2023 Junior 7-A-Side Championships Wrap
By Ben Krikstolaitis
There was a massive injection of energy and enthusiasm into the brilliant sport of bowls over the last weekend. Club Dubbo held the Junior 7-a-Side Zone Championships and it was an amazing event showcasing the huge talent within our junior ranks.
120 junior bowlers from all around the state, including a team from the ACT, competed for one of the most coveted prizes in junior bowls, the Junior-Interzone Championship. The competition started with a coaching session on Friday on a cold, rainy and windy day. Sectional play started early on Saturday morning in icy, windy conditions and finished in bright, warm sunshine on the Sunday.
All of the players had to adjust to three very different weather conditions on each day and it made for some really exciting games. 7-a-side formats are often close and so it proved over all three days. The format involves singles, pairs and fours games held simultaneously for each Zone creating challenges for each player.
In the end it was Zone 16 (Illawarra) who took out the overall standings and the gold medals over two of the three formats. Zone 12 (Sydney South-West) came in second with the Zone 4 locals (Mid-West NSW) coming in third.
The individual results were as follows:
Singles
Gold – Travis Moran (Zone 16 – Illawarra)
Silver – Ryan Klem (Zone 12 – Sydney South West),
Bronze – Tom Rich (Zone 4 – Mid West NSW)
Pairs
Gold – Jacob Aitken & Flynn Cooper (Zone 16 – Illawarra),
Silver – Billy Waite & Brendan Ford (Zone 12 – Sydney South West)
Bronze – Daniel Paul & Lachlan Thompson (Zone 13 – Sydney South East)
Fours
Gold – Tara Ingram, Kade Allen, Ella Cameron & Tim Thorning (Zone 3 – North West NSW)
Silver – Jeremy Bourke, Dakota Meatheringham, Zander Webber & Koby Kattau (Zone 6 – Hunter)
Bronze – Zoe Davis, Zac Moran, Cael Arneman & Hamish Hampton (Zone 16 – Illawara)
Club Dubbo is a huge supporter of junior bowls and once again put on an amazing event for everyone. The weather conditions may have been often unkind but that wasn’t the case for the volunteers and staff of the club.
This was the final event for many of our 2023 juniors with many state representatives moving on to the next phase of their bowling career. The future looks exceptionally bright and some of the younger bowlers are sure to be giving the NSW Junior Committee plenty to consider for future events!
Click here to view the event results on BowlsLink
Final Points Table
| Zone | Singles | Pairs | Fours | Zone |
| Zone 16 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 56 |
| Zone 12 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 50 |
| Zone 4 Grey | 16 | 14 | 10 | 40 |
| Zone 6 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 36 |
| Zone 2 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 34 |
| Zone 3 Gold | 4 | 10 | 20 | 34 |
| Zone 13 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 28 |
| Zone 9 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 25 |
| Zone 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
| Zone 8 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 24 |
| ACT | 12 | 5 | 3 | 20 |
| Zone 5 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 19 |
| Zone 10 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 18 |
| Zone 15 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Zone 4 Green | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Zone 3 Blue | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
