The Cooinda Bowls Championship was a notable regional event held across various clubs in Melbourne’s west, particularly involving Sunshine Bowling Club. The event was part of the Cooinda Festival, which was a multicultural community celebration held in Sunshine, Victoria, during the 1970s, with strong ties to local Aboriginal and migrant communities. The name Cooinda, an Aboriginal word meaning “happy place” or “meeting place” reflects the festival’s inclusive and celebratory spirit. The Sunshine Bowling club was founded around 1910, and is closely tied to the development of Sunshine as a company town under H.V. McKay, the industrialist behind the Sunshine Harvester Works. The club was located in the Sunshine Gardens, Andersons Road, Sunshine. In 2007, the club folded. Later the club rooms were demolished, and the former bowling rink was converted into a lawn area, and which is now part of the H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens. A wooden shield with inscription plaques attached. The shield comes apart into two sections, top & base. Sunshine Bowling Club Cooinda Bowls Championship Sunshine Bowling Club 1974 Sunshine Bowling Club 1975 Sunshine Bowling Club 1976 Rosamond Bowling Club 1977 Avenue Bowling Club 1978 Sunshine Bowling Club 1979 Rosamond Bowling Club 1980 Rosamond Bowling Club 1981 Rosamond Bowling Club 1982 Footscray Bowling Club 1983 Maribyrnong Park Bowling Club 1984 Sunshine Bowling Club 1985 Sunshine Bowling Club 1986 Yarraville Seddon Bowling Club 1987 Sunshine Bowling Club 1988 Sunshine Bowling Club 1989 Sunshine Bowling Club 1990 Sunshine Bowling Club 1991 Sunshine Bowling Club 1992 Sunshine Bowling Club 1993 Sunshine Bowling Club 1994 Sunshine Bowling Club 1995 Williamstown Bowling Club 1996 Sunshine VRI Bowling Club 1997 sunshine bowling club, rosamond bowling club, avenue bowling club, footscray bowling club, maribyrnong park bowling club, yarraville seddon bowling club, williamstown bowling club, sunshine vri bowling club, bowls, lawn bowls, rosamond bowls club