Bowls Auckland’s Winter Coaching Programme for 1–5 Year bowlers reaches its competitive finale this weekend, with the Campi Cup and Canoe Trophy bringing 215 players together for two days of competition.

The five Auckland coaching zones will be joined by players from Counties Manukau and North Harbour, with a full field of 32 men’s fours competing for the Canoe Trophy and an oversubscribed 29 women’s triples lining up for the Campi Cup.

With player experience limits in place, the draws feature plenty of developing players, but there is also enough proven experience to keep things interesting, including a number of Auckland reps.

Canoe Trophy

The men’s field is packed with combinations capable of making a serious run.

East will be looking to Sam Brack, Crawford Blair, Simon Pomeroy and Bryn Jones. In one of his final 1–5 Year events, Brack will be keen to add the Canoe Trophy to his list of achievements.

South has seen massive growth this season and brings two strong combinations skipped by Auckland reps. Thomas Teinaki, Ed Tutai Jnr, Guy Harrison and Tika Noroto will be one to watch, while Frank Akaruru-Teinaki, Ritchie Rogers, Thomas Viggo and Tee Alaifatu give South another genuine contender.

West also has plenty of firepower, with Craig Moffatt, Brad Jones, Mike Hawthorne and Morgan McConnell joined by another dangerous combination of Nicky Third, Phillip Jones, Matua Te Tana and Stefan Vujcich.

Southeast will look to Chris Hand, Wade Brealey, Graham Lewis and Edwin Taylor, bringing plenty of competitive experience to the draw.

Campi Cup

The women’s competition looks just as intriguing.

Two reps and a club manager walk onto the green. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but South’s Emmalee Tomai, Jessica Mackinven and Christian-Ly Filipo could be anything but funny for their opponents.

Counties Manukau will be hoping Lovey Davis, Annie Sawers and Edel Kelly can make an impact while West has two strong combinations in Kara-Lucia Parkin, Michelle Harris and Heather Stewart and Teresa Cowie, Jacqueline Howard and Melissa Stewart.

East will be represented by Katy Merrett, Donna Davison and Zarah Davidson, while defending champion Hannah Dawson returns for Southeast alongside Dana Taylor and Janine Hickmore.

For the first time, the Campi will follow the Canoe format, with the top eight teams progressing to the championship event and the remainder contesting the consolation competition.

After six weeks of coaching, the training is done, the teams are set and regional pride is on the line. Southeast claimed both trophies last year – but with 61 teams ready to have a crack, they’ll have plenty of company chasing them down.

Now comes the fun part: competition. Good luck to everyone taking to the greens!