Lombardy East disabled bowler strikes it big

Lombardy East disabled star bowler Desiree Levin has been selected for the Johannesburg Bowls Association’s Senior Ladies Masters competition in August.

Levin, a member of the Lombardy East Bowling Club which is affiliated to the Johannesburg Bowls Association (JBA), will be competing against 11 able-bodied bowlers in the competition and she takes the competition as a challenge to her disability and has vowed to rise to the occasion.

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“This is a challenge and quite an exciting opportunity in which I should prove myself and also prove that being disabled is not an impediment

but a condition of one’s body or limbs. Now I have something to practise for,” said Levin in her acceptance of the challenge from the JBA.

Saying the ‘wisdom of bowls comes with age’, Levin described her able-bodied opponents in the Ladies Masters as ‘no monkeys’. “They are also

seasoned bowlers who have been in the game for a long time and will prove to be more difficult than the younger ones in the Ladies Open division.

“You know, the wisdom of bowls comes with age. The younger ones have strength and flair.”

But Levin and her colleague, who was also selected for the Ladies Masters, Charlotte Rossouw, are hopeful they will stand their ground against the competition.

Rossouw was the winner of the Ladies Open Singles Masters and is thus the defending champion, while Levin is the newly selected prospect for the Senior Ladies Masters.

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“Although I have had a few reasonable successes in the last couple of years, I am the only disabled ladies player in the last rounds of the previous competition. When my name was called by the JBA, I truly thought I had possibly committed an offence of some sorts.

“I got a huge sigh of relief when I was informed of my selection for the Masters and I literally dropped the phone in excitement. I could not believe that with my disability I could have come this far in able-bodied bowls. I will certainly give this my best shot,” she added.

Lombardy East Bowling Club is one of the smaller clubs in the JBA and is privately owned with six playing female members.