THE XXXX Winter Bowls Competition rolls into town on Saturday, 10 May with Myrtleford hosting Bright and Yackandandah hosting Chiltern.

All four clubs are excited about providing opportunities for many newer players of lawn bowls to get a taste of two bowl triples, in a fun but competitive format not bound by Ovens and Murray pennant bowls, but with far more flexibility as agreed to by all clubs.

Some of those flexible guidelines include swapping players from being a lead bowler to trying their hand as skippers halfway through a game, and players representing the other clubs when the available numbers don’t match on any given Saturday.

Wearing a club uniform is preferred but not essential for new players to the game who wish to try out lawn bowls.

Free coaching is available to all at the clubs.

The XXXX Winter Bowls Competition is not played for premiership points but to give all players a go - if they’re not towing the caravan north for the winter.

Foremost in mind for the organisers is also to provide some cash flow among smaller clubs in winter, when many of the overheads of running a club remain a burden on the books.

Obviously, the camaraderie and the chance to continue playing throughout the year is an important mental and physical benefit for many in the community.

Anyone interested in having a go with the clubs should pop into the participating clubs – Myrtleford, Bright, Yackandandah and Chiltern – as the XXXX Winter Bowls Competition is a great replacement for barefoot bowls, which largely runs from November to March.

From Myrtleford Bowls Club’s experience, many new members are created this way and often the talent is amazing.

The competition runs from May through to September, with play taking place on Saturdays.