Tseshaht Band member Randy Fred won first place in the 2011 Blind Bowls Association of Canada National Visually Impaired Lawn Bowling Championship at Kitchener, Ont. He won all eight of his games to win the gold medal at the national competition held July 26 to 30.
“My director/coach, Tom Williams, and I made for an unbeatable team,” Fred said.
“The games were very tough, but they were fun. Fortunately we missed the big heat wave the week before so the rain showers and humidity were bearable.”
Randy and Tom are grateful to the Nanaimo Visually Impaired Lawn Bowling Club for their generosity in paying for their registration fee, which covered accommodations, breakfast, lunch, bus transportation, awards banquet, and actual registration. He has not yet heard if BC Blind Sports will assist with travel costs.
“If BC Blind Sports doesn’t come through I will need to conduct some fundraising to cover our airfares and dinners.”
The location for next year’s event has not yet been determined. Randy and Tom need to win the gold medal again next year in order to be eligible to compete in the 2013 World Championship tournament to be held in England.
“I need to seriously start planning a fundraising strategy if I want to attend the World Championship,” he said.
“I have heard about the high calibre of bowling by some international players and I am positive I can win the World Championship. My game continues to improve.”
