DOZENS of international bowlers and their entourages will roll into Barham over the next two years after the NSW border town secured the World Bowls Championships.
cluBarham was successful in the competitive tender for the prestigious event in September 2025 and 2026, in the mix with six other nations before it was narrowed to a final three.
There will be 53 players representing 29 countries.
Each player typically brings an entourage of coaches, trainers, friends and family, resulting in about 200 international visitors for the week.
“When we won that tender, we were ecstatic,” cluBarham chief executive Jason Wallace said.
“And what it means for not only the club, Barham and Koondrook, but for the whole Murray region is that we can showcase all the natural beauties of the region to the state, national and international stage.
“So it’s quite incredible that we get that chance to do that.”
Mr Wallace said cluBarham now had world-class facilities for world-class athletes.
“We’ve got two state-of-the-art synthetic greens, and we’ve also now got two canopies over those,” he said.
“So whether it’s Bowls Victoria, Bowls Australia or World Bowls, they all know where our facility is, and we’re a national boutique bowls arena, and we can also cater or the world.
“We’ve really set ourselves up to have a lot more major events for bowls coming to our region.”
Mr Wallace said given the region was “hot on bowls”, the number of spectators could exceed more than 1000.
“So we’re gearing up for that,” he said. “We’ll have both grandstands on the showcase rink and lots of fun.”
Players and officials will arrive on September 18 next year, with finals on September 25.
Planning has already started with World Bowls, and locally with tourism industry and Murray River Council.
“I had an accommodation meeting this morning with our team, working through the logistics of bookings from all around the world,” Mr Wallace said.
“We’re right into it, and we’ll put on an absolute premium showcase for our club and our region.”
The flow-on economic benefits will also be welcomed, with money spent in the community.
“We’re organising with Murray River Council tourism to get them to go to Swan Hill, to a Echuca-Moama, the paddle boats and other activities.
“So they give them a taste of what we can offer here, and we hope they come back.
“But what we also are looking at … the data says the recent New Zealand World Bowls singles, there was over 80,000 hours of YouTube viewing watching New Zealand, so we’ll probably get more than that.
“It’s fantastic exposure for our region.”
Mr Wallace said cluBarham had secured state events for the next three years, capping off an impressive period for the organisation.
“We’re also renovating the club and the golf club,” he said.
“So we’re really pitching ourselves to be an even better destination for tourism, and will hopefully get more international people coming to see the mighty Murray.
“So we’re really gearing up for a really good future for cluBarham.”
To mark the milestone, World Bowls representatives travelled from London last month to celebrate the partnership and inspect the club’s facilities.
Murray River Council Mayor John Harvie said the event will be a great opportunity for the local area.
“This event is not just a milestone for cluBarham but also an incredible opportunity for our region,” he said.
“We anticipate a significant boost to local tourism, with participants and guests eager to explore the area.”
