Coaching link to BCGBA CEO departure

Bowling News

Earlier today we posted the story about the BCGBA Chief Executive Officer leaving his position with considerable speculation about the background to that event after 5 years and 8 months in charge of our sport's governing body.

Now we look at some of the background to this event as the online social media websites throw up more and more dirt about happenings leading up to the situation where Marc Bircumshaw left his post - did he jump or was he pushed?

The BCGBA is the national ruling body for our sport and in turn is responsible to Bowls England. Speculation is rife on social media so you must take some of this with a health warning but obviously, something has happened leading up to the CEO either resigning or being fired mid-term.

Increasingly the focus seems to be on the situation regarding the BCGBA's decision to step back from their joint venture with Manchester City Council to revive the four-green club at Heaton Park. It is believed that the BCGBA had been supporting both financially and with plum appointments of top BCGBA final competitions but that relationship appears to have gone sour.

Marc Bircumshaw had been key in establishing this relationship with big plans for it to become a major Centre of Excellence for the redevelopment of coaching of bowls nationally for Lawn Bowls as well as Crown Green Bowling.. Marc Bircumshaw is a leading figure in Coach Bowls a limited company organisation and is himself a Level 2 Bowls Coach and he led the session in Huddersfield two years ago organised by the Huddersfield Bowls Development Association where 12 local bowlers made the first step to becoming official coaches.

Marc Bircumshaw is also a Director of the Bowls Development Alliance a partnership organisation with a core purpose to; ‘sustain, grow and develop the sport in partnership with the Bowls family’. Created specifically by the Sport’s National Governing Bodies to channel Sport England investment into the sport, the Bowls Development Alliance’s (BDA) primary goal is to increase participation in bowls whilst ensuring the sport is inclusive and accessible for all.  It champions collaborative working across the sport and it works to develop National Governing Body-affiliated clubs and their volunteers, safeguard participants and share best practice.

Initially representing the BCGBA in this organisation he was voted on to the Board in his own right in April 2021 and now holds the position of Director of Safety and Welfare within the BDA. It is not known at this time if his status in that organisation is affected by his withdrawal as BCGBA CEO but for now he remains as a Director on the BDA website. The cutting below is from the website of the Bowls Development Alliance.

Looking ahead and considerable online space is being used to discuss the proposed salary being offered by the BCGBA for their top position. A salary of £25,000 per annum for a 40-hours a week position means it is just above the minimum wage. Hardly likely to attract the big-hitters of sports development. For comparison purposes the Managing Director of the Bowls Development Alliance is on a salary of £50,000 p.a. and even the Bowls England Events & Competition Organiser attracts a salary of £26,000 p.a.

There is very little online criticism of Marc Bircumshaw's role with the following Crown Green Bowling News Facebook posting from Bill Staite typical of comments being posted.

Bill Staite

I don’t think many people realise the time and effort Mark Bircumshaw has devoted to his position as CEO. He frequently worked up to 60 hours a week for what we all agree was a derisory salary. He has tried to improve the BCGBA and move it forward but has met far too many obstacles to overcome on his own.

Because of the fact that there were far more people prepared to obstruct rather than assist he has had no option other than to stand down. He has had a bad time with family bereavements and personal ill health and the pressures of devoting so much time to the BCGBA have certainly not helped.

Rather than having a swipe at him you should be thanking him that the BCGBA is still more than salvageable. I believe he was, and still is, the right man for the job. If paid the right money and with the appropriate support I believe he should still be given the opportunity to take the BCGBA forward. Imagine what could be achieved if we all actually tried to pull in the same direction and not keep loading bullets for the gullible to fire.

Returning to the issue of Heaton Park and what part that played in Marc Bircumshaw's departure from the BCGBA it is worth noting the original intent when the arrangement was frst established in 2019. The following extract from the BCGBA website sets out the project's original intentions.

HEATON PARK

The British Crown Green Bowling Association have been working with Manchester City Council to return Crown Green to Heaton Park.  Since the Commonwealth Games in 2002 there has been the intention to convert two of the four greens in the Park to Crown Green.

Phase 1 of the planning process is now being completed with the works now in progress on site with a plan for these to be available for the start of the 2020 season.  Phase 2 of the planning will work with the existing flat green club, Heaton Hall Bowls Club, to increase the use of this valuable resource for the promotion of the sport across Manchester and the Crown Green game.

This is an exciting project both for the Park and British Crown Green with the relocation of our Association meetings to the Park.  We will also be planning Coaching courses with Coach Bowls for the development of Level 1 and Level 2 Coaches as part of the Association’s development strategy.

We are also working with the Beaver, Cubs, Brownies and Scouts groups to introduce the game to a new audience.  As part of the Association development plan this will give us a fantastic opportunity to work on development projects to promote the game to all.  We will also be looking to engage with Health Professionals to promote an active lifestyle and the sociability our sport can offer to all ages.

I now include an extract from the May 2019 BCGBA Newsletter introducing Marc (or Mark as he is frequently referred to) Bircumshaw to members listing his qualifications and highlighting some of the targets and achievements of the new CEO at the end of his first year in office with the announcement that his appointment had become permanent.

BCGBA Newsletter May 2019

MARK BIRCUMSHAW has been appointed BCGBA Chief Executive Officer having served as Interim CEO since John Crowther’s retirement in April of 2018. Mark, a retired Educational Advisor for the University of Wolverhampton and secretary of Staffordshire CBA, is honoured to be asked to continue with the development of the association.

With a full team now in place following the appointment of Brian Hampson as National Administrator and Lee Smith as National Development Officer, all officers and management of the association can build on the progress made during 2018. Mark said that the last twelve months has seen a lot of work in preparing the association to take on the many challenges that will enable us to move forward, however there is still a lot of work to do.

During 2018 the association has been working hard to comply with the guidance being laid down in the safeguarding arena. We now have Safeguarding officers in place in the majority of clubs and we are leading the way within the bowls community. Safeguarding is an integral part of development as is ensuring that we are aware of our responsibilities as a sport and a governing body.

Growing our game and ensuring that we have plans in place for Coaching, Development and Safeguarding go hand in hand and we will be working on plans to enable clubs to grow in a sustainable way for the future. Part of this development work will be to ensure that we can finance the work of the association. This will involve looking for additional partners, sponsors and how we generate income to enable us to provide the services that the grassroots have been asking for.

To do this we need to ensure that the officer team have the tools available to them to make this happen. We all have a part to play to ensure that this wonderful sport is available to all, that there is a future to grow and that each time we introduce a new player we enable this to happen. He looks forward to working with the team to further progress the association from Club, County and National levels.

More still to come on this matter inevitably and we will try and keep readers abreast of all developments in the background to the CEO's departure as well as the appointment process of a successor as it progresses.