Bowls International has today (Monday, 20 June), contacted all of the Home Nations – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jersey and Guernsey – in respect of the long-term future of the British Isles international events.
Good morning,
We write in respect of the future of the British Isles International Series and Championships.
Following the announcement and subsequent statements earlier this year, our social media platforms were flooded with comments from officials, players (from grassroots through to international) and supporters distraught at developments.
As a result, we launched an online petition for our readers in a bid to collate and reflect the feeling of bowlers and supporters keen on having their voices heard regarding the iconic summer spectacles. Bowls International, the world’s number one bowling magazine, is committed to ensure a full consultation with affiliated clubs and individual bowlers takes place ahead of any changes to the British Isles events.
More than 1,000 readers signed our petition in the few weeks that it was open, wishing to have their voices heard on the future of the British Isles events that have become the epitome of everything that is positive about our sport. Players revel in the honour of donning their country’s shirt to do annual battle against other home nations each year in a format that has been tradition for many decades.
We strongly hope that the views of our readers will be taken into consideration when one of the most crucial decisions on the future of our sport is made, and that affiliated clubs and individual bowlers are consulted, and their views listened to ahead of the cross-nation working party making any changes to the traditional format.
We have attached a screengrab to support the above figure confirming number of signatories to our petition and look forward to continuing to work with you for the benefit of our sport.
Kind regards,
Ceris Hewlings (Editor at large) and Matt Wordingham (Associate Editor)
We would like to thank everyone for sharing their views on the future of these prestigious events and to those who signed the Bowls International led petition.
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We would love to hear your thoughts on the future of the British Isles events. What do you think of the changes? Did you have the opportunity to share your views beforehand? Please share them with matt.wordingham@keypublishing.com for consideration in a future article by Bowls International.
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