The Windsor Boys' School Bowls Society

To all members of the TWBS Bowls Society, bowlers from Newlands Girls' School and Desborough College, members of The Met Police Bowls Association, Desborough Indoor Bowls Club and Iver Heath Bowls Club, and all the many bowlers we have competed against, all of us at The Windsor Boys' School wish you all the best in the coming weeks and months. Stay safe, keep well, and see you on the green again in hopefully the not too distant future.

Good luck to Ben for Saturday, playing for the Met Police against Wey Valley, Guildford. Keep that winning streak going!

Well done Harry and Ben! Another top rink, and another victory for Met Police against Cambridge Park ably assisted by some excellent bowling from The Windsor Boys' School! Well done!

Whoops! Dropped an 8 today! Don't worry boys... just blame it on the Skip!

Good luck to Jonny Slade playing in his first game this weekend representing The Windsor Boys' School Bowls Society as an invited guest of The Met Police Bowls Association, along with Ben Higgins in his second game, against Watford. Continuing thanks to Captain John Neal for his never ceasing support of Junior Bowls. Keep the winning streak going lads!

Another victory at the weekend for rinks involving TWBS and now the Bowls Society have won 4 out of 5 matches played for the Met Police this year. Well done Ben Higgins in his first game and a fantastic top rink achievement! Also, great effort from Harry Elliot, who at 14 down pulled it right back, just losing out 23-22 in the end.

Good luck to both Harry Elliott and Ben Higgins (playing in his first match) who will be representing the bowls society as they play for The Met Police Bowls Association against Glebelands on Sunday. Thanks again to Captain John Neal of the association for inviting our boys to play!

Super proud of both Theo Thompson and Harry Elliott in Year 11 with their victories today playing for The Met Police against Egham... the only two winning rinks may I add!!! Super bowling, great attitude, and excellent character throughout. Uno Animo!

We have a game! 23rd November against Egham Indoor Bowls Club for The Met Police Bowls Association. Good luck to Harry, Theo and Cameron!

It is with great disappointment that I have to announce the closure of The Windsor Boys' School Bowls Society due to the closure of the Schools Academy on Friday afternoons at Desborough Bowls Club.

I would like to thank the club for allowing us at The Windsor Boys' School to take part over recent years and wish them all the best in their plans to instead develop a Junior Section from within their club membership.

Such a privilege to be able to play on this green. The boys have loved it these last two weeks and all have taken membership forms away with them.

Jack digs deep!

Well done to Jack Hebbert playing for Surrey County U25 on Sunday at Croydon Indoor Bowls Club. After having gone 14-0 down, Jack’s rink dug deep and pulled the match back to draw the tie 14-14. In just a few months Jack has gone from an “interested bowler”, to a “regular attender”, to a “committed member of a club” and now on to being a “member of the Surrey County U25 indoor bowls team”. Amazing!

Well done Jack! Keep up the great bowling and flying the flag for The Windsor Boys’ School, Egham Bowls Club and the Desborough Bowls Club School Bowls Academy.

Well done to Jack Hebbert who has been selected to play for Surrey County U25

Jack was picked to play just last Sunday against Essex and was a member of a winning triple in what was a very tight game. There is now every possibility of him also being selected to play against Kent in their next fixture. Jack is now the sixth bowler from the schools Bowls Society to have played a county fixture in the last 15 months.

This is an amazing achievement by Jack, having just taken up the game in September last year. He has been a regular attendee at the Bowls Society each Friday and has committed time and effort to develop his game. He has recently joined Egham Indoor Bowls Club who have obviously seen his developing talent.

Well done Jack!

TWBS have unfortunately developed a habit of losing bowls matches to Desborough College... heavily!
Last Friday's scorelines in both two-wood triples matches were 7-2 and 6-1 to Desborough College. Ouch!

Even though the boys have lost again they all LOVE the game and look forward to playing every week! We actually had two too many boys for the minibus this friday... Unfortunately Jonny and Theo from Year 10 were unable to come. Hopefully we will have the bigger bus next week.

TWBS would also relish the opportunity and look forward to the possibility of playing 4 triples matches against Desborough College next week. This would surely be a great advert for the game of bowls amongst Junior bowlers and surely an encouragement for Bowls England to invest more in Junior/School Bowls.

