Ballarat Gold Diggers @ 2023 Junior Provincial Championships at Daylesford
The Ballarat Gold Diggers Under 18 Bowls Squad competed in the Junior Provincial Championships on Wednesday, 18th January 2023 at Daylesford Bowling Club.
Under the guidance of Victoria’s Marc Oswin, the Gold Diggers were up against the Gippsland Geckos, Goulburn Murray Devils and Bendigo Dragons in their quest to bring home the Flapper Family Shield.
Whilst they didn’t come home with the shield, they can hold their heads high, as they pushed the eventual winners, the Bendigo Dragons Under 18 Bowls Squad, going down by just 5 shots to them in Round One.
Creswick’s Dusty Taylor-Irwin has enjoyed her time with the Gold Diggers and her experience came to the fore at Daylesford.
“My time with the Gold Diggers has been very good and I’ve been with them a long time now,” Dusty said.
“Meeting new people, and now that I’m skip, I’ve been teaching the younger ones how to play bowls and it’s been really good.”
The Gold Diggers performed admirably in the Junior Provincial Championships at Daylesford with Dusty, Oscar Jones and Addy Ryan skipping the rinks.
“We did fairly well at Daylesford and just went down to Bendigo in the first match in a tight game and we won the second game by a fair bit, and it was a tight one in the last as well,” Dusty said.
“A lot of the young ones enjoyed the experience as well.”
As her time at the Ballarat Gold Diggers comes to a close, Dusty has her eyes on climbing the Victorian bowls ranks.
“Hopefully, because I am in the Under 18 state side at the moment in Victoria, hopefully I can get up the ranks and into the open state side as well,” Dusty said.
Creswick’s Addy Ryan also enjoyed the experience, especially the team comradery.
“We played really well, and all the team combined and worked really well together,” Addy said.
“Everyone got around each other, and, in the end, we didn’t win, but that’s okay, because we all had fun.”
Addy plays lead in Division 1 for her home club, Learmonth, but played skip for the Gold Diggers.
“It was really different, but I liked the experience and hopefully can play a bit more there,” Addy said.
The Gold Diggers next event is the Ballarat-Bendigo Shield on Sunday, 12th February 2023 at Smeaton Bowling Club.
Each year the regions alternate between home venues.
Both sides will have 5 teams of triples playing a round robin of 3 games of 12-15 ends.
A BIG THANK YOU
Marc Oswin and the Gold Diggers were full of appreciation to the following supporters for coming through with the following:
- Chris Jones at Premier Bowls Wear for providing shorts and skorts for our entire squad and management.
- Liberty Finance for providing high quality caps and embroidery for our entire squad and management.
- Chloe Stewart and the team at Sparms for providing a set of sunsleeves and a collection of their new range of sunscreen for our squad to keep sun smart on the greens.
All of these things are priceless when it comes to the Gold Diggers taking their games to the next level.
2023 Junior Provincial Championship
Wednesday, 18th January 2023
Daylesford Bowling Club
Section 1 Results
RD1: Ballarat Gold Diggers 33 VS 38 Bendigo Dragons
RD2: Gippsland Geckos 21-45 Ballarat Gold Diggers
RD3: Goulburn Murray Devils 36-27 Ballarat Gold Diggers
>>> View Junior Provincial Championship results here
Games – Players
3 – Dusty Taylor-Irwin, Oscar Jones, Addy Ryan, Micah Oswin and Xavier Hanrahan
2 – Jack Lennecke, Paddy Morvell and Harry Sands, Logan Mattei
1 – Jack Baldwin, Nathan Dubberley, Boyd Browning and Hannah Morvell