Bowls
hasn’t appeared in the island games since 1987, but is making a comeback
in Shetland this year, Orkney’s squad are going to savour the whole experience. The
bias may be swinging against the Orkney team, with a distinct lack of facilities
in the county, but, with good team spirit, they are doing as much as they can
to avoid being bowled over this summer. There are various medal opportunities
in the bowls event. The tournament consists of a singles, doubles and fours event,
and there are also medals on offer for the island that finishes best overall. The
Orkney bowls squad, which is made up of six women and seven men, endured a tough
selection process, but, according to competitor Graham Anderton, the team is looking
good. Graham said: “Selecting the men’s team was really difficult.
There were about 20 players who wanted to go to Shetland and a lot were certainly
good enough, but you can only take seven. “Dave Nicol, who will be
umpiring in Shetland, worked really hard with us in selecting the team, so we
are really lucky to have had him help us with that. “From the ladies’
point of view, the selection process was fairly easy. There was only a small number
who really wanted to go or felt that they were at the level to go, so that part
was a bit easier. “It wasn’t obvious with the male selection,
but I am happy with who is in the team, there are some players who aren’t
in the squad who could have done very well but we had to go with what we thought
and we are happy with it.” With the sport missing from the games schedule
for so long, it gives Orkney’s bowls clubs the perfect opportunity to come
together and compete on a united front. Graham said he had been looking
forward to this for a long time. He continued: “Bowls is very much
a club sport but in this case we need to try to get everything together and get
the best from the three clubs. “Many of us have wanted to do something
like this with the Orkney players for a while and we are really looking forward
to seeing how it goes for us as a team. “Orkney has a very good representation
in bowls and hopefully we can perform to our potential. “You can’t
help but feel a bit sorry for the Orkney squad, as limited facilities in the county
have meant that they are practising on a mat that is shorter and narrower than
the rinks that they will be playing on in Shetland.” There is no indoor
bowls rink in Orkney which means that the squad, who play on outdoor venues, will
have to adjust to the huge differences when they arrive in Shetland. Graham
believes that the lack of facilities in the county may prove to be a disadvantage
to the team, in Shetland, but is optimistic after making various trips out of
Orkney to play on regulation-sized rinks. “It has been difficult for
us because we are outdoor bowlers and we will be playing indoor bowls in Shetland.
Unfortunately there isn’t an indoor bowls rink in Orkney. Orkney Islands
Council have provided us with a 30-metre long mat. “We will be playing
on either a 36 or 37-metre-long mat in Shetland. This makes a huge difference
to the game because obviously you want to be familiar with the exact competition
size. “I have spoken to Mark Harrison, at the Pickaquoy Centre, and
he has indicated that we will get a second mat, which means we can double them
up and have the proper width. “Mark has also said that they will give
us a second practice session at Pickaquoy which will be great for our preparation
and we are really grateful for that. “We have spent quite a bit of
money and raised some funds for going on trips so that we can get some practice
on the full-sized rinks. “We have been away four times on trips to
Shetland, Aberdeen and Inverness and we hope to go away again before the island
games start. “We would like to go to Inverness again, their rink is
actually going to be closed soon, but they have agreed that, if we want to go
for a weekend, they will open it for us. “Basically, we want to play
on full-sized rinks as much as possible and gain as much experience as we can,
so that we are more familiar with them when we get to the games. “The
full-sized rinks are a lot wider than the mat that we have. When we are playing
here the bowls often roll off the side, which obviously doesn’t happen on
the rinks. “With us being outdoor bowlers, we have to get to grips
with the difference in swing as well, as the bowl tends to swing a lot more outdoors. “Without
having the facilities that our opponents do, it is undoubtedly a limiting factor,
but, hopefully, we can get something sorted to get the second mat. If we want
to be competitive, it is important that we get the right facilities.” The
bowls event will be contested in Lerwick’s Clickimin Leisure Complex, which
will be the central venue of the games. A tough schedule will await Orkney’s
bowlers when they get to the Clickimin. The fours event will take place from the
Sunday to the Tuesday, with the pairs and singles continuing through to the Friday. Like
most island games events, competition is high, and although the Orkney team are
aware of this, they are looking forward to the challenges ahead. Graham
continued: “I think the other islands going will be really strong and have
the advantage of possessing indoor rinks. Jersey and Guernsey are very strong,
they have beaten international teams, so we are aware of them in particular. “Generally,
the standard will be high in the bowls event as it is in every other sport. We
played Shetland recently and they beat us, they are very good and I would give
them a chance in the games as they seem to be at a good level. “We
will do our best and if we come away with a medal of any colour, we will be over
the moon, it will be a really big achievement and that is why we want to be as
competitive as possible. “The experience is going to be really good.
Bowls hasn’t been included for so long, and it won’t be at the next
games in Rhodes, so we will make sure that we enjoy it. “We are just
going to go out there and do as well as we can. It will be a really enjoyable
experience and we want to be as positive and as competitive as possible.” The
Orkney team is: Graham Anderton, May Anderton, Jean Hourston, Donald Kirkpatrick,
Raye Lennie, Alan McCafferty, Maureen McCreath, Marjory Nicol, John Rendall, Jim
Sclater, Billy Scott, Jim Seatter and Freda Swanney. | 
