Go back a few years, and 60 year old Kelvin Scott would find it difficult to believe he could be Bowls New Zealand’s Male Player of the Year in 2022.

“Looking back, I was just going through the motions playing bowls,” he says. “After more three decades playing, I still liked the game … and was still pretty good at bowls.  But I was no longer passionate about the game as I once was.”

“I didn’t really know where I was going with my bowls.  All I knew was that something had to change otherwise bowls would just continue being same old same old.”

Kelvin did what many bowlers have done during their bowling career … he pulled the pin on his club where he had been a member for 30 odd years (Belfast Bowling Club), and joined Elmwood Park in Merivale in Christchurch.

“It wasn’t anything to do with Belfast,” he says.  “After I started playing bowls at the now defunct Burwood Bowling Club nearly 40 years ago, I swapped clubs to the Belfast Bowling Club when my wife and I moved to Belfast.  It was a great playing and socialising environment at the club.”

“But I made up my mind I wanted to become better at bowls … and win more.  And I knew that to do that I needed to change things up a gear.”

Elmwood Park certainly provided the challenge he was looking for … with the likes of Lance Pascoe, Gary Lawson, Mandy Boyd, Angela Boyd, Bev Morel, Nathan Glasson, Jan Shirley and XXXXXXX calling the club home.

“I found a playing group at Elmwood Park that not only developed my game, but gave me the confidence to consistently win on the bigger stage.  They in turn were happy to take me under their wing … making me more competitive made Elmwood Park more competitive!”

After 4 years at Elmwood Park, Kelvin hasn’t look back.

It’s a bit of a drive down the motorway from home on a one-acre lifestyle block at Ohoka he shares with his wife and ride-on mower.  But it’s only a trip required in summer.  Over winter when the Elmwood greens are closed, he keeps up a relentless schedule of practice on the artificial surface at the local Rangiora Bowling Club.

“Along with the determination to be a better bowler, has come the determination to practice more.  I’ve appreciated that to be better I need to put the work in.   Ask any top bowler and they’ll tell you the same.”

And if Kelvin needs any proof as to whether he’s on track to be a ‘top bowler’ or not, he only needs to check back at the results he’s achieved this last year.

“I had a great start to the year, winning the National Men’s Singles title here in Christchurch.  It was also a great year at centre level … we were the winners of the Bowls Canterbury Triples and the Champion of Champs.  I also picked up my second centre gold star.”

On top of that Kelvin was chosen as Bowls Canterbury Player of the Year.  And he’ll be representing New Zealand at the World Champion of Champs at Naenae later this year.

That’s not bad for a season.

“What’s happened is that I know I can beat these guys at the top level on my day.  Whereas before I would have been intimidated playing against the likes of Shannon McIlroy, Ali Forsyth, Andrew Kelly, Mike Galloway and others, I now know I can give them a run for their money.”

He’s not wrong.

Kelvin’s been on the edge of Blackjacks selection in the past.  In 2008 he was selected for the World Championships in Christchurch, but stepped aside when he realised he was going to have to a lengthy lead-up time away from his own plastering business.

These days, Kelvin’s still plastering.  But not as intensely as he once was.  So if new opportunities present themselves at the top level, he’ll be able to take them up.

Certainly, being Male Player of the Year in 2022 is not going to dent those opportunities.

Congratulations, Kelvin.