Joseph Pope

Club

Yeovil Bowls Club

Bowl Model

Taylor Ace

Position

3 or Skip

How did you get into bowls?

I took a rather unique route into playing bowls; a school league. At my school (in South Devon) we participated in a league of local secondary schools and played in a Round Robin Format. Every school was attached to a bowls club, which acted as their home venue; ours was Kings Bowls Club, who need no introduction in the bowling fraternity!

I played for a couple of years before I finally decided to take the plunge to join a local club; Churdleigh. A small village team with roughly 50 members. From there, as they say, the rest is history.

Proudest achievement in bowls.

A tough one, as I have never actually achieved what the “big bowlers” have in terms of a county title; I’ve never even been to Leamington!

The proudest moment would have to be playing for Devon in the White Rose. Granted, I only got the chance due to some of the more established bowlers not being available for the game, but I came in to play at 2 on a rink skipped by Harry Goodwin. To have the honour of representing the county at any level is a really proud moment; a lot of bowlers never get the chance to do so. So, regardless of what I do or do not achieve in the rest of my bowling career, playing for my county is something that cannot be taken away from me.

One thing that you would like to achieve in bowls.

To qualify for Leamington. If I ever managed to get to Leamington, I would be so happy; how I did there would almost be irrelevant. The elite of the sport can all say they have been to Leamington at one stage in their career and so I’d be proud to be on that roll of honour.  

Best player that you have played with and against.

The best player I’ve played with would have to be Harry Goodwin. What he has won is like an A-Z, hand-picked list of everything you can win in the sport; titles coming out of his ears. I have no doubt he will be a Commonwealth Gold Medallist in the future!

The best player I’ve played against would be either Lee Haywood or Mark Read. Both either are or have been England internationals, and I have been lucky enough to get the better of both at some point! Both players just get on the mat and play with so much confidence; a joy to watch!

One thing that you enjoy most about bowls.

The fact that you can play with players of all different ages. Be it a player starting out in their teens, or a seasoned club player in their 90’s; in what other sport can you do that? Plus, the social side of the sport; there is nothing that rivals the social interaction of a bowls club. 

One bit of advice that you would give to a new bowler.

A tough one! I’d say enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t play good bowls. One of my biggest strengths is knowing when to perhaps step back and have time off to re-focus and re-group after a tricky spell. Don’t go on the mat with any anger.