Lawn Bowls is one of Queensland's most popular sports. There are no limitations as to who can play. Age, gender or physical fitness are not an obstacle for a person wishing to enjoy bowls as a recreation or competitive sport.

Promotional Handbook

By implementing simple promotions and advertising to specific markets, bowls clubs can enjoy increasing membership numbers and therefore strengthen their future.

There are plenty of options out there and available to club's. Think outside the box and don't be afraid to experiment. If it doesn't work the first time round, don't give up. Adjust and fine tune the idea and try again.

To read Bowls Queensland's Promotional Handbook please click here.

Bowls Queensland have created three brochures that are available for clubs to use in conjunction with promotional days:

The Perfect Delivery

Traditionally, bowls has been one of the largest participant in Australia.

Today, however, bowls faces the challenge of addressing a dwindling membership rate.

Bowls is losing members at a rate of almost 5% a year. This decline has affected the sport in many ways, with the most obvious being the closure of numerous clubs in both city and rural areas.

The Perfect Delivery is a marketing resource kit that has been created for bowls clubs throughout Australia. To access the Perfect Delivery handbook click here.

Promotional Van

The promotional van is available to all clubs across the state, if you wish to use the van to promote your club please feel free to downoad the booking form here, otherwise contact the development staff at Bowls Queensland on (07) 3355 9988 or email: brett@bowlsqld.org or steven@bowlsqld.org

The Promotional Vans have been booked for the following events

Date	Venue	Event	Booked by

June

20th	Winton	Come N Try Day	Winton Bowls Club
17th to 19th	East Toowoomba Primary School	Multi Sports Expo	East Toowoomba Primary School
18th	Bundaberg - WIN Stadium	No Limits Sports Expo	Sporting Wheelies/Lifestream
20th	Brisbane South - Cornubia Park Sports Centre	No Limits Sports Expo	Sporting Wheelies/Lifestream

July

22nd to 26th	Darra & Inala Primary Schools	Sport Demonstration	Darra/Cementco Bowls Club

August

3rd to 5th	Lawnton Showgrounds	Lawnton Show	Club Pine Rivers

September

17th	Toowoomba - University of Southern Qld	No Limits Sports Expo	Sporting Wheelies/Lifestream
19th	Sunshine Coast - University of Sunshine Coast	No Limits Sports Expo	Sporting Wheelies/Lifestream

The state development team conduct annual visits to all clubs throughout Queensland to dicuss all areas of club development as indicated on the website. Please see below for when a visit is planned for your club. These visits are open to all club members, including committee and board members.

This calendar will be updated throughout the year, so if your club isn't listed yet please check back periodically.

Clubs marked in red have received their annual visit for the year.

January 2013

14th: Drayton

15th: West Toowomba

16th: Toowoomba City

17th: Gatton

18rd: South Toowoomba

21st: Woongoolba

22nd: West Toowong

25th: Pine Rivers, Mooloolaba, Club Maroochy, Coolum Beach

26th: Laidley

30th: Victoria Point

February 2013

8th: Macleay Island, Wellington Point, Capalaba.

April 2013

2nd: Clifton, Warwick, Warwick East.

3rd: Southern Cross, Tannymorel, Killarney.

4th: The Summit, Stanthorpe, Tenterfield.

5th: Texas, Inglewood, Goondiwindi.

23rd: Ferny Grove, Aspley, Stafford.

24th: Banyo, Chermside, Everton Park.

May2013

13th: South Townsville
16th: Services Memorial (Charters Towers), Charters Towers.

17th: Macknade, Noorla.

21st: Jubilee, Magnetic Island.

22nd: Bowen, Wangaratta.

23rd: Giru, Suburban.

24th: Cutheringa.

28th: Townsville.

June2013

3rd: Silkwood, South Johnstone.

4th: Cooktown.

5th: Dimbulah, Ravenshoe, Herberton.

6th: Atherton, Mareeba, Yungaburra, Malanda.

7th: Innisfail, Tully, Cardwell.

