By Lance Jenkinson
Altona Sports has laid the foundations for a period of sustained success in Bowls Victoria Saturday pennant.
The Sports have been promoted to second-tier division 1 for next summer after claiming the section 1 title in division 2 this season.
Sports player-coach Glenn Maxwell is confident his side is ready to step up to tougher competition.
“We got to division 1 three seasons ago and at the time we were probably a bit out of our depth,” he said.
“We’ve got three or four new faces down at the club now, which has helped us out a fair bit.
“We’re not going over the top and saying we can win division 1 straight away, but we think we can lock it in concrete that we’ll be in division 1 for the next four or five years.
“You never know – by the end of it, the club might have a premier league side.”
The relative youth on the playing list is fuelling optimism.
While Sports is coming up against teams with players of upwards of 40 years experience in the game, their next generation is only now starting to emerge.
“We’ve got a good eight players who are only playing their fifth season or so,” Maxwell said. “They’re babies in the world of lawn bowls.
“They’ve got more experience under their belts now and it’s showing. The past two seasons we’ve lost a total of four games.”
Altona Sports ran the gauntlet all the way through to the division final.
Unfortunately for Sports, they could not get the job done in the big one, losing 94-80 to Aberfeldie CBC in the decider at Glen Waverley Bowls Club.
“We won our section, so we got promoted,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell, Paul Howard, David Vogele and Jayden Wombell were Altona Sports’ four skips this summer.
Wombell is the youngest of the quartet at just 22 and shows incredible potential.
“He’s been a fantastic pick up for the club,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell is confident Altona Sports will spring a surprise or two in its promotion season.
“You just want to be competitive,” he said. “When you go out and play sport against better competition, you also rise to that level.”
