MID Lower North Coast’s NSW Interzone championship campaign never really got started in Port Macquarie at the weekend.
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Already facing an uphill battle when drawn in the same pool as competition heavyweights Zone 12, the local bowlers were far from disgraced.
Port City Bowling Club bowls co-ordinator Phil Baker admitted they were competitive, but the class of Zone 12 proved too much.
The class of Aaron Wilson, Corey Wedlock and Ben Twist was the difference as they accounted for the locals with a 15 point win overall.
Mid Lower North Coast registered a win over Zone 10 (Sydney North West), but Zone 11 (Manning) registered local bragging rights.
“We were always the underdogs, but going forward we’ve got a high performance coach coming in in Paul Sullivan,” Baker said.
“It will allow us to develop the younger players in our zone and I believe it is the right step forward for us.”
Baker acknowledged it would take time for the zone to join the top zones in the competition.
“It’s like anything, you have to start somewhere and Paul knows what he’s doing,” he said.
“We will look at developing our younger players.”
The Zone 12 team progressed into today’s final against Zone 13.
Baker said it was encouraging to see an increase in younger bowlers competing in the sport over the last five to 10 years.
“The two teams in the final probably have an average age of about 30 which is an indication of where the sport is headed,” he said.
“The bigger clubs in Sydney are dominated by younger people because they offer them jobs as green keepers or behind the bar.
“It’s good for the sport.”