State Advisory Committee Profile

State Advisory Committee Profile: Cherrie Dinham

By TBANSW

March 24, 2021

Meet Cherrie Dinham. An incredibly well respected and highly valued member of our TBA NSW State Advisory Committee.

Cherrie is currently the key driver of Tournament Secretary roles and responsibilities across the TBA NSW State Association Governing Body overseeing core aspects of both administration and operations.

Cherrie is a familiar face amongst the NSW tenpin bowling landscape who is very approachable with a positive and friendly can-do attitude!

Who are you? – tell us a little bit about your background across the sport in NSW

In my university years, I used to bowl with my friends socially as a downtime after weeks of exams. I found it fun and relaxing at the same time. Whenever time allows, I visited the lanes with family and friends to have a few games. Parenting life came. I made sure that my kids have regular physical activities and entered my son to community cricket team at the age of four. Three years later following the end of the cricket season in 2008, I thought to give my eldest another sport activity to keep him active during the winter months. This was the beginning of it all.

The whole family learned tenpin bowling together. I explored the tenpin bowling community to find out more about it including leagues and competitions and how my child could progress in the sport. I sourced information on various tournaments and educated myself with the varying formats. I familiarised myself with tenpin bowling associations and the rules, regulations, policies, and procedures that governed it. For me, it is important to know these to understand the sport and to ensure that I educated my family in doing the right thing – abide by the rules. In return, I have high expectations from others to act within these rules. Probably an expectation I should not have as I get disheartened when I see it broken or ignored.

My eldest participated in the Junior Nationals Championships since 2011 and every year thereafter without fail until last year due to COVID-19. From 2015, I acquainted myself about the sport in the international scene when I took my son (he was 14yo at the time) to the Milo Junior All Stars Championships in Malaysia. Since then, our family have been travelling across Asia for tenpin bowling. In 2016, I started taking my sons to interstate competitions, for them to experience bowling in various conditions. I became much more involved in 2017 when Tenpin Sports Australia was established. I undertake the administrator/coordinator role since its inception. Listed below are some duties in this role.

• Organise training schedule and venues.

• Coordinate training videos and photography for analysis and assessment.

• Design and coordinate sport uniforms with supplier.

• Manage group promotional materials.

• Compose video presentations and artworks for online publication.

• Coordinate sporting equipment and gear supplies.

• Ongoing liaison with coaches, athletes, parents, and guardians.

• Coordinate competition entries including payments and accommodations.

• Coordinate travel arrangements for interstate and international competitions.

• Coordinate third party providers for training and development such as physiotherapist, sport psychologist and food nutrition expert.

In 2019, I took my son to the Asian Circuit and the USA. We both gained more knowledge and experience about the sport during this 10-week tour. Through the years I learned the technicalities of the game with the help of my kids’ coach Chris Batson, as I speak to team coaches of other countries and became a friend of the former PBA #1 Player, Parker Bohn III.

Most recently in the 2020 NSW State Championships, I noticed the committee having challenges in providing squads and masters qualifying results. I offered help which they accepted. Immediately after week one, I started to learn the system, setup the system, register bowlers, enter near 300 entries along with payments received, produced various reports, and get it ready before week two. I was able to achieve this within the limited time I had and got the last two weekends of the championships run as smoothly as I possibly can.

What active roles do you currently look after, engage in, or participate in driving outcomes within the TBA NSW State Advisory Committee?

As a volunteer, I am currently undertaking an administrative role, providing ideas and opinions on important matters in organising the upcoming State Championships and Roll Offs. We were able to achieve a lot in the six-week period we had to make this year’s State Championships happen. The process is new to us all in the Committee, but we were not fazed with the challenge. Each and every one of us provided snippets of knowledge based on our past experiences. We have made decisions as a group with the benefit of members in mind. There is transparency and respect in the process. Currently, we are building the foundation for a better TBANSW. Soon, we would like to get members’ involvement in rebuilding our sport.

What are some of the key aspects of the TBA NSW State Advisory Committee group including key tasks, projects, and areas of leadership, member support, and governance?

We have a few things we have our eyes on. This includes:

Athlete development from the grassroots
Coaching education and training
Better marketing/promotion for our sport
Acquire sponsors.
Initiate fundraising activities.
Ensure transparency across the board.
Encourage members involvement.
Establish structured pathways for members to the next level.
Develop and organise events for all divisions and skill level.

What benefits does this committee have and how will it positively drive the association of NSW tenpin bowling forward as we embark on the future of the sport?

The TBANSW Advisory Committee is here to serve the members and act on their behalf. We listen. We plan. We act. We are committed, devoted, and have taken on responsibilities for the future of our sport. We have already shown this through the organisation and planning of this year’s State Championships. We have a positive outlook for the future of tenpin bowling in NSW with great ideas we want to put into action for the benefit of its members.

Who is welcome to engage with the committee and provide knowledge, expertise, insight, and advice to?

One of our goals is to re-invigorate member participation in all aspects of tenpin bowling. What we want to achieve is for the benefit of all TBANSW members. To better understand the needs of athletes, we encourage them to put forward their positive opinions and brilliant ideas for the future of tenpin bowling in NSW. We all have our own fair share of disappointments and frustrations from the previous regimes, but we cannot continue living in the shadows of the past. We need to move on and embark in a new journey together to drive exceptional outcomes for our sport.

How often does the TBA NSW State Advisory Committee meet?

Currently, we meet once a week however we communicate almost daily as we action plans.

Established in December 2020, The TBA NSW State Advisory Committee is a state leadership structure made up of various members from across the Tenpin Bowling community. The Committee is devoted to providing high-level support, leadership, and direction across several essential sporting and organisational portfolio areas within the state of NSW.

If you would like to hear more about the TBA NSW State Advisory Committee or if you would like to get involved, we would like to hear from you!

To find out more regarding this group, please email TBA NSW State Development Manager on [email protected]

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