COMMONWEALTH GAMES SPECIAL
Karen Murphy’s dream to THE 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES are fast approaching, with just six months to go before our Aussie team hits Glasgow in a bid to top the medal table once again.
win gold There are no certainties in sport, but Karen Murphy’s achievements over the past 18 months have surely caught the attention of the bowls world and Commonwealth Games selectors alike.
After battling through Delhi belly, extreme heat and security scares in 2010, more than 6000 athletes will head to Scotland in July for the third Games to be held in the British nation
IT’S BEEN A whirlwind year of success for the 39-year-old Cabramatta Bowling Club star. Coming off World Championship singles and Triples titles in Adelaide at the end of 2012 and a World Champion of Champions title in Christchurch at the end of last year, Karen is in her prime.
Seventy countries will be represented in 17 sports over 11 days of intense competition from July 23 – August 3.
It’s been 28 years since an 11-year-old Karen was hanging over the fence at Shoalhaven Bowling Club, nagging her father to give her a go with his bowls, and Karen is showing no sign of slowing down.
With the strength of the current crop of Australian bowlers, the stage is set for our best Games ever.
When she first started bowling down on the South Coast, Karen was the only junior girl at her club. While cricket, tennis and touch rugby were also on her schedule, it was bowls that stuck.
The lawn bowls competition will open at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre on July 24 and run for nine days through to August 1.
“I guess I saw that there was longevity in the sport,” said Karen. “I really enjoyed the challenge of bowls and found that I was going OK at it so I kept with it.
There will be eight gold medals up for grabs across the men’s and women’s singles, pairs, triples and fours, beginning with a round robin format before knockout finals.
“I decided after Year 12 that I wanted to do it fulltime, it had never really been done before. I was lucky enough to get a job at Warilla Bowling Club that allowed me to have time off to play bowls and I’m very lucky to have been able to incorporate my work and bowls ever since.”
Integrated into the lawn bowls program will be two para-sport events – one for the visually impaired and the second for those with a physical disability. Over the next three issues of Bowls Matters we will set the magnifying glass on Glasgow, taking a look at some of NSW’s top contenders, talking to our officials and hearing from one of our stars, Kelsey Cottrell, in a regular column. Page 20
Holding down a job is an unfortunate consequence of the current position bowls is in. It is not a professional sport, with prize money the primary source of income on offer, and an unreliable one at that. Karen stands atop the podium after winning Singles gold at the 2012 World Championships in Adelaide.
While Karen has been a regular on the international scene for 16 years, she has established her own business – Karen Murphy Bowls Clinics – to support her as she goes.
Bowls Matters January - February 2014