Local lawn bowler headed to two international championships

SASKATOON – When Grant Wilkie tells people that he is leaving for Hong Kong and Australia to compete in lawn bowling, people are typically thrown off. The 22-year-old is the Canadian under-25 men’s lawn bowling champion and has been fighting the stigma that the sport is only for older people since he first picked up a ball in Grade 4.

“I’ve participated in all sorts of sports throughout my life, so I thought I should give it a try,” Wilkie said.

“It lead me to bigger and better things so I thought I should keep sticking with it. Then it led me to go all over the place.”

Wilkie and a team from Saskatchewan leave this week for a competition in Hong Kong before he heads to Australia to represent Canada in the men’s under-25 worlds competition.

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This isn’t the first time a Saskatoon-grown lawn bowler has competed on an international scale. Fran Scott is the 2014 under-25 women’s lawn bowling champion and still enjoys the sport here in Saskatoon at the Nutana Lawn Bowling Club located in Buena Vista park.

“Lawn bowling unfortunately has a stigma of being a sport for senior citizens. We’re just trying to promote, and really break that stigma. There are a lot of young people involved and it’s a lot of fun.”

Anyone looking to try lawn bowling can check out the Nutana Lawn Bowling Club, which will be hosting an open house on May 15.