Eighteen months of hard work
Eighteen months of hard work was behind Barrie Lester’s selection for the World Bowls Championships Barrie Lester’s disappointment ran deep, as Paul Amy reports for the Moorabbin Kingston Leader.
The lawn bowler won a bronze medal in the pairs at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, but missed selection four years later and again in 2014.
It was a sledgehammer blow to be overlooked for Glasgow.
But the 34-year-old Mentone resident says now that it was also a turning point in his career.
In and around the Australian squad for a decade, he decided to dedicate himself to his sport for 18 months in the hope of gaining selection for the World Bowls Championships.
He did it. Last week Lester had his reward for what he described as “a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of commitment — definitely a lot of commitment’’ when he was named in the team to go to New Zealand in November and December.
It will be his first world championship event, which is the lawn bowls equivalent of the Olympics.
He will be the lead in the triples and fours.
“Just tremendous to get the call-up,’’ Lester said.
“It was a big goal of mine.
“Missing out on Glasgow was the start of it. I didn’t take a backward step. I saw it as an opportunity to spend 18 months setting goals and training hard.
“I’m part of a high performance program and the feedback from the national coaches and selectors was that my form was good, that I was doing all the right things, it’s just that there were five players in there at the time who were a fraction ahead of me. So if I was going to make the top five I had to get better and I had 18 months to do it.’’
Lester even joined Gold Coast club South Tweed Sharks last year, flying up every weekend to play in a pennant competition and stay match-fit while the Melbourne greens were closed for winter.
“I think it showed my commitment levels were high and I was doing things professionally, that making the Australian team was a priority,’’ he said.
Commitment brought achievement, including playing in the triples and fours in Australia’s Trans Tasman series victory over New Zealand and taking a silver medal in the fours and a bronze in the pairs at the Six Nation Invitational earlier this year.
Lester was born in Wedderburn and started playing lawn bowls at the age of 15.
When the family moved to Lakes Entrance he met bowls great John Snell, whom he adopted as his mentor.
Bowls had been a bit of fun to Lester but Snell made him see it could also be career.
The Lakes Entrance club gave him work and sponsorship.
At 21 he set out for Melbourne, intent on “chasing bigger and better things’’.
“That was a big decision … a country boy leaving family and friends behind,’’ he said.
Joining Burden Park, he rose quickly, being added to the Australian squad in 2005. Lester and Nathan Rice became one of the best pairs in the country and proved it by winning a medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.
That was a high, but in 2009 Lester was dropped from the Australian squad.
“At the time I was out of work, so away from the game things weren’t going smoothly,’’ he said. “It probably reflected what I was doing on the green, my dedication and application and all that. I had to get my life sorted.’’
Taking a job in bar and gaming at Moonee Valley racecourse was the first step.
Now lawn bowls is Lester’s business, just as Snell envisaged it could be. He’s been head coach of Mulgrave Country Club for three years and is a regional manager for Bowls Australia, servicing more than 120 clubs.
“I really don’t think I’ve looked back in terms of getting back in the mix for selection since I started working at head office (for Bowls Australia),’’ he said.
“I don’t think form comes and goes. Contributing factors come and go … how things are at home — and I was married last year — your job, lifestyle, your family. I’ve got a good balance at the moment. It helps with continuity of performance.’’
Fellow Victorian Aaron Wilson will also make his World Bowls Championships debut.
The 24-year-old lives in Cheltenham and plays at Clayton.
“We live five minutes from each other, our clubs are 10 minutes apart and we were both born in the northern part of Victoria,’’ Lester said.
“We’re going to train together and hit the gym together. I’ve loved watching his progress. He’s a young and exciting player with all the shots.’’
