BRODY Carter might not be one to talk up his achievements on the bowling green, but given he is the youngest member in the history of the Bathurst City Bowling Club to win a senior club championship he doesn't really need to.
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The 11-year-old combined with Ron Hollebone last Saturday to win the B grade Championship Pairs crown.
It was his first appearance in that competition and just the second senior championship he had contested, coming after he made his debut in singles.
"Yeah I was surprised," Carter said of his efforts.
It was Ross James who encouraged Carter to take up the sport last year on the back of a school visit through the Bathurst Real Estate junior development program.
Carter joined the Saturday morning development squad and not only did he quickly develop a passion for the sport - saying "I really like it because it's fun" - but improved his skills as well. It showed on Saturday as he made Bathurst City history.
Carter and Hollebone picked up three scoring shots on the first end in the championship final against Barry McPherson and Jack Smith, and from there went on to build a handy lead.
While McPherson and Smith actually won 10 of the 21 ends contested, all but three of those saw them restricted to a single shot.
It meant Carter and Hollebone emerged comfortable 24-15 victors.
"This club was opened in 1895 and he's the youngest ever to win it," James said.
"He bowled very well, he bowled very accurate draw bowls all game."
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James has been delighted to see Carter's bowling skills develop across the two years he has been involved with the junior program and also how he has been encouraged by the older, more experienced Bathurst City bowlers.
"He's playing with the adults now, he's playing Saturday morning with the juniors and the seniors in the afternoon. The seniors have been very accepting," James said.
"He gets a lot of advice off a lot of people no doubt, but they've been really accepting of him coming in and playing the game.
"He's also in the Zone 4 squad after his first year, Brody and Brendan Maggs went away to the Zone Junior Championships and from that Brody has been included in the Zone 4 squad, that's seven-a-side."
James believes it is juniors like Carter who are the future of lawn bowls and illustrate why the perception the sport is for older people is inaccurate.
"We've got on our books now 14 kids for the Saturday morning. I go to the schools, mainly Raglan and Eglinton, and the kids love it," he said.
"Our byline is that it's a young person's sport that old people can play, to be in the Australian side if you are 30 you're too old.
"I played in the Australian Open the other week and I had a 16-year-old who's an ex-gun from Queensland playing beside me - 16!
"I think we've got to get it away from the perception of it being an old man's game ... it's like any sport, you've got to have the young ones coming through."
