The youthful proponents of ‘old man’s marbles’ are polishing their woods in preparation for the national championships.

The Sables juniors are set to leave for Bloemfontein in late March in a quest to return home with a national title. The juniors will be fielding four teams – two teams each in the U/15 and U/20 age groups – in the national championships to be held in the city of roses from March 28 to 31. A total of 18 players will be making the trip under the expert guidance of coach and local bowls legend, Brian Oxley.

“Consistency will be the most important aspect to getting a good result. It is not a difficult game to learn but one that is very difficult to get good at,” said Brian, noting how one of his players has been playing for just short of three months.

The concentration needed can’t be underestimated. They will need to work as a team as it is not about one trying to prove they are the best, but working together to set each other up to succeed,” Brian added, confident they could come home with at least one medal from the exclusively fours competition.

The players come from a multitude of clubs across the West Rand, with Witpoortjie Bowling Club contributing seven members while Discovery and Noordheuwel Bowling Clubs have three representatives each. The five remaining team members are made up of two players from Krugersdorp Bowling Club, one each from Rustenburg and Randfontein Bowling Club, and a special wildcard visitor from Pretoria Municipal Bowling Club.