Who are our National Council members and what do their roles involve? Our series continues to cover each of our heads of departments and their involvement in our sport from the time they first bowled to what’s in store for the future.
Meet BTBA Treasurer Kevin Rose
How did you first get involved with ten pin bowling?
Initially as a teenager with a friend (now my wife), Liz, we would pop into AMF Crawley most Saturday afternoons to bowl. We were both part of a church youth group but since we were the only ones working, no-one else had the funds to join us. That got us interested, we bought our own shoes but still remained purely leisure bowlers.
Much later, after we were married and with children growing up, we looked for something we could do together. At the time Liz was working with someone who bowled in a league and so we stepped back into it at Worthing, bowling in the late league starting at 9:30pm on Wednesday evening. After we moved to Hastings, Liz was still working in Worthing, so I started bowling a league at Bexhill Bowl (sadly now demolished) and one of the guys asked if I’d be interested in helping with YBC. I took an instructor’s course and starting coaching, getting to know a few more bowlers at Tunbridge Wells and Eastbourne after we had to move the YBC from Bexhill.
More recently I joined the TPT and enjoyed travelling to different centres. Through all of these different locations I’ve always offered my help, creating scoring spreadsheets and collecting fees. When I offered to assist with TPT, I ended up part of the team running the events and that made the link to BTBA finance and treasurer.
What is it about the sport that has kept you hooked ? (pun intended)🙂
I think the constant challenge, not just the oil patterns, but different lanes in different centres, and as I learn more, topography, plus humidity and then of course me! Trying to read the lanes, understand the impact of different bowling balls and how other bowlers impact the conditions with every shot. Fascinating! I’ve always been interested in sports and tried lots: table tennis, darts, snooker, badminton, even marathon running, but I’ve not found anything so challenging shot by shot as bowling.
So TPT lead you to the BTBA, Why did you take on the role as BTBA treasurer?
As I said, it came loosely connected to the role I had in TPT, and Terry Searle, then treasurer, was wanting to step down. Since training as an accountant I’ve been involved in accounts alongside event management for churches and Christian charities, so helping with TPT and handling the accounts for BTBA seemed to fit!
It’s certainly one of the most important jobs in an association and keeps you busy during the year I can imagine, What is the busiest time for a treasurer?
I think I’ve been surprised just how busy the role is, with barely a week going by without several payments to make or enquiries to answer. I find the busiest times are month end and year end: month end with reconciliations and producing management accounts and the year end when financial statements are prepared, which also includes liaising with our accountants.
Let’s take a chance here to thank you Kevin for the work you do to keep our association honest, is it a role you enjoy despite all the work?
I do enjoy it very much. It has me in touch with lots of people across the BTBA world that I wouldn’t otherwise know, and since I’ve been doing accounts for decades it’s not too challenging – certainly not as challenging as bowling!