Cobourg Short Mat Bowlers Head to World Championships
Twenty bowlers from across Ontario will represent Canada at the World Shortmat Bowls Championships this month and seven of them are members of the Cobourg club.
Five of the seven were given a send off by Town of Cobourg Mayor, Lucas Cleveland, on Thursday March 12th.
Mayor Cleveland presented them with Cobourg pins to give to their opponents and Cobourg flags.
The Mayor wished them well, said how great it was that that Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club and short mat players made up such a large part of Team Canada. He looked forward to welcoming them home and finding out how they performed.
Jake Masterson and Terry Bradshaw will be Canada A and B in the singles tournament. They were not available for the photo call.
The Canada A triples team is:
Bill McCollam (Vice) and Peter Stuart-Sheppard (Lead).
The skip is Gary Pickering of the Niagara Falls club
The Canada B triples team is:
John MacKenzie (Skip), Al Bell (Vice) and Laura Mounce (Lead)
The Championships are being held in Skien, Norway March 20-22.
The Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club runs a short mat group from October to April each year, playing at the Cobourg Community Centre three times a week. Membership for the 2025/26 season is at an all time high with 90 registered bowlers.
The game is played with regular lawn bowls on a mat 45 feet long by 6 feet wide. The principles and aims of the game are the same as for lawn bowling.
The World Championships are held every two years and there have been Cobourg bowlers on Team Canada since 2018.
The 2028 Championships are scheduled for Hamilton., Ontario. This will be the first time that the Championships are held outside Europe.
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