Envar Buys – 2023
Dates: 5 to 8 October 2023 at The Glen Bowling Club
Due to heavy winds we moved to Meadowridge Bowling Club on the 6 and 7 October.
There were 52 players from cross the Western Cape who came to participate representing the districts of Eden, West Coast, Overberg, Winelands and Western Province.
Event Overview / Purpose
This event is run annually with each district in the Western Cape taking it in turns to host the tournament. This year it was the turn of Western Cape to host it. We played the WCPBA Junior singles on the Friday (5th) and then the team’s competition on the Saturday and Sunday.
Program
On Friday the 5th we played the WCPBA Junior singles which was played in one age category only – Under 18’s but all 52 juniors took part and it is played as one tournament with boys and girls playing against each other.
For a large majority of these juniors this was the first tournament they had ever played in and there was a lot of learning that took place as they learnt to mark each others games and enjoyed playing singles for the first time.
The juniors were drawn in sections of 3 so they all got at least two games to play before we moved into the knockout rounds. Two players played each other with the third in the section marking the game. This was their introduction to the technical aspect of the game and it is what will be expected from them if they play any other tournaments.
To assist them we had an abundance of qualified umpires (one to every two rinks as opposed to one per green which is normal) and they were very patient with the youngsters teaching them and assisting them when needed.
Unfortunately the wind worked against us and we had to call off play before we had completed all the rounds we had planned for the day but with scoreboards beginning to fly around it became to dangerous to continue.
On arriving at the club on Saturday morning we very quickly realised that there was no way we could play at The Glen as the wind was worse than the previous day. After some phone calls we managed to move the whole tournament to Meadowridge Bowling club.
This may have been easier if it didn’t involve moving all the food as well. The children and Managers all stayed at a campsite for the three days and it was our responsibility to feed everyone breakfast, lunch and supper each day.
This is when you realise the value of a team around you who all just pulled together and made it all happen. The move meant that we lost out on another playing session but it was decided by all the managers that we would continue with the teams competition and the semi finals and finals of the WCPBA Junior singles would be played on a future date.
The teams competition is played in two age categories – the Under 18’s and the Under 15’s.
The focus of this tournament is development and so we try and play as many of our youngsters as possible giving them the exposure to competitive bowls. Every team managed at least one win in the round robin stage and that has a huge psychological boost for all the newer players.
We had 7 x Under 18 teams and 6 x Under 15 teams with one of the Under 15 teams being an invitational team made up of youngsters from three different districts. This was played on a round robin basis with the top three teams at the end of the weekend taking gold, silver and bronze in each age category.
Winners – Under 18
Gold – Overberg
Silver – West Coast
Bronze – Western Province A
Winners – Under 15
Gold – Western Province A
Silver – Western Province B
Bronze – Eden A
See all results on the Envar Buys tournament page.
There is this misconception that bowls is a sport for old people and over this weekend we were able to show to the community that bowls is indeed a sport for all ages and the many spectators we had around the green were treated to some bowls of the highest standard. They are fierce competitors but the games are played in such great spirit and the friendships that are formed at these competitions last for years.
Jenny Griffiths
Convenor of organising committee.
List of Participants
| West Coast Under 18 Jade Kruger Paula Viljoen Jacques Kayser Eljana Kayser Paul Viljoen – Manager | Overberg Under 18 Ruben Lubbe Lusiano Forster Casre Husselman Rewaldo Fortuin Renaldo Claasen – Manager Elmarie Lubbe – Safeguarding officer |
| Winelands Under 18 Christiaan Stassen Sumeon de Villiers Willem-Pieter Botha Dirkie Human Gert Lambrechts – Manager | Western Province Under 18 A Ryan Truter Zandré Langenhoven Kaitlin Niemand Gavin (Siviwe) Matomane Armand Ascaray – Manager |
| Western Province Under 18 B Keagan Oliphant Caitlin Cornelius Yanga Malilwana Anzel Benadé Riaan Langenhoven – Manager | Western Province Under 18 C Wilmien Smuts Dylan Bentley SM Smith Anro Visagie Armand Smit – Manager |
| Eden Under 18 Schalk de Jager Chad Jansen Connor Crowley Dian Stadler Hilton Prins – Manager |
| Western Province Under 15 A William Neethling Divan Joubert AJ Hougaard Thando Magwaca Wayne Schmidt – Manager | Western Province Under 15 B Werner Langenhoven Keane van Wyk Jordané Castle Divan Laubscher Megan Ferreira – Manager |
| Western Province Under 15 C Surina Bezuidenhout Bianca Otto Marco Stenekamp Hannah Havenga Justin Brink – Manager | Eden Under 15 A Kaila Steyn Karlien Oelofse Jarko Stadler Markwin Kortje Bronlynn Jumat – Manager |
| Eden Under 15 B Jade Schoeman Donné Dempsey Jané Pretorius Marcelle Geldenhuys Riana Nel – Manager | Invitational Under 15 John van Rhyn Tiaan Kruger Tazwill Marthinus Calum Matjan Lynda Nurrish – Manager |
