It’s double delight for Barry Athletic bowls club's ladies after they successfully defended two local league titles.
Barry left their opponents trailing in the Thursday afternoon league, run by the Glamorgan County Welsh Bowls Association (GCWBA), taking 92 points from a potential 110 in their eleven games, with their nearest challengers Rumney Gardens 15 points adrift.
They completed the double double by retaining the Section A title in the Monday evening league, although that competition proved much tighter with Barry just edging home 2.5 points ahead of Penarth.
“With availability problems we didn’t expect to win the Thursday league this year, and as we thought initially we wouldn’t win it, we were going to play everybody,” said ladies captain Julia Kiddie.
“But towards the end we got very focused, and put out our best teams each week. It became a different thing when we realised we were winning.”
That change of focus meant success wasn’t simply for the team, but also for the club: “Once we started winning, we thought we now need to do it for the club. Other people will want to play with a winning club,” she said. “So it became a club thing rather than anything else.”
With the Monday evening league, which starts at 6pm, selection priority goes to members who work. “We try to keep to a minimum of changes. But once you have winning combinations you try to keep them the same as much as you can.”
As well as defending the two crowns next season, the club's intention is to enter a third competition. “We didn’t have sufficient games for everybody, so we played some friendlies as well,” said Kiddie. “We will be applying to join another competition on a different day."
“We’ve got a lovely bunch of ladies. The girls were dedicated, and they’ve all come to training. Everybody is keen to play.”
The double-winning champions had 18 players to select from. Entering a third competition may well mean a larger squad is needed, but the last two winning seasons could just prove the magnet that brings more players to this successful seaside club.
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