The Phil Johnson Memorial bowls trophy competition returned in a revamped format last Saturday.

Phil worked at Canada Life International before he suddenly passed away in 2011 with an undiagnosed heart condition, thought to have been Long QT Syndrome.

His family came up with the idea of remembering Phil by presenting this trophy after speaking with Mark Kneen - who at the time was the Isle of Man’s bowls development officer - and was a colleague of Phil and his father Mike.

The Isle of Man County Crown Green Bowls Association have been working on the development of a junior league, with great strides being made in 2019.

The focus on the monthly events being held are effectively follow-on events from the Manx Youth Games to ensure opportunities are given to all the young bowlers to continue the sport in a fun yet competitive environment.

The format of the events is that the regional teams (North/South/East/West) all compete against each other in doubles games, with some fun events also added in along the way.

More than 20 juniors took part in the most recent event held at Marown Bowling Club, with the East team being crowned as the Phil Johnson Memorial Trophy winners for 2019, just pipping the other teams in a very tight contest.

Results (points per game average): 1, East 3.8; 2, West 3.5; 3, North 3.4; 4, South 3.5.

The IoMCCGBA would like to thank Canada Life International for supporting the association in helping get this event up and running.

Thanks must also go out to all the coaches who volunteer their time every week to run the junior clubs around the island as well as Phil Kelly as head coach and Sonya Mercer as MYG coordinator.

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Isle of Man Examiner