President’s Day: Last Sunday President Russel hosted his first President’s Day.

There were (almost) 24 teams in attendance on a beautiful winter’s day, with visiting teams from Boorowa Ex-Services, Boorowa Recreation Club, Young, Grenfell, Woodstock, Gooloogong, Caragabal and nearly a team from Canowindra.

President Russel presented merit badges to Alan Baker who has been a long time committee man on the club and also an umpire of many year’s standing.

Russel also presented a merit badge to Ian Nelson.

Ian has been a member of the men’s committee for several years and is always there to help any time there needs to be anything done in the club to help with the smooth running of events, particularly our popular business house bowls competitions.

There were four teams that finished the day on two wins plus 26 points with the winners on a count-back being Gerard Beath’s team of ‘Cobar’ and Kevin Webb while the runners-up were Charlie Bryant’s team of Dave O’Donnell and Rod Young.

The unlucky teams in the count-back were Darryl Murphy’s Boorowa Ex-Services side and President Russel’s side.

Zone 4 Championships: Last weekend the Zone 4 singles championships were played at Grenfell and at the close of play Cowra has a Zone champion in Alan Messiter.

In the first round of the open singles Jai Marskell (Mudgee) defeated Graham Fliedner (Parkes Bowling & Sports) 31-23 and Jono Davis (Dubbo Railway) defeated Paul Daniels (Baradine) 31-12.

In the semi-finals Paul Davis (Molong) defeated Brad Galvin (Grenfell) 31-26 and Jai Marskell defeated Jono Davis 31-25. The final resulted in a win to Jai Marskell by 31-8.

In the senior singles Col Hayward (Parkes Bowling & Sports) defeated Darryl Kirkwood (Portland) 31-26 and Barry Wilkinson (Dubbo Railway) defeated Alan Knott (Dunedoo) 31-10.

In the semi-finals Col Hayward defeated Barry Wilkinson 31-18 and Alan Messiter (Cowra) defeated Phil Gray (Bathurst City) 31-27.

In the final Alan struggled early trailing 16-8 before scoring 23 shots to five to take the title 31-21 - well done Alan!

In the President’s reserve singles final Jamie Overall (Binnaway) proved too good for Jarrod Palmer (Grenfell) by 31-20.

Handicap Pairs Championship: The first (and most second) round matches in the handicap pairs were played last Saturday with the following results.

John Bush and Alan Vorias needed their six shot start to defeat ‘Cobar’ and M Nobes 33-29; Dave O’Donnell and Noel Hubber conceded a three shot start to Trevor Pullen and G Beath with the latter pair winning 31-28; Peter Hamilton and ‘Bugsy’ proved they will be hard to beat with their 19 handicap in defeating Alan Baker and Les Tysoe (10) by 37-26; Terry McGrath and Neville Connor (6) defeated Shane Egan (sub for John Burns) and Tom McSorley (7) by 33-24; the handicappers were spot on when Jack Martin and Wayne Davenport (15) played a draw with Joe Burgin and Steve Treasure (12) with Joe and Steve winning on the second extra end; Elwyn Drummond and Robert Gee (10) were too good for (under handicapped?) Brian Duff and Alan Walls (14) by 45-20; Greg Nicholls and David Bryant (12) didn’t need their handicap in defeating Bruce Holland and Norm Egan (9) by 32-23 and Bruce Oliver and Ken Porter(10 defeated David Westwood and Ian Nelson (15) by 37-33.

Listed Matches: The following matches are listed to be played this Saturday, August 20, at 1pm (Please Note: All possible matches have been listed - one round 2 and three from round 3).

John Bush and Alan Vorias (18) versus T Downing and Russ Nobes (9); Peter Hamilton and ‘Bugsy’ (19) versus Terry McGrath and Nev Connor (6): Joe Burgin and Steve Treasure (12); Elwyn Drummond and Robert Gee (10) and Greg Nicholls and David Bryant (12) versus Bruce Oliver and Ken Porter (10).

