One of the most sought after indoor bowls trophies will be competed for in Rotorua this weekend.
The Bankier Rosebowl is one of the largest inter-district indoor bowls competitions in the country with six centres, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, King Country, North Taranaki, Thames Valley and Waikato taking part in a round robin, over singles, pairs and fours with each district represented by sixteen players.
This year the event will be hosted by Bay of Plenty at the Rotorua Sportsdrome.
The Rosebowl is believed to have been presented in the Waikato Centre in the late 1940's by Alex Bankier, an old Waikato indoor bowls identity, for competition between Waikato and Auckland.
In the mid 1950's the Bay of Plenty was also included in the competition and the trophy was played for on a challenge basis. During the 1960's the conditions of play changed and a total of six centres began to compete for the trophy.
These centres were Auckland, Waikato, Thames Valley, Bay of Plenty, King Country and Central King Country.
Central King Country departed in 2008 and Roskill & Districts played in just 2009 & 2010, then North Taranaki was invited to play in 2011.
Auckland and Waikato have dominated this event over the years. The defending titleholders are Waikato.
Bay of Plenty won in 1986 and Thames Valley in 2004.
The star studded field includes six New Zealand representatives. They are Paul Wright (Auckland), Grant l'Ami and John Zittersteijn (North Taranaki) and Linda McCurdy, Maureen Pruden and Teri Anderson (Waikato).
Bay of Plenty teams:
Team 1: Robin Porter (s), Gina Owen, Gavin Rennie, Jacque Porter;
Team 2: James Schuster (s), Sam Bryant, Margurrite Gerrand, Matthew Farquhar;
Team 3: Derek Owen (s), Paul Gooch, Mike Bryant, Brian Flett;
Team 4: Paul Guest (s), Simon Hatcher, Karen Te Tamaki, Lance Hansen.
