Club News and Views

Jim Milligan will be holding some taster sessions at the club, aimed at new bowlers. The times and dates for those sessions can be found via the Events link in the menu bar. Also included in the diary are Friday roll-up sessions. These were very popular when run a few seasons ago, before Covid closed everything down. They're back every Friday, starting at 6pm or thereabouts. All you have to do is turn up and practice by yourself, or join in with some others for a game of any format you agree.

The photo gallery page is expanding. A few shots of the Over 60s match against Sharnbrook B have been uploaded. It was more difficult than I thought to play and take some photos at the same time. As a result, the galleries will be small. In line to be uploaded is a gallery covering the visit to the club  from our local MP, Ben Obese-Jecty. That should be ready early next week. There might also be a few short videos of the event on our upcoming YouTube channel. There will be more about that when there is something to show. Click on the blue Photo Galleries link to be taken straight there from this post.

Finally, the Huntingdon & District League match at home to Brampton C on the 28th May has been cancelled as that team has withdrawn from the league. We are looking to use that date for a club roll-up, and a club photo. We would like as many members as possible from the mens, ladies and over 60s teams to attend. Going through all of the old photos in the club indicates that the club has never had a club photo before, only mens and ladies teams separately. Be part of the first one! 

 

I have carried out some more updates this morning. The match confirmation form has two extra fields on it. You now indicate if you need a lift to away matches if you don't drive. If you are a driver, you can let me know if you're able to offer a lift and how many seats you have available. That should help towards stopping panicky phone calls on a Tuesday or Wednesday sorting out travel arrangements!

There is now a photo gallery page that can be found on the drop-down menu under About the Club. I have added the still images I took at the open day, so please give them a look. I hope to add more galleries throughout the season, subject to our opposition teams not objecting. Adding videos is an ongoing project. They will be added to our YouTube channel as and when I have created it. Watch this space.  Click on the blue Photo Galleries link to be taken straight there from this post.

Be warned, this could be a lengthy post. I will try to keep it as short as I can. Phase one of the website is complete. We have, I believe, an attractive and engaging place on the internet. It is generating interest and we are getting some enquiries from potential new members. It was designed to be outward facing and open to the public. I think we have achieved that goal. Now is the time to develop the internal community aspect of the club, and have a separate area for club members. To that end I have spent most of today building a private members area, accessible only to paid up members of Huntingdon Outdoor Bowls Club.

This feature is a huge improvement over the last password protected area we had. That was based on password protecting certain pages. This is all about members having their own passwords, created by themselves, and creating individual accounts. Let me say at the outset that this is entirely optional. Should you choose not to create an account, you will suffer no penalties. You will still be able to view all of the current public pages, but nothing in the private members area. This currently consists of committee meeting minutes, but I have plans to add so much more. First of those features will be a forum. Your user information, should you choose enter any, will only be viewable by any other members and you can choose to hide it completely if you wish.

I will approve all registration requests. This will prevent spurious accounts. I will approve only requests made by current paid-up club members. I will be adding another level of security to aid the registration process as some point in the future. The registration process is simple, but I will be adding some how to guides over the coming weeks. I'm happy to say that all of this has cost the club nothing. I hope you join as a member and conribute towards the social element of being a member of this great club. To join, go to the menu bar above, and in the dropdown under Members, choose the first option of Registration. Follow the prompts and I will approve your request as soon as I can.

Finally, I would like to thank Ian Whall who carried out some testing for me. We got there in the end.

The full draw for the Dilley Cup can be found here. Good luck to teams.

The club will be holding its open day on the 26th April, starting at 2pm. It's a great opportunity for new players to come to the club, say hello, and have a go at playing bowls. There will be plenty of club members there to give a hand and show you the ropes.

Jim Milligan will be holding taster sessions as well on 28th April, 5th May and 12th May, starting around 6pm. If you can't make the open day, come down to one or more of the taster sessions. You'll be made very welcome. Perhaps you'll get the bowls bug!

Welcome to the refreshed website for Huntingdon Outdoor Bowls Club. It has a cleaner look, and utilises club colours throughout. It should also work and fit on any and every device. If you find bits of pages missing, or if you have any comments about the design of he site, good or bad, please let me know via the contact form.

I will be adding some more pages in the coming days and weeks. Already added is the club honours and awards page. Next up will be the names of winners of our internal club competitions for as far back as we have records. That's a chunk of work that will take some time to complete.

Match fees for all competions, excluding the Huntingdon & District League, have been £1 for many years. That amount barely covers the cost of refreshments provided. It was decided at the AGM to increase fees for the Ladies League, Over 60s League, cup competitions and friendlies to £2.  The fee for all Huntingdon & District League matches remains at £3.

In a bid to attract new members and their children, it was agreed at the AGM to introduce a family membership level. The cost would be £130 for 2 adults and 2 children up to and including the age of 16. This membership offers some savings for the members, and an incentive to recruit some younger players.