BOWLERS from Warialda, Bingara and Narrabri arrived in Moree Saturday morning to play in the Travelling Bowlers’ social lawn-bowls competition at Moree Services Club – and every team was a winner.

Moree Services Club Travelling Bowlers secretary Michael Ivanov said the competition is anything but, with the eventual winner decided by an all-important hat-draw at the end of play.

“The travelling bowlers comp is strictly social – it’s a fun day out,” Ivanov said.

“The winners’ names and the losers’ names are drawn from a hat. We don’t want the best bowlers winning every time – it’s all about having a good day out.

“The town with the highest score doesn’t necessarily win – every town is a winner when they come to Moree,” Ivanov smiled.

The Travelling Bowlers format is a long-standing social and touring subculture within lawn-bowls, made up of club-based groups that travel to play other clubs.

Competitions are played for small trophies, bragging rights or just a barbecued lunch and a few cool refreshments.

What is guaranteed though, is a lot of laughs, plenty of banter, and mateship and sportsmanship.

“We’ve got teams here today from Warialda, Bingara and Narrabri,” Ivanov said.

“This sort of comp is a lot of fun, and helps support the smaller clubs in the region – it’s a mutual, help-each-other-out type of competiton where every town involved is a winner.”

About 60 bowlers hit Moree Services Club’s all-weather, world-class greens for a competition sponsored by Jock’s Hire and Moree Services Club.

“The comp goes for two or three hours,” Ivanov said.

“We break for lunch and some refreshments, and afterwards have a muck-around game for those that want to play before the travelling bowlers start heading home.

“The whole day is a muck-around – it’s all about having fun,” he said.

“It’s also great to have Moree Services Club and Todd Mitchell from Jock’s Hire supporting the day through sponsorship.

“Both the club and Todd are always there to help sporting bodies and organisations in Moree – a great show of support for the local community,” Ivanov said.

Moree Travelling Bowlers’ turn to jump on the bus is only a few weeks away.

“We travel away from Moree about three or four times a year and support other towns,” Ivanov said.

“We went to Bingara a couple of months ago. We’ll head towards Narrabri or Warialda in the next month or two, and we’ve got a big trip planned for the coast on the October long weekend.

“We’ve been to Tweed Heads, Newcastle three or four times, and as far south as Narromine – we go all over the place,” he said.