Slater rolls towards Games berth
Tim Slater has taken the first step to realising his dream of a berth in the 2014 Commonwealth Games Tim Slater has taken the first step to realising his dream of a berth in the 2014 Commonwealth Games by securing a spot in Australia’s para-sport triples bowls team that heads to Scotland next month, as Michael Pollock reports for The Courier.
Slater gained entrance to the eight-nations event with a strong showing at the training camp in Melbourne two weeks ago.
“The first morning there I was nervous,” Slater said.
“There were seven Australian selectors watching, but luckily I was able to put in a good performance, and this is a good lead-up to the Commonwealth Games.”
Slater, 21, was born with cerebral palsy and was introduced to lawn bowls at Waubra by his father Paul eight years ago.
He has been “hooked” ever since and last year made the transition to Victoria Bowling Club in a bid to test himself against a higher level.
“It was a hard decision to leave. I didn’t want to, but I also wanted to improve myself as a bowler,” Slater said.
“I was playing division two pennant out at Waubra, which was their highest division, but since coming to Victoria I have been playing division one and even had a game in premier division.
“It’s probably gone from a game of inches down to a game of centimetres.”
Slater is not the only bowler from Ballarat to take part, with Matthew Flapper representing the Jackaroos squad.
In total, 19 Australian bowlers will travel to Glasgow as part of the traditional host city lead-up.
The eight-nations event will be held in Glasgow from August 26-30, with both the para-sport triples and vision impairment pairs teams to compete for full medals at the Commonwealth Games next year.
Caption: Tim Slater is on track for a Commonwealth Games berth. Image: The Courier.
