Jodie Nikolic leading inclusive drive from the front
Western Australian para bowler Jodie Nikolic has not been bowling for a long period of time, but she is already making waves on the green, as well as making the bowls community an inclusive haven with the work she has undertaken at her home club of Yanchep.
Nikolic made her maiden appearance at the Multi Disability Championships presented by Right at Home at Club Mermaid in October and was bestowed with the Clover Lester Encouragement Award for her display throughout the competition.
While her performances with bowl in hand have been sensational, her drive to make the sport more inclusive is unparalleled as she has pioneered a move to get proper wheelchairs brought to her home club so that bowlers that need them do not need to be out of pocket or have to search for them.
Bowls WA provided grants to increase participation and Yanchep was given $5,000 to aid in its own quest.
Speaking on Bowls Australia’s ‘The Right Line’ podcast, Nikolic discussed how she found the sport and described her search for a wheelchair as an arduous process that was quite costly, elaborating that she wants to make it easier for future generations to get involved.
“I’m a new bowler and I only got my bowls wheelchair in March 2021 so I signed up for pennant in November last year and started playing in division five,” she said.
“I was a bowls widow, my partner lives bowls and I was looking for a sport when I started to have to use a wheelchair and after about two and a half years of trying I got my bowls wheelchair so I started and was immediately addicted.
“The goal of Bowls WA was to increase participation and one of the charters is to make the sport more inclusive.
“Originally, I found it so hard and time consuming to get a specialised bowls chair, and it’s expensive. I’m on the NDIS due to my disability and it cost me between $6,500-7,000 dollars.
“Last year as I was playing pennants I had so many people come up to me and say how great it was and tell me their stories or their family’s stories, and I thought that the chairs aren’t just for people with a disability, they are for the older generation who can’t play anymore.”
The inclusivity of the sport is something that really drew the Western Australian to the greens, citing that other sports fail to treat their para athletes with equality and always label them in one way or another.
“In other sports, people with a disability play together all the time, so you’re getting out and doing your sport but what I found when I did para sailing was that we were always the ‘para squad’, whereas here at my bowls club I’m just Jodie who uses a wheelchair to bowl,” Nikolic said.
“I’m out there with everyone else, and I actually have more opportunities now because I can head to the disability side of para bowls or I just go play with my mates at the club or to other clubs for competitions.”
When discussing her own form on the green, Nikolic was shocked to hear her name called out at The Nationals for the Encouragement Award.
“To be honest I didn’t even know it was a thing,” she quipped.
“Nobody told me about the award, and my whole WA team was sitting there and watching everyone receive awards when the MC mentioned there would be one last award and he called out my name.
“I sat there like a stunned mullet and I was so shocked, so I went up with tears in my eyes and I had to tell everyone it was just sunscreen.
“I was overwhelmed and in shock, then I had the microphone pushed into my face and I had to make a speech. I went blank and made a terrible speech and didn’t thank everyone that I should have.
“It was just so exciting and it took a while to get over.”
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