Younger, fitter, stronger: Lawn bowls team combines fitness and youth

Fitness testing, running, walking and balance training – even the dreaded “beep” test in the gym – training has become more rigorous for Canada’s Commonwealth Games lawn bowls team.

Lawn bowls matches at the Commonwealth Games have a time limit of two hours 15 minutes, but back home in Canada, matches can last for three and a half hours.

“You do a couple of those a day and you realize it’s not as easy as one might think,” said Jackie Foster of Dartmouth, N.S. “If you’re in shape, you’re going to do better. We’ve all embraced the implementation of fitness in the program.”

Foster, who works as a reporter at CTV Atlantic in Halifax, walks or runs in the morning before work and then trains on the greens in the evenings. At 39, she’s part of the sport’s movement towards youth and fitness.

Athletes across the sport are getting fitter - and they’re also getting younger.

While the Canadian team boasts veteran visually-impaired bowler Al Hanet, at 78 the oldest among all 265 Canadian athletes in Glasgow, it has a majority of athletes born in the 1970s and 1980s with Toronto’s Kelly McKerihen the youngest at 27.

Ryan Bester is 30; Leanne Chinery and Laura Hawryszko are 33; Tim Mason, Chris Stadnyk and Jackie Foster are 39.

McKerihen started “carpet bowling” as a toddler in her grandparents’ home and her sister and father are also national level bowlers.

“For me it was a family sport and it’s given me lots of opportunities to travel,” McKerihen said. “I grew up watching my dad and grandpa play and hanging out with my nana on the greens. It’s a great sport that you can play across all ages.”

“While we are attracting and recruiting younger players, it is accessible to all ages and abilities,” added Bowls Canada Executive Director Anna Mees. “Not unlike curling, our athletes are recognizing that rigorous technical preparation and dedicated physiological training are becoming increasingly more important to be competitive ‎on the world stage. It’s fun and challenging.”