Current Team England Squad
Senior Team England News 2024
After a considerable amount of discussion between the TE committee, several current TE athletes, several former TE athletes and the BTBA Executive, we have decided to change the way TE selection will operate.
As the dynamics of the sport are developing we are changing from the ‘squad style’ system that has been in service for a number of years to an ‘open selection’ system. We are aware that on the face of it, this decision will result in a multitude of negative assumptions and accusations. It is for this reason we ask that any questions or requests for clarity in understanding are sent via the TE email address (teamengland@btba.org.uk). All questions will be collated and answered and a document will be published week commencing 16th December 2024 so there is full transparency on the Q&A’s.
To run a full review of the current system we had to identify and acknowledge the faults and understand why the current systems did not receive the support from athletes that we anticipated. Most of the feedback we had from athletes was very fair and extremely helpful to understanding what our athletes would like to see from TE.
This feedback included but was not limited to:
– the objection of having to pay up front to register for TE rankings (regardless of the fundraising element),
– the number of extra dates needing commitment for a trials process
(Senior calendar in particular),
– not understanding or mis-interpreting the qualification process (or missing the publication entirely/ not reading the publication in its entirety),
– with changes in life not being sure whether they will be available a year in advance (children, jobs, injury etc).
So, we had to consider how we could best serve England by putting forward our best teams together with making the process for selection more flexible in terms of time commitment and with reduced financial burden to the athletes, if not in terms of the event contribution but at least in the qualification process. It has been realised that we have a lot of talented athletes who would be fantastic representatives of TE who have either represented before and took some time away or others that don’t have the confidence in themselves to put themselves forward.
We hope with this new process we may have an opportunity to extend our reach to include these athletes in our discussions and develop an era of TE that see’s new faces being brought in to the fold.
Recently, with the development of new challenges, cups, championships and new age categories within them plus their irregular/erratic placements on the calendar it has become increasingly difficult to have squads to cover all bases and so we have ended up with a lot of our athletes in squads but not having a chance to represent TE at events which is a great shame.
We have our squads now for 2025 and this will not change. Looking forward to 2026, with all the above in mind, there will be no specific qualification process. We are opening up the opportunity to represent Team England to every current BTBA member. The selectors are as before, the TE committee and 3 independent selectors Geoff Brown, Jo Cundy and Lee Chatfield for Adults and Seniors. The same selectors will also be joined by Stephen Toop and Brian Parker for Youths. Each selector 4-6 months prior to a championship will be asked to bring the names of a team of athletes plus 2 (eg. if a championship teams consists of 4 athletes, the selectors will be asked to bring 6 names to the meeting).
Prior to a selection meeting, athletes that selectors would like to put forward for selection will have already been contacted and told their name will be in the mix for selection and at this time they will have a chance to say that they would or wouldn’t wish to be available for representation so that only athletes with availability are discussed.
Selectors will be in attendance at a variety of events throughout the year and will look at results from:
– Domestic leagues including but not limited to; UK house, MSL, SSL
– International leagues including but not limited to; Swedish, French, German
– Domestic tournaments including but not limited to; YBE Tour, BTBA Tour, ESBT, ResDev, TPT, ICC, National Championships
– International tournaments including but not limited to; YET, EBT, ISBT, PBA, PWBA
The only MANDATORY event to be eligible for Team England selection is the BTBA National Championships for your relevant age category – participation is required, all events completion is encouraged. Although, there is an understanding that sometimes it can be difficult to get a team together therefore, the singles discipline is the minimum requirement for BTBA National Championships participation. If there is a reason why an athlete cannot participate in the BTBA National Championships then they can apply for exemption by contacting the TE
committee via the email address.
As well as results, selectors will continue to consider other athlete
attributes such as:
– Attitude
– Team play
– Past results from championships
– Team compatibility
– Coachability
– Player coach compatibility
– Athlete’s physical conditioning (injuries)
– Athlete’s personal development plans
– Reports from team managers and coaches from previous Championships
– An athlete’s entourage and the effects they have on the athlete, the team and the coaches (an entourage can be anyone that comes to support a bowler be that friends, partners and spouses, parents and coaches).
