Windermere bowler heads to Common Wealth Games
Despite having 15% vision 45% hearing, Keith Orrell has mastered lawn bowls
WINDERMERE resident, Keith Orrell was selected to play in the Common Wealth Games Trials on November 26 to 28 in Johannesburg. While the Berea area boasts many bowling clubs, Orrell’s game is a little different as he is visually and hearing impaired.
The Berea Mail met up with Orrell to find out more about how he has mastered the game.
“I was born with a genetic disease called Retinitis pigmentosa. It causes degeneration of your eyesight and a loss of hearing. When I was born, I probably had about 85% vision. I am now down to 15% vision. It is termed tunnel vision. I have no peripheral vision. My hearing is about 57 decibels, which is about 45%,” he said.
Despite this, Orrell competed in the World Deaf Lawn Bowls championship in 1999 and 2003.
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“My eyesight deteriorated badly over the last five years. Prior to that, I was playing sighted bowls, so I didn’t really have a problem. I won the World Singles for the deaf singles twice. In 1999 I played here in Durban at Parkhill Bowling Club and I won the singles and triples. Then, in 2003, I went to play in New Zealand and won the World Singles there,” he said.
The game is adapted for lawn bowlers with hearing impairments.
“No deaf people are allowed to wear hearing aids when they play. We rely purely on sign language,” he explained.
As his eyesight deteriorated, Orrell joined Visually Impaired Bowls South Africa (VIMSA). He takes to the green with the help of an assistant.
“When we play visually impaired bowls, we have a disability assistant. When I am on the mat, I’ll have someone standing about 5m in front of me and he will say, ‘right, I am your line, play me for line’,” explained Orrell.
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“I put florescent cones out to give me some idea of where I am going, when I practice on my own without a disability assistant,” he said.
Orrell encouraged others to join the club both as bowls players and as assistants to the visually impaired.
“There must be a lot more people in Durban who are visually impaired. I wish we could get some more visually impaired people to come out and join the club. We operate from the Berea Bowling Club every Sunday afternoon from 13:30. We also need to train people to be directors to direct the visually impaired on the green,” he concluded.
Contact Orrell on 078 133 1268.
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