Schools are indebted to clubs like Desborough, and companies such as Bond Bowls for providing us the opportunities to play and use the correct equipment. Once again, Thank You!

TWBS, and Desborough Bowls Club continue to need generous individuals who could supply more equipment for the junior bowlers to use. We are currently in need of:
- size 1 and size 2 bowls (3 to 4 sets would be great)
- size 6, 7 and 8 bowls shoes (another 3 pairs of each size)
- bowls measures, coloured bowls stickers and chalk

Please message on here if you can help!

TWBS Bowls Society unfortunate in the Desborough Bowls Academy Tri-Series

12 bowlers from across The Windsor Boys’ School, Newlands Girls’ School and Desborough College competed in a tri-series tournament last Friday. After a great start, TWBS were up in both games with some positive bowling from Bryn Acland, Harry Elliott and Theo Thompson in year 10. Unfortunately the experienced pair from Newlands Girls’ School were too strong for Theo and Harry in the end, and a disastrous change in tactics in the other match resulted in a 6-6 draw after having been 6-0 up.

Fans of Ski-Jumping may remember Matti Nykänen “The Flying Finn” winner of 14 Olympic and World Championship medals. Well, at TWBS we have Fionn O’Neill, now nicknamed “The Firing Fionn”, who at any opportunity to play with force looked to smash his opponents bowls not just out the rink but out the bowls club! When successful this can look pretty amazing. Unfortunately on this occasion his accuracy was a little wayward… :)

This was a great experience for the three boys in year 10 who were playing in their first competitive tournament, won by Newlands Girls’ School who were convincing winners in both of their matches. Each of the boys continue to develop their skills, and competitive sporting experiences playing bowls as part of their Duke of Edinburgh awards lead by Mr Abramson, and we wish them all the best.

Merry Christmas to everyone at Desborough Bowls Club, especially to all the coaches and teachers who give up their time every friday so that our students can play. Thanks to Roger, David, Gina, George, Tony and Mr Jones whom without their support of our students it would not be possible.

Merry Christmas also to the bowlers from Desborough College, Newlands Girls' School and Reading College, as well as our own students from The Windsor Boys' School, who have been coming each week, have given the game a go, been respectful and thankful for all the coaching they have received, and more importantly have had fun.

Merry Christmas also to Iain Burns, who even though has moved away to pastures new, is appreciated by all the students for his vision and drive to get the academy up and running in the first place. We wish you all the best as you celebrate Christmas and the New Year in your new home.

TWBS Bowls Society sign the year off with another defeat to Desborough College, 7-3 in a two wood triples. TWBS held counts of 3 and 4 in trying to pull back a 0-4 deficit but steady bowling by Jacob from DC was enough to stop our boys from claiming their first win. Jack Hebbert on the night played the bowl of the match, a toucher with his first wood of the end that finished resting on the Jack.

A new rivalry!
This Friday saw Jimmy French and Alistair Hewitt of Year 9 play their first game for TWBS against new boys Jacob and Sam from Desborough College, in what was their first game as a school, and in what proved to be a very close game. The first end of the match went the way of Desborough College, 0-1, but some great bowling from Jimmy took TWBS into a 2-1 lead after 2 ends, and with bowls from Alistair giving the boys a potential 3 shots in the penultimate end the game looked set to go the way of TWBS. However a great bowl by Jacob under pressure stole Desborough College a single levelling the scores at 2-2, playing the final end. Furthermore, an absolute peach of a bowl by the Desborough Skip grabbed them a single on the last end and a first ever victory, 2-3. Jimmy’s comment after the game, “I can’t believe he did that”, summed it up perfectly!

In the other matchup of the evening, Cameron and Owen took on Sadia and Alishba of Newlands Girls’ School. The opposition skip began the mind games immediately, “we beat them last time, and it was too easy”, and then sipped on her cup of water with a big grin! Well, after taking a 2 on the first end, it wasn’t Cameron and Owen’s best game and they went on to lose 3-7 – maybe the mind games worked – and after the game Cameron said, “I don’t want to talk about it”. And so here endeth the report on that game then!

