Bowlers in pairs sweep

Being named as runners-up in the boys pairs at the National Secondary Schools Bowls Championships certainly would have given Matamata College bragging rights down on the green.

However, the college topped this by also claiming the boys pairs championship title.

James Thomson, 17, and Kasey Garforth, 16, are now the New Zealand Secondary Schools Bowls boys pairs champions, while Matthew Shelley, 17, and Braydon Shelley, 14, are runners-up.

Coach Don Doughty believes this is the first time in the secondary schools competition a school had won both first and second place in the boys pairs.

Thomson and Garforth placed second at the championships in 2013 and made a goal for 2014. ‘‘ We wanted to do one better,’’ Garforth said. The pair said it felt ‘‘pretty good’’ to achieve that goal.

Placing second the first year they had entered was ‘‘alright’’ too, Matthew and Braydon Shelley said.

Thomson and Garforth, who are cousins, play for the Matamata RSA and Citizens Bowling Club. The Shelley pair, who are also cousins, play for Hinuera Bowling Club.

Doughty, who is also the Waikato Secondary Schools bowls coach, believed both clubs had done a lot with the four players, starting them on their journey to success.

The national championships were held at the Howick Bowling Club in Auckland in midDecember. The championships started with five games of round robin matches before five games of qualifications before moving into the semifinals and finals.

The players all agree that being able to compete against other young bowlers from around the country was a different experience. ‘‘We’re used to being the youngest on the bowling green at our clubs, so it was different,’’ Matthew Shelley said.

In the boys pairs, 10 teams were entered from around the country and were split into two divisions. But to even make the national tournament was an achievement in itself, Doughty said. They first had to place at their zone championships. Matamata College falls within zone 2, which reaches from Papatoetoe, through the Waikato, Thames Valley and across to the Bay of Plenty. Zone 2 entered two boys pairs, two girls pairs, two boys singles and two girls singles into the national championships. The four Matamata College students, who have been playing for three or four years, made up the two boys pairs to represent the whole of zone 2. It was very unusual for a school to feature so strongly, Doughty said. ‘‘ It’s a big achievement for both the school and for the boys themselves.’’

Doughty said he was very proud of what his charges had accomplished, ‘‘not only with this, but in the last three years I’ve been working with the college.’’

Doughty said all four bowlers had had great success with their sport, starting first with their own bowling clubs, before then representing their school and zone. He’s hopeful they will one day play for their country. ‘‘I’d like to seem them get to that stage, I’d like to see them getting up further.’’

Doughty believes that young people are the ones who are showing the way on the bowling green these days.

This is being demonstrated especially well at Matamata College, with bowls becoming quite a popular sport. The school team is growing under the watchful eye of Doughty.

‘‘Last year we had about 24 students, a few have dropped out but this [success] is going to bring numbers back up. I’m actually trying to push for more girls in the squad.’’

Bowls at the college has been advanced with the securing of a $ 5000 grant, which has been put to good use with the purchase of nine sets of new bowls and bags.

Doughty said this was a big help for the sport at the school. ‘‘It’s given them better bowls to play with, instead of hand-me-down bowls.’’

The bowlers, and Doughty, said parent and spectator support, along with the help of college bowls manager Luke Goodwin, has also been a great help.