MEMBERSHIP
NSW RSL Lawn Bowls Association membership is open to all members of any RSL sub-Branch who are also members of a Bowling Club affiliated with the Royal NSW Bowling Association. The NSW RSL LBA consists of Bowls Sections and Zones whose sub-Branch and Bowling Club members participate in National Carnivals and Trophy, Championship or Friendship games.
OBJECTIVES
Our objectives are to renew and strengthen the close ties of friendship engendered by service in the Forces and in competition on the bowling greens. To inculcate the spirit of friendship, tolerance and sportsmanship in all members of the NSW RSL LBA.
Playing RSL Bowls is a great opportunity to meet members from other clubs from around the State.
CARNIVALS
The National Carnival
This Carnival is the pinnacle of all RSL bowls played in Australia. All States, not Territories, are gathered together to contest the three Major Titles on offer. The hosting is carried out on a pre-determined rotational roster of every State. One of the overriding Conditions of Play is that all participants must be financial Service or Live Members of the RSL of Australia.
The Major Titles are;
The Jack Hamilton VC Trophy, where State sides are engaged in a round robin competition over the first three days, with a point score deciding the winning State.
The Dr. Sydney Krantz Memorial Trophy where an Executive Fours team from each State also compete in a round robin competition to determine the winner.
The Sir Arthur Lee National Fours Trophy is conducted through sectional play of individual teams so that a final series can identify the eventual winners.
Selection Trials and Trial Matches are played in the months leading up to the National Carnival to ensure that the best players are available to represent their State.
The overall competition runs for nine days and requires a high level of organizing to accommodate the influx of interstate visitors.
The Dean Oliver Trophy
The Dean Oliver Trophy commenced in 1966 when a massive stainless steel object was manufactured at a railway workshop somewhere in Sydney. The trophy perpetuates the services rendered by the Foundation President & Secretary of the NSW RSL Bowls Section.
The event is contested annually over one day, usually during Mid February, among the four Sydney Based Metropolitan Zones. Each Zone has the opportunity to host the event at a venue of their choice, and is on a rotational roster in order to share the logistics of conducting the event.
The format of play is a round robin of four teams Fours, where they accrue points that will eventually decide the winning Zone.
The Country Inter-Zone Carnival
The Carnival was inaugurated in 19.. to bring together the Country and Rural areas of NSW in the spirit of RSL bowls.
This event is conducted at or about the same time of year as the Dean Oliver Trophy. Teams from the Northern Country Zones 5, 6, 7 & 8 gather at a venue for two days to contest for the bragging rights of the winning Country Zone. It was determined in 2018 that Forster BC would be the host club, being the approximate geographic centre of all of the participating Zones. The format is the same as the Dean Oliver Trophy.
The Presidents Trophy
The Presidents Trophy is played soon after the results of the Dean Oliver & Country Carnival are known. The winning Zones meet at a mutually agreed venue usually about the geographic centre of their locations for the right to become the de-facto Zone Champions within NSW RSL bowls.
Championship Games
Teams from the active Zones participate in Triples, Fours and Pairs Championships which are played annually within Zones, then between Zone winners to determine the State champions. The winners are awarded prizemoney, badges and a have the honour of having their names added to the perpetual trophies.
Friendship Games
Zones arrange inter – Zone friendship games and social games within their Zones to enable players to meet our objectives.