In the other two evenings matchups of Nathan and Jack versus Alex and Adrian, and Bryn and Theo versus Harry and Coach George, Alex and Adrian took a 5 on the last end to win by 4, and the last bowl of the match decided the game in the favour of Harry and George by just the 1 shot.

To sum it all up, even though Windsor lost both games played against Newlands’ Girls School and Desborough College, it was again amazing to see 17 school students on the green, all having fun, all bowling well, and to see that there are now three very competitive schools each playing regularly, each with at least one win under their belt.

TWBS Bowls Society reaches new heights!

Two weeks running and each match day between TWBS and Newlands has resulted in “one win, one loss” with equal shots scored on both occasions, and so each of the boys were fully prepared for what was going to be a tough game!

On rink 3, with bowls coach Tony officiating, the pair of Nathan Pinder and Anders Calway took on Sadia and Alishba. Some good bowling from both the boys ensured that they claimed a solid 2 shots and early lead. However, the girls immediately fought back with a large count of 4, and threatened to run away with the match. Despite this, the boys stuck to their guns and some steady bowling from both Nathan and Anders clawed the scores back to 4 apiece playing the last end. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the result went the way of the girls as they claimed a single to win the game 5-4. Still, well played the boys who both stepped up the quality of their bowling and suggest that they could be a formidable pair in the future.

On rink 2, with bowls coach Gina officiating, the newly formed pair of Cameron Burns and Owen Davies took on the might of Kira and Louisa. On paper, this looked like it would be a very close affair, and it certainly lived up to it. The game ebbed and flowed throughout. The first end went to the boys, the score 1-0, but the girls struck back, 1-1. The third end went to the boys, 3-1, and holding three shots on what has to be the best end of bowls by students since the Schools Academy began over a year ago, looked to take a commanding lead on the game. But then disaster struck! Owen tried to play another bowl into the head with his last but somehow managed to dislodge a well-protected jack, springing it out into the open, and the girls capitalised on this mistake and claimed an unlikely two shots, and hence 3-3. The scores were again level going into the last end. Cameron was clearly gutted by Owen’s misfortune but stuck his head down and bowled an absolute peach of a shot the following end under great pressure, and no matter what the girls tried they could not move it. And so the boys won 4-3. The best bowler of the evening has to go to Cameron Burns of year 10, who throughout the game managed to bowl exceptionally well. He has made massive strides and looks set to become a really good bowler indeed!

And so, for the third week running, one win, one loss, shots level. This rivalry seems to be growing more intense each week!

TWBS Bowls Society is also very pleased to welcome the 4 new boys of Desborough College, who under the leadership and coaching of their teacher Mr Jones, himself a winner of multiple trophies at Desborough Indoor Bowls Club, have begun their quest for sporting glory upon the hallowed carpet! This takes the number of schools actively committed to playing the game each week to three, and with occasional bowlers also from Reading College, the level of competition looks set to keep on growing. In fact, at one point during the evening there were 17 young boys, 4 young girls, 2 teachers and 4 bowls coaches on the green. At a time when some bowls clubs are struggling to find 24 bowlers to fulfil club fixtures, the Bowls Academy currently have 28 students playing the game, most of them on a regular basis.

This week was also the first week that the minibus was at its full capacity. Any new bowlers wishing to join will need to speak to Mr Smith in advance, and if necessary potentially make their own way there and back. Either that or we get a bigger bus!

A “nip and tuck” battle and a thrilling comeback!

On Friday 2nd November, the boys were once again enjoying a great game of bowls at Desborough Bowls Club! Owen Davies and Cameron Burns took on Saadiya and Alishba from Newlands in what was a nip and tuck battle from start to finish. Some great bowling from both boys was unfortunately not enough as the opposing skip Alishba drew the winning shot on the final end meaning the girls won the game 4-3.

