Western News: June 06, 2017

WESTERN NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Tuesday June 6 2017 13
Burnside trumps bowls awards
• By Andrew King
BURNSIDE HAS been named
top club at Bowls Canterbury’s
annual awards.
Club president Alan Bryce
said it has been a huge year and
it was nice for members to see
their hard work rewarded.
“We have great
bowlers and coaches
here and it is great
to be recognised,”
he said.
Alan
Bryce
Burnside co-hosted
the World Bowls
Championships
with Bowls Papanui,
Fendalton Bowling Club and the
Bowls Canterbury Centre last
year.
Burnside also had a number of
its members honoured with current
Black Jack Tayla Bruce winning
sportswoman of the year
and young player of the year.
Bruce finished competing
with the national squad in the
trans-Tasman test series at the
Broadbeach Bowls Club, Gold
Coast, on Friday. She is now
competing in the Gold Coast
multi-nations event, which
finishes tomorrow.
Burnside up-and-comer
Alex Wilkinson, 15, won most
consistent female player of the
year, most improved player of
the year and her second white
star award.
White star awards are given
to players competing in youth/
UP-AND-COMING: Burnside’s Alex Wilkinson was named
most consistent female player and most improved player of
the year at Bowls Canterbury’s annual awards. Tayla Bruce
(below) took out the sportswoman and young player of the
year awards.
PHOTOS: BOWLS CANTERBURY
junior events who have won
three or more junior championship
events.
Wilkinson has bowling in her
genes. The Villa Maria student’s
mother Tracey is a handy bowler
and grandmother, Pam Clark,
is one of the Burnside club
coaches. Wikinson’s great uncle
Stewart Buttar competed in the
1994 Commonwealth Games for
New Zealand.
• By Andrew King
ONE YEAR ago Mitchell
Langley was playing basketball
socially, now he holds a
Canterbury Basketball
Association record
after notching up the
first triple-double in St
Thomas’ of Canterbury
College’s history.
In a recent 76-58
defeat to Burnside
in the under-17a
grade basketball
championship, Langley,
15, racked up an
impressive 14 points, 13
rebounds and 16 blocks.
Not only was it the school’s
first triple-double, it was also
a CBA record, as no-one
had recorded more blocks in
one game, CBA community
basketball manager James
Lissaman said.
Langley said he started the
game slowly but then suddenly
everything fell into place.
“I didn’t really notice the stats
were ticking up like they were.
My teammates just kept me
going, saying keep shooting,
keep blocking,” he said.
Coach Neville Brooker said
it was a massive effort by the
SPORTS
St Thomas basketballer
makes first triple-double
Mitchell
Langley
young man.
“Mitch only started playing
basketball last year after I
approached him to play seeing
he is so tall,” he said.
At 1.95m, Brooker saw
potential in Langley and
pinched him from rugby
league, a sport he had
been playing for the past
10 years.
Langley also plays in
the school’s under-20
basketball team, which
is the top squad, and
last week found out he
has been selected for the
under-17 Canterbury Mainland
South Island team.
“It’s his first year in both
[under-17s and under-20s]
and he has shown signs of
huge potential for the top team
for years to come,” Brooker
said.
The Canterbury team heads to
Westport next month to play a
tournament.
For now, Langley is happy to
play the sport he loves with the
goal of playing professionally in
the future.
“It is my dream to play pro,
but I have to put in a whole lot
of work,” he said.