Nominations for Committee: Nominations for committee for 2016/2017 will close at 5.00pm this Sunday August 21.

All positions will be up for election and we need a President, two vice presidents, a bowls secretary, a treasurer, seven committee members and five selectors.

This is a chance for every member to put their hand up and do their bit to help manage this great club of ours.

Jackpots: At the time of writing the Wednesday jackpot is $210.00, the Saturday jackpot is back to zero and the Sunday jackpot is back to $262.00.

Dates to Remember: August 20; Zone 4 fours finals at Grenfell: August 20; Nominations open for club triples: August 21; Nominations for committee close.

PCYC News

Gymnastics and Kindergym: Kindergym, for the 0 to 5 age group, is available on Tuesday and Thursday at 10am and participants must be accompanied by an adult. Gymnastics for ages 5 and older has classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The class schedule is;

Tuesday 4pm for all ages, Tuesday 5.15pm for ages 12 and older, Wednesday 4pm for beginners, Thursday 4pm for ages 5 to 12, and Thursday 5.15pm for all ages.

All children participating in Gymnastics or Kindergym need to be registered with Gym NSW, cost is $42 per child for 2016. The fee for Gym NSW is paid to PCYC and PCYC attends to the Gym NSW registration as part of their affiliation requirements utilising the information provided on the PCYC membership form.

The class fees for Kindergym and Gymnastics are: Term fee (if paying up-front for the school term): $75 per child for 1 class per week Class fee (if paying for each class as you go): $10 per child per class Discounts are available on term fees for families with multiple children attending gymnastics or Kindergym, and for children attending multiple classes each week. PCYC does offer one free trial class for participants that are new to Gymnastics however PCYC membership is required prior to participating.

After School Care: After School Care operates until 6pm school days and PCYC utilises the services of Cowra Bus Service to transport the children from school. A PCYC staff member will be travelling on the Cowra Bus Service bus to ensure the safe arrival of students at the Binni Creek Road building at around 4pm.

The cost for after school care is $22 per child per day however the fee may be reduced by Child Care Benefit depending on your eligibility and payment arrangements. The bus service will cost $1.00 per trip for children that do not hold a bus travel pass with Cowra Bus Service. Please contact the club on 63412035 for more information or to make a booking.

Archery: Archery is held on Monday afternoons at the Young Road building. It commences at 4.30pm and runs for one hour. Children must be aged 7 years or older to participate. All equipment is supplied however some people do choose to bring their own bow. Cost for Archery is $6 per session.

Junior Indoor Soccer: Junior Indoor Soccer for ages 5 to 14 is running on Monday afternoon commencing at 4pm. If you are interested in playing please come along on Monday. Cost for Junior Indoor Soccer is $4 per player per week.

Laser Tag: Laser Tag runs on Thursday afternoons commencing at 5pm and cost is just $5 per person. Laser Tag is a lot of fun and develops teamwork, stealth and tactical thinking! Come along and bring a friend. Laser Tag Birthday Parties and events are available on weekends. If you would like to book a Laser Tag birthday party, call the club for details and pricing.

Boxing: Boxing runs on Tuesday and Thursday nights commencing at 5.30pm and cost $5 per session. Boxing provides a great fitness workout while improving coordination, strength and stamina, and building self-confidence. It is available for boys and girls, men and women.

You will need your own mouthguard, all other equipment is supplied, though you can choose to bring your own gloves etc. if you so wish.

Boxing for Fitness: Boxing for Fitness classes run on Tuesday and Thursday starting at 5.30pm. Boxing for Fitness is a fantastic overall fitness class which provides cardio, strength and endurance training.

Cost for Boxing for Fitness is just $6 per class, but you do get to try your first class for free. PCYC also now offers visit passes and B4F memberships which discount the cost of each class even further. So come along and give it a go!

PCYC Membership: PCYC is a ‘members only’ club and all people involved in activities at PCYC must be current PCYC members. A full years PCYC membership costs $10 for a junior and $20 for a senior (18+).

