A money problem

Press, 31 October 1981, Page 22

A money problem

Lawn bowls — Australia’s and New Zealand’s biggest participant sport — is about to undergo a minor revolution. Bowls, and some of its effervescent personalities, are being “discovered” by television and entrepreneurs in the constant search for a new money-spinning sporting event.

The result is that many of the top players, most in their thirties or forties, are now itching to play for cash as well as glory, and professional bowls events with purses as high as $lO,OOO under consideration are making it possible for them to do just that. The big push will start next April when leading players who miss out on Commonwealth Games selection turn professional.

The front runner is the Edmonton and world championships silver medallist, John Snell, who has declared he may turn professional even earlier if he believes his form is not good enough for the Games team.

“There will be quite an exodus once the team is announced and others will follow later, so it may pay me to get in early,” Snell said from Melbourne. “While there may not be all that much prize money about at the moment, other avenues such as television advertisements and product endorsements are where the money is,” Snell, a senior bank officer, said.

“I estimate I have paid out $6OOO to play bowls as an amateur in recent years. Prize money goes to the bowler’s state association although he can claim expenses and remain an amateur.

“Most of the top players I have spoken to, plan to go professional,” Snell said. The Brisbane Games team of seven will be chosen next April after 96 players play trials in Sydney, with a short list of 14 doing the same a few weeks later in Brisbane, The selectors will have to choose from a long list of experienced competitors such as the New South Wales champion, Bob King; the world pairs gold medallists, Peter Rheuben (N.S.W.) and Alf Sandercock (South Australia); Queensland’s Keith Poole and Snell, as well as the sport’s young blood. These include Queensland’s Robbie Parella, 37, whose spectacular style has already earned him the tag of “the John McEnroe of bowls”; a South Australian, Robert Moran, who, at 26, has been playing bowls since he was five; and the Australian singles runner-up, Peter Lawson of Tasmania.

Parella, who defeated five other state champions at this month’s trial games in Brisbane, has made no bones about his professional ambitions.

“I want to play in the Commonwealth Games and then turn professional,”

Parella said.

All these players are keeping a keen eye on the Australian Bowls Council, due to end months of speculation when it hands down its decision on a new definition of professionalism in a week or sb.

The top administrators are tipping the decision will be virtually an affirmation of the present situation, where amateurs and professionals can compete with each other, ending fears of some bowlers that the two groups would be segregated.

This would have meant an amateur jeopardised his status by playing against a professional even if he did not accept a cash reward. The likely decision means the onus is still on the amateur to protect his status but his competiton opportunities will not suffer.

It may also encourage some leading players to make an early decision on turning pro in time for events in Adelaide and New Zealand over the next few months with prize money of several thousand dollars.

Bowls administrators believe a $lO,OOO tournament, Australia’s most lucrative to date, will be held in the eastern states in the next few months. Bowls traditionalists, for whom the game with the 700year history is sacrosanct, may have some unpalatable shocks in store for them in years to come.