Jack Harkness, Daniel Pool and Robert Carruthers were all selected to play for Dumfries and Stewartry and Wigtownshire in the Scottish Young Bowlers Association (SYBA).
Playing their first game earlier this month, Robert said: “All of us are very happy that we’ve qualified, and on Tuesday night we played in the SYBA Triples to try and qualify for a cup in Lanarkshire.
“We won 36 – 11, so we’ve qualified for that as well.”
The boys’ first game in the under 25 county team was on May 10 against Glasgow, and although they were beaten by a team of older players they are hoping for a better result against Lanarkshire in Dumfries on Sunday.
Explaining how he took up bowling, Robert said: “My mate Jack’s been playing for about five or six years, and I just went down with him one night to see what it was like.
“I had a try at it, and Daniel was already there, and we all ended up having a game and I really enjoyed it, and so I just started last year.”
Annan Bowling Club president Alan Kay has praised the performance of the boys, and their contribution to the club.
Mr Kay said: “I’m really pleased that we can encourage the younger players, because without young players your club’s going to die.”
He says the club is continuing to attract young players, pointing to Scotland’s performance in the Commonwealth Games as inspiration, and says there has been talk recently about creating a youth league.
However, he said: “We’re probably the only club that could put forward a whole squad.”
The club is helping to bring along a new generation of bowlers, agreeing to regularly train Annan Academy as part of their physical education curriculum.
Mr Kay said: “They were great, and I reckon a couple of them could be really good bowlers.”
And backing Robert, Daniel and Jack, he added: “We’ve got to encourage them as much as we can, and they’ve all got the competitive instinct to succeed.”
