Five years after linking with the Active After-school Communities (AASC) program, Bridport Bowls Club has received the ultimate accolade with one of its first AASC students being named the club’s first ever state representative.

The north-east Tasmanian club enthusiastically embraced the AASC program soon after the program’s inception and club secretary Mike Furlonge said the benefits have ranged from a massive surge in junior interest and participation right through to success in elite competition.

Recently 15 year-old Andrew Whitmore, an early AASC recruit was selected for the Tasmanian Under-18 team that played in NSW and Victoria in the 2009–10 season.

Furlonge said the club was very proud of Andrew but equally of ‘all the young people who are coming through the program.’

Right from the start the feeling within the club was that [through the AASC] we could offer children at Bridport Primary School a unique opportunity with bowls,’ Furlonge said.

‘It’s a sport that is available all-year round, it’s non-contact and at the time we also had our new synthetic bowling green.’

He said that with the help of school principal Carol Stingle, her staff and AASC regional coordinator Ralph Morris, the club started a ‘barefoot bowls’ session on Wednesday afternoons at the club.

The sessions were led by one of the club’s pennant players, Greg Whatmough.

There was some interest at the beginning but we kept fanning it and eventually we developed into a really enthusiastic group of young people who had a real desire to become proficient at the sport,’ Furlonge said.

‘Just from this Barefoot Bowls group we added eight junior male members to our club. This year they’ve played pennant bowls for the season that’s just finished. We had five players in our top Division Two side aged 15 or under who had all come through the AASC program.’

He said in addition, the Division Two side made the final four in what was a tough competition with four of the five juniors playing every game throughout the season.

Furlonge said a number of AASC girls had also shown exceptional talent, but were a little more restricted because Ladies Pennant is played on a week-day and they have been unable to play because of school commitments. Instead, they were honing their skills in social games held at weekends.

‘Because of the involvement of the AASC and the new bowlers that have come into the club, we’ve been able to field a second side in the men’s northern bowls competition for the last three seasons,’ Furlonge said. ‘It has also brought a number of parents into our club and has widened our exposure and created additional interest in the local community.’

Bridport Bowls Club is one of 13 clubs across the country to have won a $500 Hart sporting equipment voucher in a recent AASC competition for demonstrating how their club has benefited from working with the AASC program.