Poletti a worthy inclusion to the Hall of Fame
Bowls WA Awards Night Friday May 27th The inclusion of Lee Poletti into the Bowls WA Hall of Fame would be one of the easiest decisions to have even been made by the Hall of Fame Committee. Poletti’s achievements in bowls rank among the equal of any bowler to have played the game in WA and if not for her continued involvement with the WA State team until 2013, which under Hall of Fame guidelines meant she could not be considered until now, she would have been inducted a lot earlier.
Poletti’s list of achievements are too numerous to mention individually as she has continued to win events on a regular basis since she began bowling at the Geraldton Bowling Club in the 1980’s and is still regularly claiming titles beating the top WA players at both open and Over 60’s level as evidenced by her State Fours win this year, amazingly her sixth fours title overall.
At International level her career includes ten competition appearances for Australia which without doubt the best of those being a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia teamed with Arrienne Wynen, Roma Dunn and a young Karen Murphy. The foursome lost the final 17-16 so whilst it was perhaps one of Lee’s best achievements it may also be one of the most disappointing having come so close to a gold medal. Representing Australia she did however manage to claim Gold in the Asia Pacific Games.
Poletti has represented WA with distinction at National level having played 191 games at open level which is the most of any female and was part of the Marj Morris Trophy winning teams in 2002 and 2010. She has also played for WA at Over 60’s level and part of the successful team in 2015 at Tweed Heads. The 1997 National pairs win also a major highlight.
At state level Poletti has amassed numerous titles – her ten state titles (6 Fours, 1 Triples 2 Pairs and 1 Singles) are complemented with two Champion of Champion Singles wins (1994 and 2002) and seven Country week titles (3 Singles, 2 Pairs and 2 Fours).
Other awards include five times Connie Hicks Brooch WA Bowler of the year (1997, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2006), three times Penny Needham Brooch Country Bowler of the Year (1994, 1997 and 2006).
Lee started her career in Geraldton and despite a brief stint in the city in the mid 2000’s continues to play and be involved in bowls with Geraldton. She has been crowned the Mid-West Senior Sports Person of the Year four times and in 2014 was inducted into the Mid-West Sports Hall of Fame.
She is without doubt one of the best female bowlers to have played in WA. Her longevity and consistency of performance at an elite level proves she is a worthy inclusion into the Hall of Fame. We congratulate Lee on her terrific achievements and look forward to her induction at the Bowls WA Hall of Fame at the Annual Dinner and Awards Night held at Crown Entertainment Complex on Friday May 27th.
