After GBR had sent out the 2021/22 Pennant dates to clubs, we were advised by Bowls Victoria of the dates for State Championship Week, which is being held from the 24th of March to the 1st of April 2022. This will affect our fixtured Saturday Grand Finals with several players from The Geelong Bowls Region playing in these championships. We cannot start our season any earlier due to the Nationals being held in Queensland commencing on the 1st of October which also impacts on Pennant Players.
With this in mind The Pennant Committee along with the GBR Board have decided that we will have two weeks of finals for Saturday Pennant this season with the dates for these being the 12th of March and the 19th/20th March.
The first week will be 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 with the winners of these games playing in the Grand Finals the following weekend. The 1st and 2nd placed teams at the end of the Home and Away season will have home finals for the first week, with venues for the Grand Finals being decided by the Pennant Committee once we know the results.
While these State Championships will not affect the finals of Midweek Pennant it was decided to have the same finals format for Midweek Pennant as Saturday Pennant.
Saturday Pennant players please note that included in the GBR Rules for Competition 20-21 is the restriction for practice before the game as follows:
“Prior to one hour before commencement time, the home team only may practice on any rink other than rinks allocated for the match”
(Players also may practice at home before travelling to away games).