Squads for the 2024 National Development Series announced
Australia’s next generation of bowlers will once again be on show at Club Tweed in early July, with the squads announced for the second edition of the National Development Series (NDS) presented by Right at Home.
In July 2023, four teams battled it out to gain vital competition experience under tournament conditions that would allow them to flourish in high pressure environments like the past greats that came before them.
The event returns in 2024 with the Green, Blue, Yellow and Red squads stacked with talent from the Right at Home Para, Emerging and Pathways Jackaroos teams.
Each outfit will boast four able-bodied and one para player who will team up to compete in a schedule mirroring international five-a-side tournaments.
Team Red has amassed an imposing line-up with ACT stalwart Chloe Morrison joined by Cabramatta’s Beau Prideaux, along with their fellow emerging national squad members in Chris Rosanes and Kira Bourke.
Morrison and Prideaux are no stranger to the national stage, having featured heavily at The Nationals over the past two years, while Rosanes continues to impress thanks to his form at state level as well as his 99 appearances in the Bowls Premier League.
Home club member Bourke has also wowed bowls fans from around the nation thanks to her exploits for Queensland and Club Tweed in recent years.
Emerging Para Jackaroo Lucas Protopapas rounds out the quintet, and following a sensational B5/6 singles victory at the Victorian State Para Championships his confidence will be riding high.
Ian Ewing will serve as the coach of the red squad.
Team Green will be coached by Claire Turley and feature an extremely formidable line-up that includes two-time former Australian pairs champion and recent New South Wales triples conqueror in Jack McShane, as well as the South Australian prodigy in Kate Argent-Bowden, who is a two-time under-18 girls singles champion at the Australian Open, national singles bronze medallist and fresh off her state’s mixed pairs title with Jackaroo Nathan Black.
Joining the pair will be two 2023 NDS participants in Western Australia’s Jack East and his state counterpart in Para Emerging Jackaroo, Jodie Nikolic.
Queensland’s Kane Nelson is also a notable inclusion in the squad, having ensured his place at the pointy end of a plethora of national events in the past three years and consistently featuring close to the pinnacle of the National Player Rankings.
The Lynsey Clarke coached Team Blue will feature an in-form Kyle Hansen, who fell to McShane in the New South Wales triples final last month, as well as Jack Lewis, who also notched up a silver medal at the same event in the men’s pairs.
Emerging Jackaroos in Jessie Cottell and Sophie Kurzman will also line up for the blue squad, having played against each other in the event last year.
Cottell has already enjoyed international exposure, having played in the World Bowls Junior Indoor Championships in late 2023 while also enjoying copious amounts of success on the national stage.
Rounding out the quintet will be Cooper Whitestyles, who has become one of the most revered para bowlers over the past two years at national level.
The James Reynolds led Team Yellow will boast last year’s singles conqueror in Tyson Cromie, who performed in exemplary fashion in the 2023 edition of the event, as did his teammate for 2024 in Queensland’s Cohen Litfin.
Joining them are two supremely in-form bowlers in Kate Matthews and Samantha Atkinson, who have been at the forefront of most of the national tournaments in the past twelve months.
Matthews is a multiple Australian champion, while Atkinson has stormed onto the scene with her Australian Indoors crown, Marj Morris Trophy and Victorian Open singles title, as well as her run last week in Guernsey that saw her become a world champion in the mixed pairs at the World Bowls Indoor Championships.
Para bowler Michael Vasallo joins the team for his debut at the event.
National Coach Gary Willis is looking forward to the 2024 edition after the successful inaugural running last year, and is excited about the experience it will give to some of the future Australian stars of the sport.
“The 2023 NDS was sensational for our high performance team and players alike as they were able to gain significant experience playing under tournament conditions with the highest level of coaching at their fingertips,” Willis said.
“I look forward to this year’s edition where the players will once again be involved in one of the most evenly matched competitions on the calendar, it truly will be wonderful.
“When looking at the players selected, it is hard not to get excited for the future of the sport across the nation, with an abundance of talent scattered across the entire field.
“I would also like to acknowledge the support from the AIS, which has helped tremendously as part of our Pathways Performance Program and made this event possible for our superstars of the future.”
See below for the full squads:
Team Red – Ian Ewing (Coach)
Beau Prideaux (NSW)
Chris Rosanes (QLD)
Kira Bourke (QLD)
Chloe Morrison (ACT)
Lucas Protopapas (VIC)
Team Blue – Lynsey Clarke (Coach)
Kyle Hansen (NSW)
Jack Lewis (NSW)
Jessie Cottell (NSW)
Sophie Kurzman (VIC)
Cooper Whitestyles (QLD)
Team Yellow – James Reynolds (Coach)
Cohen Litfin (QLD)
Tyson Cromie (VIC)
Samantha Atkinson (VIC)
Kate Matthews (NSW)
Michael Vasallo (NSW)
Team Green – Claire Turley (Coach)
Kane Nelson (QLD)
Jack East (WA)
Kate Argent-Bowden (SA)
Jack McShane (NSW)
Jodie Nikolic (WA)
