Matthew Tonkin – Bargara
“Being selected as a debutant is a privilege and an amazing opportunity to play with and test myself against some of the State’s best bowlers,” Matthew said.
He has been playing bowls for 34 years since the age of nine when his father would take him and his brother to the Capella Bowls Club on a Sunday, his dad’s only day off.
Matt says that while he plays more bowls a week than his wife would like, he would still like to play more. Life for him is busy though, with two young sons and being a full time police officer.
His most memorable bowls moments were winning gold in the 2016 Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games singles competition, as well as making it to the final in the Queensland Champion of Champions 2019 fours against Tweed Heads. “My wife says that now I’ve spent $1,000 on custom bowls, I’d better get serious about winning a few more championships!” he laughed.
Matthew says he doesn’t have any specific mentors, but he has been embraced so warmly by the members of Bargara Bowls Club since moving there in 2017, that their fairness, compassion and friendship is a credit to the whole bowls community.
“My bowls hero is my dad who introduced me to bowls and is still competing at the age of 85. Winning the Bargara A-Grade pairs competition this year was a real achievement for him.”
He would like to encourage new bowlers to give bowls a go. “It’s a game that requires skill, tenacity and practice but it’s also social, competitive and a lot of fun.”
