Bowls: Team targets blind bowling honours

Three of Hamilton's finest are representing New Zealand at the World Blind Lawn Bowling Championships in England.

The Blind Jacks are a national team of 15 selected by the New Zealand Blind Lawn Bowling Association.

Sue Curran, 66, a Hamilton member of Blind Jacks says she has been playing blind lawn bowls for two years, and previously played indoor bowls for six years.

"I am vision impaired and have been for many years, with slowly deteriorating vision. I am very excited, very honoured and very overwhelmed at the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the championships," says Sue.

She says she had to retire before she did well at sport - "but now it feels good to be part of a national team".

The 15-strong team, which includes Hamilton's Danny Simon, and has an Auckland-based director, left for Europe last week. The championship is held every four years. The Blind Jacks will be competing against Australia, South Africa, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Malaysia, Canada and Israel.

Each player has a director who acts as their "eyes". They position, line up and offer verbal information about the competition to their designated player and can offer suggestions and strategies to help them advance in the game.

The competition has four divisions from B1-B4 and these divisions are from completely blind to partially and peripherally blind.

Players also go through fitness and training programmes as well as two-day camps at Pakuranga Bowling Club. They have a green specifically designed to be like the one in England to help players adjust to the different conditions.

The last competition was held in 2009 in Melbourne where current team captain David Monk won the teams's only medal - the silver medal in the men's singles.