A Hamilton Township youth who plays for the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club recently returned from a successful tournament in Europe.
The tournament was called the 10 Nations International Tournament in Wales and took place over a two week period at four different Lawn Bowling Clubs in Cardiff.
Seventeen-year-old Baylee van Steijn was the youngest member of the five women team comprised of Team Canada to compete in the international invitational tournament involving teams from across the globe.
Van Steijn played in the ladies fours and triples teams and made it through to the quarter finals in the triples and finished tied for third in the fours.
The Hamilton Township youth is currently on the development squad for Team Canada and has been lawn bowling since she was eight-years-old.
Lawn bowling isn’t particularly popular for people her age, but for van Steijn it’s a sport she loves and is obviously successful at playing.
“I love it so much. Back when I started I thought I’m not going to like it.. But my brother and I along with friends came out and we loved everything about it. The competitiveness and it’s good to see my friends around the world.”
Lawn bowling is similar curling and bocce ball.
At the tournament in Wales, van Steijn said they really didn’t think they were going to do as well as they did.
“We knew we were going to play some really tough teams, but we didn’t think we were going to do this good because of how young our team was, but we’re very proud of everyone.”
Before competing, Team Canada was told the greens would be similar to Canada’s, but on a practise day the team soon found out the greens were much faster “and they had super draws.”
“The hardest part is keeping your head in the game and focussing even when you’re having a bad game.”
“I’m so thankful for my team in the fours because one morning I was having a really bad game and they kept me in it and I started making a comeback.”
Next year in May, Wales is holding a 24 Nations tournament.
The National Junior Lawn Bowling Championships take place in Winnipeg in August and van Steijn is hoping to place well. Last year she earned a silver medal.
For van Steijn she hopes to continue competing and will soon find out if she has been picked for the North American Challenge in California.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