The result meant that Windsor needed to win the other game to draw level and stop the girls from Newlands surging ahead in the series. Well, at 8-0 down early on things did not look too great! But Windsor gradually pulled the game back to 8-2 and holding an impressive 3 shots looked certain to close the gap further with one bowl to come. However a stunning weighted bowl from Louisa fired the Jack off the green killing the end leaving the scores at 8-2. This was obviously quite a set-back but some good bowling from Fionn O’Neill ensured a double on the next end and meant that Windsor were 8-4 behind playing the last end with the slightest hope of claiming a surprise draw. But a draw was not enough for Fionn who with some impressive bowling drew a fifth shot with his last bowl, and with the opposition unable to cut the count down, claimed a surprise win 9-8.

Yet again, more boys have tried out the game of Bowls with newcomers to the sport Jimmy in Year 9 and Jonny Slade in Year 10 impressing the club coaches. Bryn Acland in Year 10 drew his first toucher and Ben Higgins made an impressive start bowling with his new set of bowls.

If any new bowlers are interested in playing they will need to speak to Mr Smith as soon as possible to ensure they can be accommodated.

**REVIEW OF THE YEAR**
It has been a year now since The Windsor Boys' School Bowls Society have been playing bowls at Desborough Indoor Bowls Club, and in that time we have seen:

- a total of 33 boys play the game
- 10 students play competitive matches for local clubs such as Desborough BC and the Metropolitan Police
- 10 students become paid up members of the club in their own right
- regular matches between TWBS and Newlands Girls' School
- 4 boys from TWBS play competitive fixtures for Berkshire County U25 representing their club Desborough Bowls Club whilst also representing TWBS
- 2 boys win the inaugural TWBS Open Pairs tournament
- currently 14 boys playing on a regular basis
- sponsorship of £400 spent on providing the boys of TWBS Bowls Society with bowls shoes to use (these shoes are stored at the club for other junior bowlers to use if required)
- one teacher become a member of Desborough BC :)
- some great coaching and help from Iain, Tony, Dave, Gina and many others!

It has been a very exciting first year!

All of us at TWBS Bowls Society look forward to another great year ahead, learning from the great coaching from the club, playing matches against Newlands Girls' School and hopefully get to welcome a few more bowlers from other schools.

And maybe... just maybe... get a few more county honours under our belt!

A massive thumping at the hands of Newlands Girls’ School
Thanusan, Harry Elliot, Theo Thomson and Bryn Acland of year 10 took on the four girls of Newlands Girls’ School in two pairs matches. Considering the boys dropped 9 shots in total on the first end – for the un-initiated this is a very big score – the boys did well to keep their heads up and only lose 14-5.

This game was always about having a bit of fun, taking on a new challenge, experiencing the competitive side of the game and learning how to play and communicate as a team… but still… 14-5 is a thrashing! At least the boys enjoyed themselves!

Next week the boys have asked just to play against each other… :)

Great credit must go to the boys however, since I cannot imagine another boys school anywhere in the country, that after losing a sports fixture heavily to a girls school that they would still end the game smiling, laughing, congratulating their opponents and generally showing great character. True Uno Animo spirit!

On the minibus back the boys kept asking about whether the school could run a House Bowls Competition, and maybe even run a Bowls Tour (although suggestions of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and maybe Fiji seemed a little bit bold!). They want to play more matches against other schools, and play further matches against each other in a knockout tournament, and were discussing how to make sure more students get to enjoy playing the game. All this seems to suggest that the game of Bowls is not the boring game that others may think. Rather, they seem to really enjoy it!

Bowls Society nearly at capacity
The boys continue to show their faithfulness in committing each Friday to play the game as the numbers of participants continue to rise taking the total number to the full capacity of the minibus. Any future bowlers will need to inform Mr Smith of their interest to play in advance of the day to allow the school time to put provision in place to allow more students to bowl.

Last Friday also saw the first competitive game for Harry, Thanusan, Bryn and Theo as the pair of Theo and Bryn won 9-6 in a closely contested pairs match. After Harry and Thanusan took a single on the first end the game continued to be nip and tuck all the way with the scores level playing the last end. However some great bowling from Theo and Bryn on the last end put Harry under immense pressure and with his last wood of the match he just missed trailing the jack into the ditch to win the game. Great effort from the boys!

Team Photo:
Back row: Anders, Theo, Fionn, Ben, Nathan, Adrian
Front row: Harry, Thanusan, Bryn, Owen, Jack.

Our first match and our first win of the new season!