If any athletes feel like they may not be considered/recognised for any reasons such as living outside the UK or not being an active competitor due to injury/illness then they can write to the TE email address and we will make sure all the selectors are considering them.
It is a shame that with these changes we lose the fundraising element of the current process however without squads we will not be able to run squad training sessions and therefore we hope to gain the opportunity to run TE fundraising events (tournaments or clinics) instead.
We will, before the end of the year have the Team England page of the BTBA website updated, welcoming our new squad members from this year and an updated ‘Information Pack’ which we will make sure includes any relevant parts of the Q&A. There is no intention of changing the qualification process every year but as a committee we are prepared to accept when a system we have implemented has not worked as we’d expected and continue to try and find better systems.’
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Team England Committee
British Tenpin Bowling Association
31st October 2024 -Squad announced for the European Senior Championship 2025
24 January – 2 February 2025 in Leipzig, Germany
Men
Steve Thornton
Alan Meades
Paul Loberman
Matt Trotter
Women
Lynn Squibb
Marsha Dalley
Sally Wilson
Angie Brown
Congratulations and best to luck to our selected athletes
17th September 2024 – Senior Rankings conclude for 2024
15th September 2024 – Team England Trial 4 – Acocks Green
7th July 2024 – Team England Trial 3 – Bromborough
13th May 2024 – Team England Trial 2 – Stroud
10th March 2024 – Team England Senior Trials 1
The first trials was held at Go Bowling Dunstable over two five game blocks.
Women
Men
21st January – Senior Team England Athletes announced for the Triple Crown
Team England would like to announce that athletes that will be competing in the 2024 Senior Triple Crown in Ayr, Scotland from 24th to 28th April 2024.
Ladies
– Marsha Dalley
– Diane Johnson
– Teresa McCarthy
– Kim Oakley
– Dee Parker
– Sandra Simmonds
Men
– Geoff Brown
– Kim Johnson
– Paul Loberman
– Kevin Pilley
– Steve Thornton
– Matthew Trotter
Congratulations to you all!
Team England Committee
27th November – Team England Senior and Grand Senior Qualification Process
The Senior (50-64) and Grand Senior (65+) Team England Qualification process for 2024 will run from 10th March 2024 until 15th September 2024. The Qualification Process will be based on 4 trial events and the BTBA Senior Nationals Championships. Since IBF is already supporting and the latest news from the EBF Presidium is also supporting the development of a Grand Senior category we have made relevant provisions.
Cost
£90 per Trial Event. This is separate to the entry fee for the Senior Nationals Championships. The £90 must be paid by one week prior to each Trial Event the athlete wants to participate in (for example, if an athlete wishes to use Trials Event 1 then payment will need to be made by 3rd March 2024, latest date to pay for a Trial Event with the intention to qualify for the Team England Squad will be 5th May 2024 as an athlete will need to complete all three remaining Trials Events to be ranked).
Qualification Events
| Date | Event | Location |
| 10th March 2024 | Trials – Event 1 | Go Bowling, Dunstable |
| 12th May 2024 | Trials – Event 2 | Stroud Bowl, Stroud |
| 18th / 19th & 24th / 25th May 2024 | BTBA Senior National Championships | Atlantic Bowl, Altrincham |
| 7th July 2024 | Trials – Event 3 | Bromborough Bowl, Bromborough |
| 15th September 2024 | Trials – Event 4 | Acocks Green Bowl, Acocks Green |
Qualification Rules
Each athlete will need to:
- Pay the Trial Event fee £90 per event (by one week prior to a Trial Event, latest date 5th May for an athlete to still have enough Trial Events remaining)
- Play 3 of 4 full Trial Events
- Play the BTBA Senior Nationals Championships (participation is required – no minimum
events, but All Events (9 games) will need to be completed to obtain points from this
tournament) - Be an active member of the BTBA.
Trial event format
The Trial Events will each consist of 10 games in total, these games will be played in 2 blocks of 5 games and each block will be on a different sport pattern.
Scoring
- The Qualification Process will be based on a ranking system with points awarded for each
event series. Senior National Championships points will only be awarded to those athletes
that complete All Events (9 games) and the points will be calculated after Trial Day 4 so that
only athletes who have participated in enough Trial Events (3 of 4) get awarded points. - Individual points will be awarded after all bowlers (registered & paid prior to the event) have
completed an event as follows:
o 1st 50pts, 2nd 35pts, 3rd 25 pts, 4th 20 pts, 5th 17 pts, 6th 15pts dropping to 1pt for 20th
place. - No points will be awarded for scores falling outside the Top 20 each time.
