Buckinghamshire Short Mat Bowling Association
About the Buckinghamshire Short Mat Bowling Association.
Buckinghamshire Short Mat Bowling Association is the recognised governing body for the sport of Short Mat Bowls in the county of Buckinghamshire in England.
The Association has a membership of 381 individual members, and currently comprises three leagues within the South Bucks region, these being the Bucks Single Short Mat Bowls League (BSSMBL), the South Bucks Short Mat Bowls League (SBSMBL) and The Vale Short Mat Bowls Friendly League (VSMBFL). Within these leagues there are 20 Clubs with a further 4 clubs not playing in any specific league.
New players are always welcome in any of these clubs, as are beginners who would like to learn the game of Short Mat Bowls. A full list of the clubs with contact details can be found by following the link to the Member Clubs page.
Please feel free to browse these pages and try some of the links to other Bowls related sites.
You can contact us on bucks.shortmat.bowls@gmail.com
A Brief History of the B.S.M.B.A.
In 1988, the Vale Short Mat Friendly League was formed with teams from Castle Cement, Royal Ordnance Westcott, Wing, Aston Clinton and Beacon.
The following year a Special Extra meeting took place at Castle Cement Social Club on Sunday 16th April 1989. Those present included the Chairman of Wantage & District SMBA and the Southern Representative of the E.S.M.B.A. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of forming a local Association.
At the AGM held on Tuesday 5th September 1989, it was proposed and adopted that an Association be formed and should be called "The Buckinghamshire Short Mat Bowling Association".
The Association has changed over the years and has played at a number of different venues but in February 2010, they moved to the Handy Cross Bowls Centre in High Wycombe. Various competitions are arranged during the year and these include the Bucks Three Wood pairs competition, The Australian Pairs competition and the County Team Challenge, where players from across the County take on the Bucks county squad.
In January 2016, the new Wycombe Leisure Centre opened its doors, and the Association moved into the new premises, courtesy of the Handy Cross Indoor Bowls club.
In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic caused the closure of all bowling activities nationwide, and with a brief respite during the summer months, a further lockdown meant that there would be no activities for some considerable time.
In February 2021, several members of the committee felt that the time had come for them to stand down and for a new committee to be formed. This would become effective at the next AGM which would normally have been held in May. In order to avoid the dissolution of the BSMBA, two members agreed to take over the running of the Association but in a much diluted format.
Without a membership secretary or nationals co-ordinators, it was deemed impossible to maintain the structure of the Association and so it was decided to withdraw from the ESMBA, but keep the essence of the BSMBA alive by organising competitions and a new league for the benefit of all its members.
This was discussed at an the Extraordinary General Meeting held via Zoom on Wednesday 31st March 2021at 7.00 p.m. And confirmed at the AGM held on Wednesday 12th May 2021 via Zoom.
Click here to read the minutes of that meeting.
The new format was generally welcomed by members and a number of volunteers then came forward to join the committee. This is very encouraging for the future of the BSMBA.
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Management Committee:
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Chair
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Malcolm Richards
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General Secretary
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Peter Coker
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Competitions Secretary
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Bob Hine
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Membership Secretary
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Terry Wagstaff
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Treasurer
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Peter Coker
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Committee Members
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Chris Millard
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Alan Egleton
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Clive Cook
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