12th: Brandon.

13th: Ayr.

16th: Hughenden, Richmond, Cloncurry.

17th: Leichardt Services, Mt.Isa.

18th: Normanton.

20th: Winton.

21st: Aramac, Longreach, Blackall, Barcaldine.

22nd: Blackwater, Springsure, Emerald.

23rd: Capella, Tieri, Dysart, Middlemount.

24th: Clermont, Moranbah, Glenden, Collinsville.

July 2013

8th: Bell, Dalby, North Dalby.
9th: Tara, Meandarra, Miles.

10th: Taroom, Wondoan, Chinchilla.

11th: Jandowae.

August 2013

5th: Yarraman, Nanango, Kingaroy.

6th: Durong, Mundubbera, Eidsvold, Monto.

7th: Binjour, Gayndah, Biggenden.

8th: Tansey, Goomeri, Murgon.

9th: Proston, Wondai.

September 2013

30th: Roma

October 2013

1st: Surat, St.George.
2nd: Cunnamulla, Quilpie.

3rd: Charleville, Augathella, Mitchell.

4th: Injune.

November 2013

December 2013

A clubs membership directly affects the success and future of a club. Growth must exceed the the rate of decline in order to obtain a new increse. Anything less than this will only slow the decline and prolong the period to when a club finds itself in a serious membership(financial) position.

Bowls Queensland have designed a handbook to assist clubs in retaining members, both new and existing. To access the handbook click here.

If your interested in becoming a member of your local bowling club click here to find a club.

Can your club reach its target?

There's no escaping the fact, membership numbers are decreasing and have been for the last 25 years. Sure, there are more people playing bowls thanks to social programs such as open days, corporate bowls days, barefoot bowls and the like, but the conversion of these bowlers into members is not occuring. You only need to look around your local area and notice the number of clubs that have closed or amalgamated to realise that there is a problem.

The Participation Planning Tool

The good news is that the trend can be reversed! But only if your club acts now. For a club to increase its membership figures, aiming at a target is always a good place to start. To assist clubs to increase their membership figures, Bowls Australia in partnership with SportInfo have created the Participation Planning Tool. The tool outlines how many members your club needs to increase to ensure it meets the target. The membership figures are nation wide, you can compare a club in your state to a club in a neighbouring state.

To access this exciting tool, click here. The program should load in a new window, although it may take a moment. The image above is what you will see when you open the program. Access the information by clicking on the black buttons at the top of the page. Hover your mouse over the chart lines to see the exact membership information. Change the years and targets by clicking on the arrows.

Pay particular attention to the Projection tab, click on the button at the bottom of the page to select your state/territory to find out how many members your club needs to increase by. This is your target. What can your club do to meet the target? Who is responsible for ensuring your club is actively recruiting new members?

For further assistance in this area, please contact the Bowls Queensland development team on (07) 3355 9988

In 2009 Bowls Queensland conducted a club survey. From the responses received it became clear that a large number of Queensland clubs do not have a strategic plan. Bowls Queensland has designed a guide to assist clubs in developing such a plan.

It covers what a strategic plan actually is, why you need one and who it relates to. It also assists in getting started and how to create one in a simple to follow dot point format.

To access the Strategic Plan handbook click here.

As a part of strategic planning clubs should perform regular health checks.The Department of Sport & Rec offer a free online health check service, see information below.

Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing

Club Health Check is now available online.

It's a free online self-assessment tool that is quick and easy to complete and gives you a detailed picture of your club's overall administrative health.

The Club Health Check will develop tailored:

evaluation reports on the health of your club
action plans for developing your club's capacity
best practice guidelines for club administration
resources relevant to your club
information on how to get further assistance.

Jump online now, click the blue Club Health Check tab to take the check, and start planning for a healthier club.

The Club Health Check is a national initiative delivered by the Queensland Government, Australian Sports
Commission and other State and Territory Sport and Recreation Agencies across Australia.

www.sportrec.qld.gov.au