Mother and Daughter Represent Wales!

A mother and daughter who both work at Tenby Leisure Centre are pairing up again – in the Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Team!

Stephanie Amos and her daughter Gemma of Saundersfoot headed to County Durham last weekend to take on the best of Britain in the National Indoor Bowling Championships.

Although both have been picked for the National Team before – Gemma as a junior, and Stephanie for last year’s team – this was the first time they represented Wales together.

Stephanie, aged 49, said they were delighted to be selected.

“We’re really proud,” she said. “We’ve worked hard, we’ve put a lot of time and effort into it. It takes over your life! But we both love it.”

The pair, who are members of Heatherton Indoor Bowls Club, played Ireland on Friday, followed by a match against England on Saturday, and Scotland on Sunday.

And although they did not win, they did very well. Beating Ireland, fighting a close game with Scotland – and achieving the best score against England for some time.

Gemma, 22, was the first to start playing bowls at the age of 10, when she was a pupil at Saundersfoot Primary School and won a week’s free coaching with Saundersfoot Bowls Club.

“As a family, we had no previous interest in bowls,” said Stephanie, an administrative officer at the Leisure Centre.

“But Gemma enjoyed it and I found I was taking her to more and more competitions, and people would often ask me if I played – so in the end I tried it and I got hooked!”

She said the social nature of the sport was one of the reasons it appealed to them so much.

“You meet so many different types of people, especially people from an older generation,” she said. “For Gemma, it was great in that as she became a teenager, she had a good grounding on how to get on well with older people, and how to talk to them.

“It was also about respecting them, and understanding that even though people may be into their 70s and 80s they still have plenty of interests. A lot of people don’t really realise that. It’s been good for me too!”

Gemma, who is a duty officer at Tenby Leisure Centre, also completed the Long Course swim last year with some of the other members of staff at the Centre.

Stephanie said fitness is essential for bowls – with international matches taking up to four hours.

“You’re on your feet and have to be alert the whole time, so it’s important to make sure you have a good level of fitness to play,” she said.

Now the pair are due to play in the semi final of the Welsh Pairs in Merthyr at the end of this month and if they win both games that weekend get to represent Wales in the British Isles next year- making it another first for Pembrokeshire!