Motherwell’s Caroline Brown is eager to begin her bid for a place in Team Scotland competing in next summer’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

The team’s bowling selection period opens this weekend at the 4 Nations Test event in Kelvingrove (Fri 31 May – Sun 2 June, practice Thurs 30 May) and Brown is one of 20 Scottish players in action.

“It makes it that wee bit more special that it is a home Games and for sure everybody will be pushing to get a place in the team,” she said. “So these test events are a big opportunity.”

Brown, who works for NHS Lanarkshire, was part of the successful Scottish team which landed six medals, three of them gold, in last year’s World Championships in Adelaide and the plan is to keep the momentum going all the way to Glasgow next summer.

“We had great success at the World Championships at the end of last year and we can build on that for the Commonwealth Games for next year,” said Brown, who helped the Fours win gold and the Triples to bronze.

Bowls is a core Commonwealth Games sport and since 1930 Scottish bowlers have won 13 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze medals. Brown was part of Team Scotland which competed in the Delhi 2010 Games but returned home without medals.

In the subsequent period Bowls Scotland has worked hard to change the way it prepares its elite players and the fine results at the Worlds were a direct result.

“The Delhi Commonwealth Games was a good experience which we hope to build on next year with the Commonwealth games being in Glasgow,” she continues.

“We didn’t achieve any medals but we’ve been building and working on that ever since. We now get one to one coaching from David Gourlay (Bowls Scotland Head Coach) which makes a big difference.

“And a lot of the work has gone into team building and improving team harmony. We have a great bond within the team; we all get on very well which makes a difference to being successful.”

Another essential part of preparing the team for the Glasgow 2014 Games is spending time practicing and competing on the newly laid greens of Kelvingrove, the iconic venue for the Games. The players have already had a squad session and individual practice on the greens but this weekend will be the first opportunity to play them in a competition.

“It’s great having a home games in Glasgow,” added Brown. “And we have a great opportunity being able to train at Kelvingrove.

“It’s an excellent setting and although it’s only the start of the season the greens are running very well.

“We need to take the opportunity to practise and get in as many competitive games as we can and play on these green as often as we can to build up the home advantage.

For more information on Lawn Bowls go to www.bowlsscotland.com
Photo Credit: Rob Eyton-Jones