By Jed Lanyon
One hundred years ago the Warburton Bowls Club was founded when the club was granted a ‘worthless’ piece of swampland in the Warburton Recreation Reserve, which they turned into a fine three rink green.
Today, Warburton Bowls Club or the Burras, are a force to be reckoned with as a club, not just in the outer east but across the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Boasting just a touch under 50 members, the club regularly challenges larger clubs with great success. Over the last decade, the Burras have celebrated 11 grand final wins in 10 seasons in the Bowls Victoria Metropolitan region.
The club will be hosting a centenary dinner next month which will be an opportunity for players, past and present, to relive their glory days of bowls.
Club president Max Reynolds said, “We’ve invited a number of past players going back maybe 20 years ago … The celebration is after our last pennant game so we’re inviting people to come and have a look at our players and then have a celebration with a meal.”
Former secretary Steve Freestone said that despite being located in the Yarra Valley, the club often travels across metropolitan suburbs for their games.
“When I first started, we were in the Upper Yarra Bowls Association and when that finished, Metropolitan took us in,” he said, “So we’re more or less part of the Eastern Region in the metropolitan area.
“When it first started a lot of the clubs complained that they had to travel all the way out to Warburton, but we had to do the same travel once every fortnight. But once they realised what sort of club we were, they loved it and loved coming out here and enjoy it.”
It was similar to when the club first started and formed part of the Gippsland association, prior to the creation of the Upper Yarra Bowls Association in the 1920s.
“They used to travel down to Drouin and Warragul. Imagine all those years ago doing that across those roads?” Mr Freestone said.
The Burras players shared what they love about the sport of bowls.
“It’s an addictive game,” Mr Reynolds said. “It requires a lot of skill and concentration and it’s very competitive actually, but a lot of people don’t believe that.”
“No matter what age you are, you can take it up,” Mr Freestone said. “A lot of the Australian Champions are 16 year olds, 18 year olds, or in their twenties. Very much at that level, it’s a young person’s game. You can play your whole life.
“What I like about a club like this, and especially one that’s been around for 100 years, is the connection to the past,” Mr Freestone said. “I’ve been in Warburton for 33 years and it’s really good just to be a part of the community. So forget about the bowls, because that’s just a bonus, just to be with a lot of really good people in town and enjoying everyone’s company, that’s what I like about being a member.”
“I love this club,” said club member Noel Donohue. “It’s the care factor, knowing that people care.”
“We’re a very small club in numbers, but we’re a big hearted club,” Mr Reynolds said. “We have about 45 to 50 members but a lot of the clubs we’re playing against down in the metro areas have between 200 and 300 members. So we’re very proud of our achievements being such a small club.”
“I think it’s a cultural thing,” Mr Freestone said. “Because we’re linked now with the netball club and the football club, we changed our colours and called ourselves the Burras and we’re just a part of that mentality here. We’re competitive and we love winning.”
Past players, families and even newcomers to the sport are invited to attend the club on Saturday 13 March from 1pm to watch the club’s top team in action against Mooroolbark 1. A social evening of centenary celebrations will be held in the clubrooms after the game.
For more information about the event, contact 0438184428, or visit the club’s Facebook Page or www.warburtonbowls.bowls.com.au
