Stuart on his way to 2023 Special Olympics

If you want to meet a wonderful human being, then Stuart Gorton is the person; he wants to enjoy life, have fun, meet and befriend lots of people.

Stuart became involved with bocce through his association with Gaythorne Bowls Club, who have allowed him to use their facilities to practice. He had no real expectations; he just wanted to improve his game and have fun whilst practising. Not content with playing bocce, Stuart now plays lawn bowls, eight ball and table tennis - all at competition level.

Having already represented Australia at previous Special Olympics and Asia Pacific Games, Stuart is just as excited to be going to Germany for the June 2023 Special Olympics as he was the first time he competed internationally. He is practising every Thursday night with a local bocce club and will soon be going to Melbourne for a National Training Camp, where he will meet the other members of the Australian team. There will be more than 7,000 athletes from around the world converging on Germany to play many sports, of which 66 athletes will be from Australia. The bocce team consists of two female and two male players.

It is important to note that none of these Australian members get any financial support and must do their own fundraising of $9,000 to be able to represent Australia. They even pay for their uniforms themselves.

Stuart has wonderful support from his parents and friends, and members from the Gaythorne Bowls Club are organising some events at the club to support Stuart on this journey. Everyone who meets him soon learns what a wonderful and deserving person he is and we wish him every success in Germany.

Contributed by Graham Skelton

Junior Come & Try at Marlin Coast

Marlin Coast Bowls Club recently held a Junior Come & Try day, attracting 13 participants. The turnout was much better than the Come & Try day in late December, where only five children participated. Granted, it was just before Christmas and probably a little inconvenient for some. We spoke with a couple of the young bowlers and heard that, up here at least, most people still don’t see bowls as a sport for juniors.

The thing is, sometimes it is not just about the number of participants. One of the mothers is a homeschooler. We mentioned holding another Come & Try day in January before school holidays finished, and she agreed it was a good idea. It was a much better turnout this time with the 13 young bowlers, especially given the inclement weather and illness that kept others away.

The children had a lot of fun, due to the efforts of several club members who did an excellent job in showing them how to bowl. We also had fun activities for the children, like trying to bowl between bollards, down tunnels, over discs, and onto cloth mats.

They had so much fun that the Cairns Home Education system has decided to make bowls a fortnightly Friday event, appropriately called ‘Friday Fun’. How good is that!

Contributed by Christine Scott