Buckinghamshire Short Mat Bowls
BellingdonSMBC
Chinnor SMBC
Chesham SMBC
Stewkley SMBC
Thame Sports Club
Wendover & Chiltern Hills Bowls Club
Vale Short Mat Bowls Friendly League
NEW THIS MONTH
Amersham Short Mat Bowls club
Long Crendon Bowls Club
Last updated
14 August 2025
22:56:56
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WHEN IS A TOUCHER NOT A TOUCHER
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Hardwick SMBC
BUCKS SINGLE MAT LEAGUE
SUMMER LEAGUE
Updated 14 August 2025
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the winding up of the Buckinghamshire Short Mat Bowling Association.
This decision came as a result of the long serving committee deciding to stand down, and no volunteers from the 20 members clubs, coming forward to take their place.
According to the Constitution of the BSMBA, there was no alternative but to wind up the Association, following the AGM on Monday 12th May 2025.
This decision was not unexpected, as support for the Association has been diminishing for some time, with just a handful of members taking part in the monthly competitions, organised for the benefit of all 350 plus members. Support from other Association was in fact greater than from our own membership, and this was an embarrasing situation to be in.
Ironically, we were contacted by a representative of the ESMBA offering to come to the AGM and try to generate some support for the continuation of the Association. This offer was too little, too late, as the ESMBA were well aware of our difficulties some considerable time ago, and did nothing to support us. In fact, their attitude was antagonistic towards us for daring to invite other county Association members to our in house competitions.
That is all in the past and the BSMBA is no more. This demise will not affect any of the leagues currently running, as they have their own committies and do no rely on the BSMBA for their support.
This web site will continue for some months yet, but once the current hosting contract runs out and the Domain name comes up for renewal, there will not be funds available for this to happen and this web site will close. During that time, the site will be gradually wound down with certain areas deleted which are no longer releveant. However, it is hoped that someone might come forward with a proposal to take over the running of this site if only for the benefit of those clubs within the three leagues that have an interest in current and updated match results and scores.The email address will still be used for contact purposes between clubs as it does not refer specifically to BSMBA.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those members who have supported us over the years and a special thank you to those players from other County Associations who have taken the time and trouble to join us for our monthly competitions. We enjoyed your company and have made long lasting friendships with so many of you. We wish you good fortune in your continued efforts to keep Short Mat Bowling alive in your areas, and only wish we had the same level of support that you enjoy.
My personal thanks go to those committee members, past and present, who have given so much of their time and effort in running the BSMBA for so many years.
Who knows? Maybe one day, a small group of dedicated like minded bowlers might decide to resurrect the BSMBA and keep our sport alive in this area for some years to come.
Meanwhile, we will do what we can to support our local teams and continue to play in the leagues and even take part in some invitation games with other county associations, if we are given the opportunity.
Thank you
(All the equipment belonging to the BSMBA is being donated to members clubs)
That concludes the 2025 Summer Single Mat League with the last two games being played on Thursday 14th August, when Haddenham/Marsh Gibbon beat Widmer End and Chinnor beat Hardwick.
Congratulation to Chinnor who came out league winners, having been chased all the way by Bellingdon who were runners up this year.
Thanks to all the teams that took part in the league this summer and we can now look forward to those cold, dark, wet and windy nights when we have to travel far and wide to play in the Single Mat Winter League. As well as that there is the Vale Short Mat Bowls Friendly League or as we like to call it, The Two Mat League, and the South Bucks League.
The schedules have been produced and circulated and it is now just a question of fittings all the games into a sensible order. Some clubs are still struggling for players and it is highly likely that there will be occasions when clubs cannot put up a full squad of players, in which case the captains will have to negotiate with their opposite number as to how they want to proceed with that scenario. There is a formula in place but it has to be agreed by both side.
Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of the Summer and we can look forward to meeting you all again in the new season.
As long as results from those Winter leagues are fowarded to me on a regular basis, they will be posted on this web site, which will remain open until May 2026. After that, the current hosting contract will expire and will not be renewed. However, there are alternative options that might be able to host a slimmed down version of the site, just to enable the scores and results to be made available to anyone who wants to see them. All clubs members will be notified as and when an alternative host can be found.
Thank you to all those people who have supported us over the years and especially since the demise of the BSMBA. We will continue to strive to keep Short Mat Bowls alive in our region and hope that we can encourage new players to take up this great sport.
Best wishes to you all.
Bob Hine