A lot of bowlers will know Vince Roper as coach of Tayla Bruce.
And that in itself warrants Vince being named Bowls New Zealand’s Coach of the Year in 2024.
But Vince would be the first person to regard himself as ‘a’ coach of Tayla. Not ‘the’ coach of Tayla. Because like all good coaches, Vince knows that it is about what Tayla has done herself … and what many, many, many others have added into the mix by inspiring, encouraging, nurturing, motivating, supporting and coaching Tayla along the way. Even if that’s just simply egging on.
Nonetheless Vince can validly add ‘Coach of the Bowls Singles World Champion’ on his CV.
He started working with Tayla at Burnside Bowling Club back in 2008/2009 when she was a youngster, and continues to coach Tayla today … despite the fact that he has since relocated from Christchurch to Nelson after the 2011 earthquake.
“That hasn’t been a barrier to his commitment as coach,” says Tayla. “He has continued to coach me through digital catch-ups and weekend workshops. Or sometimes I’ll go to Nelson or he comes to Christchurch, and we’ll have an intensive couple of days training to prepare for a target event.”
“I feel very fortunate to have the support of Vince, as he has been a large reason why I have found success in this sport.”
But it’s the not-so-well-known Vince … the Vince who while not coaching Tayla, is also doing wonderful things with bowls in Nelson.
“He brings coaching magic to Nelson,” says Don Ambrose, President of the Stoke Bowling Club. “He’s not our official Club Coach … Mary Orbell and John Parson carry out that role. But Vince is also a very, very handy guy to have around.”
“Vince focuses on young people, and working with Sport Tasman and Bowls Nelson, getting rangatahi involved in bowls. It started off small, but is growing into something much bigger … the Nelson Future Champions Rangatahi Bowls Programme. He recently presented the programme to over 400 kids, and fortunately for us, 26 of them have expressed interest in becoming members and playing bowls at the Stoke Bowling Club.”
“But he also responds to bowlers throughout Nelson who seek him out for his coaching advice. That’s included the likes of Carolyn Keehan and Di Holland who have progressed from being juniors to inclusion in the Nelson Open Rep side.”
“He has a knack for identifying keen and promising bowlers, and is always willing to develop players further.”
But bowls isn’t the only sport where Vince has put his coaching prowess to work.
“He’s been actively involved in coaching both softball and basketball,” says Don. “Bowls coaching came later. And although his passion is coaching, he’s a very handy bowler and skipped our Four in the Club 2nd 7’s team this last season.”
Graeme Rees, National Coach Development Lead at Bowls New Zealand, used to be Vince’s neighbour in Christchurch.
“Vince identified Tayla straightaway,” says Graeme. “And I would love to think I would’ve as well. But maybe not .. he’s different than me.”
“He’s intelligent. Someone you might even call a deep thinker. He’s quite analytical. But then he tells it like it is. I think he spoke the same language as Tayla, and his style suited her.”
“He can certainly claim to have had a big part in Tayla’s success.”
Even though Vince is renowned for his coaching .. and is very well-regarded for his bowls play, he is still at heart a great club man and puts a lot into his Stoke Bowling Club.
“He’s out and about getting sponsorship … getting advertising signage … looking for opportunities to increase membership numbers and doing whatever he’s asked to add value to the club,” says Don. “He’s a great guy to have as part of the team.”
And a great guy for the bowls community to have as a coach.
Congratulations Vince, on being Bowls New Zealand’s Coach of the Year in 2024.