- An athlete’s best 3 out of 5 point’s results will be used to determine the Team England
ranking. - A possible maximum of 50 points are available for each event and 150 in total.
Qualification
- The top 6 athletes in the Senior category (50-64) and the top 6 athletes in the Grand Senior category (65+) for both males and females (24 athletes in total) based on total points across
the 3 of 5 events will qualify to be a part of the Team England squad from 01/01/2025 until
31/12/2025. - Athletes will Trial in the age category that athletes will be eligible to compete in during the year of tenure. For events where there is only a Senior category and not a Grand Senior
category, the Senior and Grand Senior squad members will be pooled for selection. - Existing Team England squad members who requalify this year will have their tenure
extended in line with the above. - Existing Team England squad members who DO NOT requalify will continue in the squad
until the end of their original tenure. - In the event of a tie of points, the highest pinfall over the athletes’ best 3 events will be placed in the higher position.
Current events 2025
Seniors and Grand Seniors are playing for a chance to represent Team England in 2025:
- European Senior Championships: 24th January – 2nd February 2025 (Leipzig, Germany)
- Senior Triple Crown 2025: (Dates TBC, Centre TBC, England)
There will potentially be other events that we will consider entering teams into, including World events as they are announced
Funding
Currently there is only partial funding available for Team England therefore the athletes will need to consider the financial commitment when registering for Team England. What will you need to consider but not limited to:
● Squad training sessions (3-4 throughout the year)
● Championship contributions
● Equipment
The Team England committee will work with the BTBA and others to attain sponsorships which will be used to help towards funding teams for these events and squad training sessions. It will also be the responsibility of the athletes to work with Team England and the BTBA, looking for sponsorship and funding opportunities.
Download Senior Process pack here
15th August 2023 – Senior World Championships team announced
The Senior Team England selectors are pleased to announce the teams for the World Championships to be held in Cali, Colombia from 5th to 15th December 2023.
There will be four divisions. Men & ladies 50+ and men & ladies 65+.
Unfortunately Team England were unable to field a ladies 50+ team.
Teams
Senior men:
Paul Loberman, Colin Grose, Alan Meades & Ian Hollands
Super Senior Men:
Geoff Brown, Lol Ellis, Kim Johnson & Mike Sykes
Super Senior Ladies:
Angie Brown, Carole Orange, Diane Johnson & Lynn Squibb
Manager – Tony Brown
Coach – Hadley Morgan
Congratulations to all the bowlers selected to represent Team England in this prestigious event. We wish you well in your preparation and at the event itself.
Mike Bergquist
Manager
Senior Team England
31st June 2023 – 2023 Senior Team England Rankings
Rankings and Results
Ladies
Men
Senior Team England is pleased to announce its mens and ladies teams for the forth coming Senior Triple Crown to be hosted by Wales, at Bromborough Bowl, on 19th to 21st May 2023.
The decision was taken not to include any bowlers that represented England in the recent European Senior Championships in Aalborg.
Mens
Gary Baker
Lol Ellis
Neil Highgate
Ian Hollands
Steve Jeeves
Paul Loberman
Reserve – Garry Cooper
Ladies
Marsha Dalley
Diane Johnson
Kim Oakley
Dee Parker
Sandra Simmonds
Catherine Wills
Reserve – Lynn Squibb
Team England are holders of all three Triple Crown trophies and we wish our bowlers the best of luck bringing the trophies home again!
Mike Bergquist
Manager
Senior Team England
9th March 2023 – A History of Senior Team England
A great piece of work by Geoff Brown assisted by Dave Steiner and Keith Hodge, with a little help from the UK Tenpin Hall of Fame.
The attached spreadsheet lists all medals won by Senior Team England at International Level as well as the total medals won by each player. It also shows which Nation won the Senior Triple Crown, the year and where it was held.
Just the 2013 Senior Triple Crown results in Jersey missing, can anyone help us fill in this gap.
