EAST Lothian Indoor Bowling Club committee members, players and their partners were all smiles on Sunday evening at the prestigious Scottish Indoor Bowling Association (SIBA) awards evening.

The club collected the Scottish Indoor Club of the Year award (see picture) while the Scotland under-18 team, managed by Scott Kennedy and including Megan Kivlin and Craig Mackintosh, walked away with the Team of the Year accolade following their success in the British Isles under-18 International Series last year.

The Scotland under-18 team travel to Newport, Wales, next weekend to defend the title and are again managed by county star Kennedy.

This year, the team has three East Lothian players: Lewis Betts, Danny Stevenson and Robbie Shield.

Meanwhile, the Garden County’s indoor senior side got their league campaign in the East B section of the Scottish Senior Leagues of to a winning start last Wednesday at home to Teviotdale.

The game started slowly with Teviotdale edging the first few ends; however, the game turned gradually in the home team’s favour and, after 10 ends, they held a lead of 13 shots and were then never in trouble and recorded a 69-42 triumph.

There were wins for Willie Wood (+14), Alastair Russell (+8) and Tommy Young (+4) whilst Dougie Berwick lost narrowly by two shots.

The team travelled to West Lothian yesterday (Wednesday) where a tough encounter was expected.

The following team was selected: Lessel Middler, Davie Pryde, Gordon Gray and Dougie Berwick (Skip); B J Smith, Peter Fallen, Brian Bisset and Tommy Young (Skip & Captain); Billy Higgins, Ali McKenna, David McGill and Willie Wood (Skip); Jim Neilson, Ronnie Douglas, Andy Burt and Alastair Russell (Skip). Reserves: Willie Gillies, Jim McLeod, Ross Maguire and J P Hamilton

The ladies’ side get their national league campaign under way this Saturday with a challenging away clash at local rivals Midlothian.

The ladies’ league format has changed this year with only three rinks now playing.

The following team has been selected by convenor Gordon Pryde as the ladies aim to back-up the progress they made last year: Margaret Murray, Kim Hoggan, Megan Kivlin and Dee Hoggan (Skip); Melissa Penman, Pat Turner, Mags Thomson and Janet Fairnie (Skip); Jacky McFarlane, Arlene Berwick, Gillian Mackintosh and Lauren Baillie (Skip). Reserves: Beth Riva and Jean Russell

The gents’ side enter the fray on Saturday, October 13 and face an away test at Dunfermline-based Abbeyview BC although club champion Billy Mellors is in national singles action this weekend.

The 2015 national champion faces a tough opener against Ardrossan’s Steven Burns at 2pm on Saturday. Should he win he will return on Sunday for two games to make the semi-final.

The Indoor Bowling Club is now fully open with the Top Four tournament as well as the morning, afternoon and evening leagues all well under way.

Members are reminded that all annual membership fees were to be paid by Monday – anyone playing after that date having not paid will automatically forfeit their game.

Meanwhile, the youth coaching set-up at East Lothian IBC is up and running once more on Fridays (2-4pm) with coaching for ages 7-17 run by junior internationalist Megan Kivlin.

On Saturdays (8-10am), there will be intermediate coaching for youths who are more developed and hope to play for the youth county side and progress their bowling skills.

Anyone wishing to take part in the popular Hat Games at the club are reminded that these take place every Monday at 10am; Tuesday at 2pm; and Saturday at noon.

The Hat Games are open to members and non-members and are an excellent introduction to the game for new bowlers or outdoor players who wish to sample the indoor game.