Meet the Mandurah APL Teams: Boulder
Played Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September 2016 Boulder Bowling Club will travel to Perth to make their first appearance in the Mandurah APL Cup this year.
The town of Boulder was founded during the Western Australian gold rush near the major town of Kalgoorlie. The municipality of Boulder was formally founded in 1897 and ran until its merger with Kalgoorlie in 1989. The town is located 595 kilometres east of Perth and along with its neighbours Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie is a significant part of the Western Australia’s history. Such is the importance of the area to WA history the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth visited the town in 1954.
The Boulder Bowling Club was founded in 1905, three years before the Boulder Town Hall was built.
Boulder will be represented in the APL Cup by Irene Leahy, Chris Ace-Watson, Geoff Watson and Louie Trow and are one of the few teams bringing two women in their side.
Irene Leahy headlines the side with a head turning resume. In the 22 years since started playing she has won her club singles championship a staggering 12 times. Her success has not been limited to club level either with eight league singles titles to her name as well as being league player of the year ten times. Her name won’t be new to players in the city or other country leagues either. Leahy has recently added two state fours titles to her name with wins in 2011/12 and 2014/15. A highly experienced player at all levels Leahy steadiness will be invaluable to her side.
If Leahy’s performances over a number of years is impressive then the recent form of Chris Ace-Watson is just as so. Winner of the 2014 and 2015 Boulder club singles championships she has established herself as one of the club’s best players. The reigning league singles winner started to make her mark in women’s country bowls. In 2015 she and her side were country week fours runners up and she followed up with a semi-final appearance in the singles of the most recent edition of country week. Add in three league singles and three league bowler of the year titles since she began playing in 2006 and it adds up to an impressive list of achievements. Who knows where a strong performance in the APL Cup would take her?
Geoff Watson began playing in 2005 but it is only recently he has started to show his ability. He won his first championship in 2014 with a league pairs victory to announce himself at league wide level. A member of Boulder’s reigning club fours champions Watson is starting to build into his career. Selection for the APL Cup is another feather in his cap as he continues to build his resume. The opportunity to mix it up with the best will be a great experience and if he can produce best he could be capable of matching it.
Louie Trow is the fourth member of Boulder’s APL Cup Squad. Another who will enjoy the opportunity to play against the best in WA it will be very interesting to see what kind of performance he can produce. A good showing here could show he is ready to take the next step.
