Player wants to see more young people at lawn bowls
Rising talent introduced to sport at age 5
Promising young lawn bowler Sammie Sweeney has enjoyed her best-ever season on the green, vindicating a decision to give the sport her full attention.
She used to play a variety of other codes, like hockey, tennis and netball, but her love for lawns bowls raised it above all others.
“It’s No 1. There is no other game I would rather play,” she said.
Sweeney was introduced to bowls at the tender age of 5 by grandparents Sheryl and David Petersen, who was barman and greenkeeper at the Masterton Bowling Club for many years.
As a toddler she would follow her grandfather up and down the green, and he gave her every encouragement to start playing herself.
David Petersen died five years ago. Sweeney knows he would be proud of how far she had come in the sport.
“I keep a photo of him in my pocket when I play. I play with his bowls, too,” she said.
The former Waiopehu College student has played some impressive bowls in recent months as her game continues to improve, culminating with a bronze medal at the National Interclub Bowls3Five tournament.
Along with her Paekākāriki Bowling Club triples teammates Peter Thompson and Stacey Thomas, they represented the Kā piti Centre against 26 of a possible 27 centres from throughout New Zealand that had entered the tournament, hosted by Naenae Bowling Club.
Prior to that, Sweeney had strung together a consistent form line that started with second placing to the vastly experienced Audrey Stevensen in the Champion of Champions singles final for the Kāpiti Centre, losing 21-7.
She then followed up with a second placing in the Champion of Champions pairs final with partner Teo Thoresen, and also placed second in the Kā piti Open singles final against Lisa White, a former New Zealand representative.
It was a massive learning curve for Sweeney to come up against players of the calibre of Stevensen, who has now won 61 centre titles. Sweeney had won three.
“Every time I play with or against her I learn so much from her. My goal is to play like Audrey Stevensen and Lisa White,” she said.
There was no secret to Sweeney’s run of results and improving game, just a dedication and love of the sport.
The beauty of lawn bowls is that it has always been a game for all ages, but it was plainly obvious that Sweeney was considerably younger than a majority of lawn bowlers.
Sweeney said she would really like to promote bowls as a sport of choice for young people in the Kāpiti region. She said there were centres, like Wellington, that had strong age-grade representation, and she would love to see even more people of her generation take to the green.
“It can be hard to convince people sometimes, but once they give it a try . . . ” she said.
It helps that bowls runs in the family. Her mother Leanne Petersen, too, is a handy bowler.
Sweeney lives in Levin and had previously played for Levin Bowling Club, but made the move south to play for the Paekā kā riki Bowling Club for the first time this season.