Further advice to accompany Pennant Recommendations as approved by the Board.

Breaks in Play - General
The previous news item indicated that the 21 ends would be played "straight through" and that guidelines would follow. This may have been a poor choice of terminology as the intent was never to say “no breaks allowed”. The following guidelines are to apply for 2011-2012.

Breaks in Play – Team and Comfort
We recommend that for comfort reasons and for team communication reasons, a break in play of up to 15 minutes should be taken after the 40th completed end. This break would enable bowlers to have toilet breaks, or other necessities. It would also enable brief team or side meetings to occur.

Breaks in Play - Health and Safety
All Team Manager need to be aware and ensure accommodation of the needs of their side members to ensure that adequate provision for breaks (for insulin injections, etc.) is made and that those competing on the relevant rink are fully aware of any impact upon their play.

The Laws and Rules Committee, in consultation with the Metropolitan Pennant Committee and the Operations Manager will shortly make recommendations to the Board in relation to “Heat Policy”. However, any guidelines emanating from these committees will take account of the need to provide additional breaks on hot (and cold) days.

Breaks - Afternoon Tea
The practice of conducting afternoon tea is not something that has been prescribed under pennant guidelines, but has been a custom continued by many and discontinued by some. The move to 21 ends, given the requirement to conduct breaks for reasons outlined earlier (after 40 ends, more regularly if required due to heat, for health reasons), the conduct of afternoon tea is at the complete discretion of the host club."

Speeches and Welcomes
It is the recommendation of Bowls Victoria, that all host clubs adopt the practice of formally welcoming visiting sides immediately prior to the commencement of roll-ups (and if necessary indicate such things as any restrictions in relation to smoking/drinking on or around the greens, any fund-raiser or special efforts being conducted during the day).

For those Clubs not hosting afternoon tea, the mid-game break would necessitate no formalities (although raffles or special efforts might still occur). For those hosting afternoon tea, the break should easily occur within the (up to) 15 minutes.

METRO PENNANT

The following aims to present a complete picture of the changes arising from recommendations from the Metropolitan Pennant Committee and subsequent approval by the Board. The Board has continued to develop guidelines as part of the recommendations.

The processes between the new Committees and the Board are in their early stages and, in time, the procedures of research, consultation, review, formulation and recommendations leading to a final adoption by the Board are consequently incomplete at this stage.

The rationale for the changes is presented toward the end of this Bulletin, after the recommendations and guidelines being provided to the committees:

The recommendations agreed are:

1. (a) That BV Saturday Metropolitan Pennant 2011/12 commence on Sunday 2nd October 2011 (AFL Grand Final is on Saturday 1 October);
1. (b) That BV Saturday A&B Pennant commence on Saturday 8th October 2011;
1. (c) That BV Tuesday Metropolitan Pennant commence on Tuesday 4th October 2011.
2. (a) That the number of ends in all forms of BV Metropolitan Pennant be reduced to 21 ends.
2. (b) That the 21 ends be played in BV Saturday Metropolitan Pennant (guidelines below).
2. (c) That a lunch-break continues as part of BV Tuesday Metropolitan Pennant where starting times are pre-meal.
3. (a) That the current finals schedule of determining Section Winners and Division Winners be maintained in BV Saturday Metropolitan Pennant;
3. (b) That the BV Saturday A&B Pennant and BV Tuesday Metropolitan Pennant adopt the same finals format as used in Div 1-8 in BV Saturday Metropolitan Pennant.

These recommendations were approved by the Board and will now be communicated to the BV Laws and Rules Committee for incorporation into the Bowls Victoria Rules of

Competition document for 2011-2012.