisation that relies on volunteers’ work to keep running.
However, the average age of the players and volunteers is not getting any younger.
Wesselman is hopeful that a new wave of younger players taking up the sport will ensure the future of the club.
“It’s a battle to fill the jobs; it is for every organisation, and the older we get, the harder it becomes,” Wesselman said.
“We’re targeting younger players, and we will get there.
“We had four kids here the other week and two the week before that.”
One thing that the club has in its favour when attracting new players is its location.
The greens are close to the centre of town and surrounded by parkland, and because the club owns the land, there is no chance they will be moving any time soon.
But owning the land also comes with its own challenges, as Wesselman and Howell explained.
“We own the land and everything here, but because we’re not on shire land, we don’t get anything (funding) from the shire,” Wesselman said.
“In fact, we pay rates to the shire, and we pay rent to get in the gate because that’s on shire land.”
“The value of the land means nothing to us,” Howell said.
“We don’t want to sell it and have apartments here; we want a bowling club.
“It’s a beautiful spot,” Wessleman said.
“We’re very happy here.”
One thing is for sure, the Seymour Bowling Club volunteers are the beating heart of the club. And judging by that, the organisation’s future is in safe their hands.
For more information on the club, to enquire about using the clubhouse for events and to keep updated about upcoming tournaments and events, head to https://www.facebook.com/SeymourBowlingClub
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