Bowlo Sports and Leisure and Maclean Bowling Club combined to host the 2021 State Pennants final and 16 of the state’s best Grade 4 bowlers travelled to the lower Clarence to compete for the title of best Grade 4 team in NSW.

One of those competing clubs was South Lismore Bowling Club, which was decimated by the February floods.

With borrowed shoes, uniforms and bowls, the South Lismore team put the trauma of losing their homes and beloved Bowling Club behind them to show the true grit this little club really has. They didn’t win the bowls but just being there could surely be seen as victory enough.

Bowlo Sports and Leisure CEO, Phil Boughton said, “There was no better time to show our support for a fellow club experiencing tough times, so we called for donations over the three days of competition. The response was moving. There were significant donations of cash, furniture and equipment.

“The donations will go a long way to ensuring the survival of South Lismore Bowling Club”, said Greg McMahon former Director of the Club. “We are overwhelmed with the generosity,” he said.

The Clubs raised over $7,500 in cash and East Cessnock Bowling Club donated a “shed-full of furniture” to replace most of what was lost in the devastating flood.

The devastation of the South Lismore Club caused by the flood. Image: Contributed