Bowls: National call-up for veteran, 15

A 15-year-old who is in his eighth year of competitive play and claims 10 club and two centre titles has been named in the New Zealand under-18 bowls team to compete against Australia at Moama.

Shannon McIlroy, of the Kaiti club in Gisborne, is one of four bowling brothers.

He joined the club as a seven-year-old and is the youngest-ever Gisborne-East Coast senior representative.

McIlroy also represented New Zealand in martial arts at the age of 11.

The other members of the team are Genevieve Baildon (Waikato), 16, Robbie Marshall (Thames Valley), 17, and Marny Jones (North Harbour), 17.

Baildon will play the girls singles and Marshall the boys singles, and will combine with Jones and McIlroy for the mixed pairs.

The team managers are Joy Lynch, from Wanganui, and Bowls New Zealand development officer Gary Sutcliffe.

The non-travelling reserves are Jhen Storie (Auckland) and Angela Boyd (Napier).

The under-18 test will be played near the New South Wales/Victoria border in October at the club that hosted the 2000 women's world event.

The club also hosted last year's Asia Pacific championships.

It represents an exciting development in bowls.

Sutcliffe says New Zealand will go into the event as underdogs, considering the depth of young talent in Australia.

"We are definitely behind them in getting youngsters into the sport," he said.

"But we are catching up fast, thanks to our national secondary schools programme, now in its third year, and the established Kittyhawks 19-and-under singles events.

"We don't have the depth yet, but it is four against four on the day and I'm confident our young players will not be outgunned."

Jones is a fourth-year bowler who captured the girls singles title at the Greater Auckland college championship last year and claims two junior club titles.

The daughter of bowlers Mark and Janet Jones, she first bowled at the age of five.