The Ballarat District Bowls Division confirmed over the weekend that it had agreed with the Geelong Bowls Region to end the competition after the 2018-19 season.

A media release from the BDBD stated that a “mutual agreement” would see the league brought to an end.

“The Geelong Bowls Region combined with the Ballarat District Bowls Division have successfully conducted a combined competition – Geelong Ballarat Premier League – (which is) run in parallel with both associations’ pennant fixture for the past 20 years,” the statement read.

“The game of lawn bowls has changed over this time, with both associations questioning the standard and competitiveness of the event.

“By mutual agreement both believe that a new direction is necessary, and as a result, it has been resolved at a recent meeting that upon completion of this coming season (2018-2019) the competition will cease.

“Both organisations will decide on the best options to accommodate the premier clubs’ teams back into their respective domestic pennant competitions, exploring all options put forward by member clubs with the objective of improving and streamlining the current competition.”

Back in 2016, a new promotion/relegation system was agreed upon following concerns from the GBR.

Under the existing structure, five clubs from Ballarat and Geelong were required to feature in the premier competition, with the bottom team from each region suffering relegation at season’s end.

The change forced the bottom two teams in the league to be relegated, regardless of their region. From there, the top side from each region’s division one competition earned promotion.

This sees the Geelong region field six of the 10 teams in 2018-19, with the BDBD only having Buninyong, Sebastopol, Webbcona and Victoria as its representatives.

The final season of the league gets underway next Saturday.

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