Keeping informed: You can contact the club on 63412035, like “PCYC Cowra” on Facebook or you can check our website www.pcycnsw.org.au/cowra.

Junior soccer reports

Under 8s: Victory versus Wanderers. Victory, Player of the week was Lochie Partridge. Wanderers, player of the week was Abbey Moriarty.

Under 10s: FC versus Victory 8-2. FC, Some exciting goals by Jacob, Tom, Flynn, Lucas M and Lucas B; well done team. Ray White versus Wanerers 4-4. Mariners versus Phoenix 2-1. Mariners, best team performance of the year. Everyone played well. Player of the week was Cooper. Phoenix, everyone played a great game with good defence. The Phoenix have really improved since the start of the year. 

Mr Embroidery versus Roa 3-1. Mr Embroidery, we had another tough game against Roar and were lucky to come out with a win. The matches played on field 5 always test the 10s. Montanah scored our goals and Will was our player of the week, well done. Roar, last game of the season for Roar, doing well to keep Mr Embroidery to 3-1 after constant pressure for most of the game.

Player of the week was Harry Duguid. Laura Price scoring for Roar. well done Roar you have improved greatly as a team over the season, with half of you yet to turn nine you can be proud of yourselves and hope we can do it all again next year.

Under 12s: Jamieson versus Services Club 1-2. Victory versus Roar 6-0. Victory, what a game. Roar matched Victory holding them out to limit the score to 1 nil at half time. Victory stepped up with their passing and attacking pressure to come out on top – well done! Mariners versus FC (Match card not returned).

Under 14s: Fitzroy St Physio versus Cowra Toyota 9-2. FSP, a great team effort especially in the second half where the ball control and passing were fantastic. Player of the week was Zachary. FC versus Roar 8-6. FC, a slow start but the team played very well in the second half. Player of the week was Joel. Roar, a great game by all with a special thanks to Sammy, Matt and Harrison for their last minute assistance.

Opens: Telescope Typres versus Wanderers 1-4. Wanderers, awesome team game with some spectacular work but effective all the same. Team Price worked so hard, Team Tim was in his own world of glory and Adelaide, Becky and Alana were awesome up the right – what a team! Roar versus FC 4-0.

Cowra Rugby League Under 14's report

The Cowra Magpies under 14s 2016 campaign came to a close on Saturday defeated 18-4 in the elimination final by Bloomfield at Lithgow.

Although the scoreline didn’t favour the Magpies outfit, they gave it their all falling just short after a torrid affair.

According to stand in co-coach Matt Pollard, the side rose to the occasion in a bid to keep their season alive.

“You couldn’t have asked for more from them, it was a great effort,” he said.

“We wanted greater intensity than they showed in their previous match and they delivered.

A few errors proved costly, especially at this time of the season and Bloomfield was good enough to take advantage of it. That’s rugby league.”

Cowra’s line speed was first class early in the battle and, with the Magpies showing no signs of being intimidated, crossed through Dylan Whitty to lead 4-0. This narrow margin was all that separated the two combatants at half time.

Bloomfield forced a drop kick from the re-start and evened up in the ensuing set. A weight of possession and field position had the Magpies back peddling and, through some excellent play, Bloomfield extended to gap to 12 mid way through the second stanza.

The Magpies’ troops rallied, gradually working their way back into the contest with some aggressive defence and strong charges. However, to the Tigers’ credit, they were up to the task defensively and progress to the minor semi next week.

“The boys hang up the boots now until next year,” Pollard said.

“It’s been an indifferent season with some terrific performances, poor losses and washed out games. They’re a great group of players who enjoy each other’s company and love the sport.”

A big thanks to coach Rodney Eastwood, trainer Angelo Baratto, stand in coaches Matt Pollard and Rob Pokoney and all the parents for their positive support throughout the season.

Above all, a massive thank you to the players for their commitment, work ethic and attitude. A better bunch of lads you’ll be hard pressed to find.