Adventures of Celebrate Living History interns Kate and Madison

Our fantastic Griffith University interns Kate and Madison worked together to cover the Tweed Heads Bowls Club Commemorative Shield Match in May.

They discovered local characters and much more!

Here is a peek into their action packed day!

The Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Bowl’s club Commemorative shield match involves the two clubs sitting just either side of the Queensland and New South Wales border. They have been having this match every year since the Tweed Heads/Coolangatta bowls club split to form the Tweed Heads Bowls club and the Coolangatta Bowls Club in 1948. Although this is a friendly match there is definitely some rivalry in the air. Think of it as the State of Origin of the Bowls world. In this good hearted grudge match steeped in tradition, the winning club will earn bragging rights for another year and take home this beautiful shield trophy.

Two competitors stand side by side, Tweed Heads and Coolangatta. At this point it looks like Coolangatta is ahead by a little but across the field calls of encouragement can be heard for either side, “Nice bowl Garry, great aim.” The essence of this match is comradery. With so many of these players competing with limited health the very fact of coming together and representing your club is reason enough to encourage each other. These clubs are communities of support and the friendships made transcend club loyalties. Handshakes and wise cracks, this is certainly one of the highlight matches of the year.

Kate and Madison had an interesting day talking to some colourful characters down at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club. Our local clubs and RSL’s really are the corner stone of our communities. No matter if you’ve been a member for 5 or 25 years, these folks band together to support each other in a way that truly captures the mate ship of Australians.