Mix of Commonwealth Games experience levels across the two Team NI bowls squads

The ladies are all aged in their 20s - a contrast to the men’s team which has Martin McHugh and Ian McClure selected, both part of the fours that won a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

It will be McHugh’s seventh tournament while McClure is set to be competing at his sixth.

High Performance coach Neil Booth, who was also part of the victorious fours in Malaysia, will be the team manager in Birmingham and feels it was important to get younger players in the squad.

“One of the things we wanted to do was change the age profile of the ladies’ team, a lot of the top countries in the world the average age of the ladies is in their 20s but they just don’t pick young players for the sake of it, they have to be good enough and these five have proved they are good enough over the last number of years,” said Booth. “I’m delighted with the squad we have in the ladies’ side, I’m delighted with the age profile and looking forward to working with them.

“Marty, Ian and myself in 1998 won a gold medal and the two old stalwarts are still hanging around and playing as well as ever!

“It is a really good foundation to have two players like that in a 10-player squad, we are going to lean on their experience a lot and certainly the girls will lean on the experience that Marty and Ian have and, hopefully, they can inspire the others to success.

“We had told the players a few months ago and we’re delighted to get it out there and really start the preparations.

“We have already started the last few months and we’ll really step it up now and it is starting to get real for everyone.

“I’m not a great one for giving predictions but we will have the best squad that has ever gone to the Commonwealth Games as far as strength and conditioning is concerned and physiological resilience.

“All sides of the game on and off the green well be as well-prepared as we ever can be and after that it is down to a bit of luck and things going our way but I’d be very hopeful.

“Having the games closer to home gives the bowlers a distinct advantage and just not by cutting down on travel time.

“There is a different split between northern and southern hemisphere in bowls, the bowls do act slightly differently and it is definitely an advantage for us having home games.

“The Australians and New Zealanders are professional outfits, they will doctor their greens down there to suit northern hemisphere conditions to come fully-prepared so we are under no illusions that it is still going to be difficult but it is certainly a little bit more in our comfort zone.”

The squad will have a number of events to tune up for Birmingham including one at the Commonwealth Games venue in Leamington.

“We have a Tri Nations Series with Australia and Scotland (in Leamington) two of the strongest nations in the world in May which is excellent,” said Booth. “We have the European Championships just a few weeks before it and two or three of the guys are playing in that and we’ll have all our squad session days and all our other preparations that will be put in place between now and the games.”

TEAM NI: Ladies Singles - Shauna O’Neill; Ladies Pairs - Megan Devlin, Shauna O’Neill; Ladies Triples - Ashleigh Rainey, Courtney Meneely, Chloe Wilson; Ladies Fours - Megan Devlin, Ashleigh Rainey, Courtney Meneely, Chloe Wilson; Men’s Singles - Gary Kelly; Men’s Pairs - Sam Barkley, Martin McHugh; Men’s Triples - Adam McKeown, Gary Kelly, Ian McClure; Men’s Fours - Sam Barkley, Adam McKeown, Ian McClure, Martin McHugh.

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