Caldwell named to national men’s lawn bowling team
Peterborough’s Lucas Caldwell has been named for the first time to Canada’s senior lawn bowling team, Bowls Canada announced Tuesday.
The Peterborough Lawn Bowling Club member has competed nationally and internationally at the junior level for several years.
In August, he won national gold at the Canadian Youth Championships at the St. James Lawn Bowling Club in Winnipeg with partner Amy Spence, of P.E.I., in the Foster-Lang Pair pairs competition. In July he competed for Canada at the Welsh Bowling Association invitational in Wales.
He won the Canadian under-25 men’s lawn bowling championship in 2016.
The new senior team will be in place for the next two years until the 2020 World Bowls Championships, according to a release from Bowls Canada.
The men’s team is led by Ryan Bester, of Hanover, Ont., and includes his Commonwealth Games silver medal teammates Greg Wilson and Cameron Lefresne. Veterans Pat Bird, of Calgary, and Jonathan Pituley, of Regina, are returning to the squad, while Rob Law, of Winnipeg, Braeden Campbell, of Paradise, N.S., and David-James Smith, of Montreal, will join Caldwell in moving up from the development and youth squads.
Meanwhile Gore’s Landing’s Baylee vanSteijn, of the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club, was also named Tuesday to move up to the senior women’s team.
“After a robust selection process, we have brought together a squad, that consists of the wise and experienced, along with a new bunch of enthusiastic athletes,” stated national senior squad coach Terry Scott.
“We are confident that we have a group of players who will continue to build on the success that we have achieved over the past 18 months.
“As we lead into our next major events, the 2019 Asia Pacific Championships and the 2020 World Bowls Championships, we need to continually challenge ourselves and compete at the highest level to ensure that we produce the desired results on the International Stage.”