Meet Kane Nelson
Kane (17) started bowls at the age of three and played his first district and pennant game when he was five. His dad was a mad golfer but had a bad car accident and went down to local bowls club. “My brother Jacob followed on and so did I,” he said. “I try to practise every day if I can after school and play until it is too dark to see.”
Kane has to travel many hours for bowls. The longest trip was 13 hours in a car to Longreach. He loves playing all kinds of sport, especially cricket and footy with his brother. “We have some pretty intense games of ping pong at home,” he laughed.
He’s most proud of his first junior state gold medal, which was the U15 singles against his mate, Jake Rynne.
“I also love representing my club and to win the current State pennant flag was amazing; this moment stands out to me because it was with the best group of people and also with my dad and brother,” he said. “Oh, the most recent memorable event to date would have to be winning the Junior State Singles title this year.”
Kane hopes to one day play for Australia in the Olympic Games. He looks up to his brother, Jacob, and their dad, as well as Sean Baker, Brett Wilkie and Ryan Bester.
“I think these guys are some of best players and people in the sport,” he said. “I love being able to play and challenge myself against Jacob in both bowls and outside the green.”
“Bowls has taught me some incredible things in life, like showing respect and being a team player, as well as given me some really close friends.
He finds that one challenge with bowls is sometimes when you work really hard for something, and don’t achieve that, it can be really demoralising but “you must always pick yourself back up and keep working hard”.
His advice to players is to work hard if you want to be the best. He’d like more people to have a greater understanding of what the sport really is, to enjoy the game and make friends.
