Bowls WA manages and supports the State Physical Disability Side who participate at a National Level in the National Multi-Disability Lawn Bowl Championships – otherwise known as the “Multibowl”.
Each State is allowed to have 10 players in a Side – six Men and four Women – who play a combination of Singles, Pairs and Triples. It is hoped that in this player setup there is an equal distribution of B5/6 Players and B 7/8 Players. What does this mean?
These National games are the pathway to International Para-Bowls Competitions such as the Commonwealth Games and International Bowlers with a Disability (IBD) games.
It can be hard defining what a disability is and Australia follows the International Paralympic Commissions (IPC) definition of Athletes with a Disability using a Classification system. The four levels for physical impairment are listed below:
- B5: Wheelchair bowlers who can only use a very small bowl (size 00) due to limitation of upper limb function. Ambulant and wheelchair bowlers with restricted grip and upper body limb function, poor balance and co-ordination,unable to bowl a full length end or needing a splinting device to do so (Not including the bowling arm as used in Australia).
- B6: Ambulant and wheelchair bowlers with reduced balance function (loss of 5 points or more) but able to bowl a full length end.
- B7: Ambulant and wheelchair bowlers with minor balance problems (loss of less than 5 points).
- B8: Ambulant bowlers, who have a permanent and irreversible disability, have lost 10 points on the bench test, but have no noticeable impairment of function.
Representation in WA started in 2013 with a single player attending the Multibowl, followed in 2014 and 2015 with a Side of three male players. In 2016 our numbers jumped with seven players including two women. From this date numbers in the Side have gone up and down depending on availability.
State Player History – Para
| Last Name | First Name | Debut Club | Debut Year | Cap No. | # Years | Achievements |
| Oman | Joe | Mundaring | 2013 | 1 | 1 | |
| Allsop | Wayne | Dowerin | 2014 | 2 | 5 | |
| Ness | Andrew | Cambridge | 2014 | 3 | 1 | |
| Read | Neville | Mandurah | 2014 | 4 | 1 | |
| Davey | Joe | Fremantle | 2015 | 5 | 3 | 2015 Clover Lester Award 2018 Triples Bronze |
| Murray | Steve | Scarborough | 2015 | 6 | 6 | 2016 Pairs Gold 2019 Pairs Silver |
| Power | Greg | Guilderton | 2015 | 7 | 4 | |
| Gollan | Eddie | Kardinya | 2016 | 8 | 5 | 2016 Pairs Gold 2016 Singles Silver 2019 Pairs Silver |
| Passmore | Leigh | Cockburn | 2016 | 9 | 2 | |
| Symons | Lara | South Perth | 2016 | 10 | 2 | |
| Taylor | Maud | Collie | 2016 | 11 | 3 | |
| Fletcher | Frank | Osborne Park | 2018 | 12 | 1 | |
| Copping | Thomas | Brookton | 2019 | 13 | 1 | |
| Garrett | Michael | Pingelly | 2022 | 14 | 1 | |
| Nikolic | Jodie | Yanchep | 2022 | 15 | 1 | 2022 Clover Lester Award |
| Nixon | Diana | Kardinya | 2022 | 16 | 1 | |
| Nottle | Clem | Pingelly | 2022 | 17 | 1 | |
| Stephen | David | Morley | 2022 | 18 | 1 |
Further information on all Inclusion programs and opportunities can be received from Denise McMillan, Inclusive Practices Officer at Bowls WA, on 0449 619 841.