ISSY GOES AGAIN ON THE BOARD
Isidoro, or Issy as he is better known, was last week re-elected to the Bowls SA board for another term.
After being first elected to the board for a two-year term at the 2018 annual general meeting, last week’s AGM saw Issy chosen to complete another term.
Issy is a past president and board member of the Bordertown Bowling Club and a president and vice president of the Upper South East Association.
Issy believes his experience from his first term will hold him in good stead as he moves into another two years.
“Your first term when you get elected to any board you are little bit green,” he said.
“You have to get your head around what the board is all about.
“You get on there with the expectation that it works one way and suddenly its not exactly what you thought it was and everything changes.
“It takes you a bit of time to get your head around it.
“In the second term you have better understanding of how things work and hopefully you can make a more positive contribution.”
Issy said affiliation continues to be a key focus of his as a member of the Bowls SA board.
“My motivation was, as I said on the day of the AGM, that two years ago it was about affiliation and the way it was introduced,” he said.
“You didn’t quite have a full understanding of it, but luckily now you get a better understanding of why it was introduced.
“You get on any board and think you can change the world, when sometimes you don’t need to change the world.
“Sometimes you have got to have a better understanding of what is actually happening.
“There are a few things and that certainly helps by being elected back on to the board, that you can hopefully help change a couple of things that aren’t quite right and I do believe that there are a couple of things that don’t quite work right with affiliation at the moment.
“I think the whole board’s focus is on making sure that we get it right.”
Issy highlighted continuity on the board as a key factor in helping to keep the game moving forward.
“You can always have one or two new ones, but if you get a whole new board, then everyone has to start all over again,” he said.
“I believe that the people that are on the board have got a real desire to improve the game of bowls.”
While he acknowledged the importance of attracting youngsters to the sport, Issy said he is also keen to attract more older people to the sport.
“I don’t want to discourage young people from playing bowls and I would never do that, but there is a large pool of untapped people out there,” he said.
“The grey nomads are one particular group.
“They drive around with their caravans, but they have to settle down somewhere, so why can’t they be settling down and playing bowls.
“It is an opportunity to be competitive, physically active and to be social, what other sport gives you those things?
“You can be 70 plus years old and still be competitive.
“People still play with bowling arms and we have got bowlers in our association that use a walking frame to go back and forth.
“They aren’t going to play the highest standard of bowls, but they can still be out there contributing and enjoying themselves.
“It is not about me wanting to discourage young people from playing bowls, because the more young people we have got playing, the better.”
