Cap No 3 Vanessa Hinton
by H.J.Boardman
Vanessa’s fingers lightly brush the grass as she swings her bowl in a pendulum arc onto the green. Her director explains by use of a clock face, the exact position of her resting bowl in relation to the jack. As her director leads her off the mat, they discuss the adjustments needed for the next bowl.
In 2002, Vanessa was selected to represent Bowls Australia at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in the Vision Impaired Para Lawn Bowls games. Her player cap number is 3. It is now 20 years since Vanessa and her late mother, Marjorie Hinton, her director proudly represented Australia at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Vanessa has been playing since she was 14 years old and after 40 years of playing lawn bowls, she still has a big smile on her face and enjoys the game.
Vanessa is no snowflake. Come heat, wind or rain, she can be seen attempting to deliver the perfect bowl. Blind from birth, Vanessa learnt how to play bowls and has gone on to win many gold, silver and bronze medals. She has been a great promoter of blind and low vision bowls and is responsible for introducing Helen Boardman, our Para Jackaroo, to bowls.
Directors are hard to come by and are a most precious part of the team effort. Vanessa says since her mother died she has struggled to find someone as good as her mum. Perhaps in her 40th year of bowling, Vanessa and her new director Michelle Jordan will collect medals. This year Vanessa and Michelle face the field at the Australian Blind Bowls Nationals in May, the Australian Open in June and the Qld Multi Disability Championships in August. The sun has not set on this para-bowler yet and we wish her all the best.
