One of the Border’s oldest bowling clubs has made a significant change ahead of the weekend’s Albury and District Bowling Association pennant finals.
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A full strength North Albury will hit the greens at Walla against Commercial on Saturday for the grade three pennant semi-finals with a fresh look.
The Hoppers have adopted a brand new logo and uniform after a largely unchanged appearance throughout its rich history.
North Albury bowler Steve Martini move a motion last August to come up with a more progressive logo and the idea took off from there.
“At the end of the AGM I decided to go away and form a sub-committee and come back with some thoughts and sponsorship ideas,” Martini said.
“We came back with sponsors and a design and put that to our members at a special AGM and it got passed.
“The club has been going for over 100 years, so this is quite a significant event in the history of the club.”
Martini said there was some objection from the club’s members about the change who wanted to retain the previous logo, but a compromise was made to fit it in on the back of the new uniform.
“Part of my motion was to try and get new and younger members associated with the sport,” he said.
“We have a lot to do with school groups and we also run barefoot bowls to try and get some new bowlers.”
The finished product was very well received and has attracted plenty of support from the local community and businesses.
“It can be pretty hard to get them old blokes to change,” Hoppers’ skip Stephen Broad said.
“We raised $19,000 in sponsorship in a week and they couldn’t really say no.
“It’s good for lawn bowls.”
North Albury came away with a thrilling one-shot victory against Lavington last weekend to finish top of the ladder and push the Panthers to second.
It sets up an enticing clash with Commercial in the semi-finals, while Lavington meet Howlong for the other spot in the grand final.
“To come away from Lavington with a win was very satisfying,” Martini said.
“That’s done and dusted now, we’ve got to concentrate on Saturday.”
Broad is confident his side can get the job done against Commercial and thinks a bit of class might get Howlong over the top of Lavington.
“The whole comp was only nine rounds, so if you lose a couple early you’re nearly out,” Broad said.
“We made it all the way through to state last year in Yamba, which was a good trip.
“We knocked off Wagga RSL in the zone finals.”
If North Albury were to go all the way on Sunday, it would be its fourth straight grade three pennant crown.