BTBA Head of Team England Chris Hillman has put together an update for our members on the behind-the-scenes work that was in-progress prior to the ‘lockdown’ forced upon our sport by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chris writes:
“I would first like to start by saying I hope that everybody has got through this pandemic safely and with not too much heartache…
“Now that our Sport is finally beginning to come back to us, I thought it would be a good time to update you all on what is happening within Team England as it stands at this moment.
“Prior to the lockdown I was having some discussions with a group of bowlers who were extremely willing to help reshape and put a plan together for the future of Team England going forward.
“I now need to pick this up and complete the work that we all started. With this in mind, I will be in touch with the working group, to enable us to continue and finally complete the good work that we put together as a team. If anybody would like to be involved in this working group please contact me directly.
“I know that we will never please everybody with the plans that we have made and plans that we intend to submit to the council for approval, but I can honestly say that all the people that have worked on putting this together have put their heart and soul into trying to come up with the best solutions for all going forward.
“The plan will be to put this forward to the council for comment, questions and any amendments they wish to suggest. I am sure that we will not get everything right the first time, but the one thing this process has shown us is that if we all work together, you will be able to make things better for all in the long run.
“Once the plan has been looked over, and amended if necessary, we will get approval from the National Council to begin implementation. My plan is to then take this to the Team England committee and begin to implement the ideas. Hopefully this process can only help us bring Team England back to the high regard that I believe is held by bowlers from all over the world.
“Currently European bowling is on hold as far as tournaments are concerned, and at this present time the European Championships planned to be held in January, have been postponed again. I will liaise with my colleagues within the ETBF on how they envisage major tournaments being able to run again safely. Obviously a lot of this will be dependent upon the current progress of the coronavirus pandemic throughout Europe and the rest of the World
“In the meantime, I hope that all of you are staying safe and are able to get back and start practising at your local bowling centres, supporting them in the process. As information comes through, I will pass this out through all the information sources available to the BTBA.
“Stay safe, keep bowling and I hope to see you all on the lanes soon.”
Chris Hillman
Head of Team England
chrishillman@btba.org.uk