Well done to Fionn O’Neil, Nathan Pinder, Owen Davies and Anders Callway on their 3-2 victory over Newlands Girls’ School. This was only Nathan’s third time on a bowls green, and it was Anders’ first game for the school, and yet the boys bowled brilliantly to beat a very good quartet from Newlands. This was a very tight game with only single shots won on each end.

It was also a great day as we welcomed 6 new members to the TWBS Bowls Society. Whilst Anders – who has played before – represented the school, Theo, Harry, Thanusan, Bryn and Jack joined up with Ben and Adrian for some coaching from the team at Desborough Bowls Club. Theo Thomson, according to club coach Tony Buckley, was “all over the Jack like a whippet”!

After the hours bowls session, the boys were asked how they got on and there was an overwhelming response that they had all had a great time, with some “definitely coming back next week”, and others saying they were “going to play Bowls for my Duke of Edinburgh”.

With only 2 spaces left on the bus, it is therefore really important that any new bowlers will need to see Mr Smith at the earliest opportunity to inform him of their interest in playing. Either that or we will need a bigger bus!

First week back and already a new face... Welcome Nathan, younger brother of Cameron! It is also a big weekend for 3 of our boys as Owen, Kyle and Fionn bowl for the County Juniors against the County Seniors at Trentham BC on Sunday, 2pm start. Good luck boys!

CONGRATULATIONS to Bradley, Kyle, Owen and Fionn in Year 10 who have been selected to represent Berkshire in a County U25 match against Oxfordshire in Thatcham on Sunday 3rd June starting at 10:30am. For the three students who only started playing in November last year, and one student in February of this year, this is a great achievement and testament to the practice and commitment they have put in each friday after school since we started.

If you are free and wish to support our four boys from The Windsor Boys' School and Desborough Bowls Club, then please make your way over to Thatcham BC this Sunday. Bear in mind there will be a Car Boot Sale on in the adjacent fields so parking will be a challenge. but not impossible!!

Uno Animo!

Sunday 6th May - County U25's Get Together at Thatcham Bowls Club

The Windsor Boys’ School join up with Berkshire County U25’s in an historic first

On Sunday 6th May, 4 boys from The Windsor Boys’ School travelled to Thatcham Bowls Club to join up with the Berkshire County U25’s in their annual Get Together. They were joined by 4 girls from the Newlands Girls’ School; all 8 bowlers have recently joined Desborough Bowls Club. They were invited to bowl by Barry Dillon, the U25 Team Manager, after hearing such great news as to their progress over recent months. The girls manager Gill also came along to see the quality of the bowling.

All 8 bowlers were quite nervous on arrival, this was only their second time ever on an outdoor green, and just a couple of rinks down were National and International bowlers of a similar age to them. Thankfully both schools received great support and encouragement from the parents that travelled down with them and stepped onto the green with increasing confidence. Barry invited both schools to play a match against each other and placed one of his best coaches, Jeff, on the rink to talk them through the finer details of the game.

And so, The Windsor Boys’ School were about to play in an historic game of bowls… the first ever outdoor bowls match between two schools in Berkshire! Wearing the colours of The Windsor Boys’ School were, playing Lead Fionn O’Neill, Two Owen Davies, Three Kyle Ferguson and Skip Bradley Harcup. They were up against Katie, Simran, Kira and Poppie of Newlands Girls’ School.

The going was tough at first as both schools struggled to adapt to the outdoor conditions on a very hot and dry day. The pace of the green was a lot slower than they were used to, and each delivery required a lot less green.

The first three ends went to the girls as they raced into an 8-0 lead, but the boys picked up a few ends after some great bowling from all 4 boys to go into the break 8-3 down.

After the break the girls pulled further ahead, and after a late rally from the boys, managed to win the fixture 13-8.

It was amazing to see our boys playing against and alongside such great quality bowlers. The quality of the bowling was so good that Barry is now looking at integrating them into this year’s U25 County League side, last year’s National Runners-Up, and considering the boys have only been bowling since November last year – Bradley only started in February – and that this was only their second game outdoors, this is by no means some small feat!

I was left feeling immensely proud of our boys and look forward with much excitement to see their journey progress further.