AFTER a quarter of a century with the club, Southampton Sports Centre's most famous bowler has left to join Atherley.
Wendy Line's name has been synonymous with both clubs in the city - Sports Centre in the summer and Atherley indoors - but now the former England skip will be playing all her bowls at the Hill Lane club.
Line has enjoyed every minute at Sports Centre since joining in 1977 but the fact that Atherley is within walking distance of her home has been a major consideration in her summer switch.
At this time of year the former national outdoor singles champion is saying goodbye to her indoor colleagues at Atherley and teaming up with another set of bowlers down the road for the Hampshire outdoor championships but now those winter liaisons will continue throughout the summer.
Line has just completed a memorable indoor campaign, reaching the national stages (last 16) in the singles, pairs, triples and over-50 two-wood triples.
In the triples and the two-woods her partners were Anne Pearce and Jean Arnaud and those two bowlers will be alongside Line as she attempts to reach Leamington Spa in the outdoor nationals.
Pearce partners her in the pairs while Line teams up with Arnaud and Jenny McAusland in the triples. The four of them will contest the rinks.
Arnaud was also a winter wonder having reached the nationals in three disciplines, two of them in triples with Line and the pairs with McAusland.
Line added two more trophies to her indoor efforts by winning the Atherley club singles and pairs. It is the fourth time she has been singles champion and she achieved it by beating Ella Dibble, her pairs partner in the nationals.
Trophies were presented during the annual luncheon of the Atherley ladies' indoor section attended by 70 bowlers and guests in the club restaurant.
The event was the last duty of ladies' captain Patricia Rowe before handing over to Sylvia Effeny at the annual meeting that followed. Rowe, however, will have little time to take things easy as she becomes Hampshire County Women's BA president in the autumn. Prize-winners:
Singles: Wendy Line (runner-up Ella Dibble); Ann Bedford trophy: Anita Knight (Jean Seymour); pairs: Alison Cole, Wendy Line (Jenny Loftus, Joan Penfold).
League fours: Jean Arnaud, Jackie Mainwaring, Alison Cole, Anne Pearce, Maggie Wright, Jenny McAusland (Ruth Compton, Joan Penfold, Jean Eyres, Maureen Ansty, Edna Tomlin, Betty Jacob); league triples: Jean Arnaud, Alison Cole, Ann Littlewood, Anne Pearce, Joan Penfold, Maggie Wright, Jenny McAusland (Josie Munday, Eileen Askell, Doreen Bishop, Jackie Mainwaring); Wednesday morning league: Mary Quant, Cynthia Meacher, Anne Pearce, Audrey Smith, Jenny Loftus.
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