The word legend is all too commonly overused in sporting circles these days, but if ever it is befitting of a player, then NSW’s Pat Smith is it.
For the past 50 years, Smith has been plying her trade at the Murwillumbah Bowls Club, some 30km south of Tweed Heads, blazing a trail for the nation’s finest female bowlers.
As the 21st female player to represent Australia, Smith, who still bowls socially every Wednesday and Friday just a fortnight out from her 90th birthday, holds a unique place in the nation’s sporting landscape.
In 1982, she was selected alongside Rosemary O’Brien and Eva Wiclher to represent Australia at the XII Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, the first time female bowlers were allowed to compete at the time-honoured competition.
Click here to read about cap number 22, Eva Wilcher.
Lining up in the women’s triples, which was the sole female discipline, the combination narrowly missed a medal as they were consigned to fourth place.
At the time, the Sydney Moring Herald attacked the Australian Bowls Council for not appointing a woman manager for the team, with O’Brien suffering pneumonia in the lead up to the competition and unable to be replaced.
Lawn bowls correspondent Jim McMenamin derided the decision, labeling it a folly and throwing the hopes of 100,000 female bowlers into jeopardy.
Click here to read McMenamin’s story.
Four years later, however, Smith was back, this time in the women’s fours, and although she failed to collect gold, she climbed the dais to claim silver, another first for Australia.
During a decorated career, Smith represented Australia at two Commonwealth Games, the 1985 Asia Pacific Championships, which was also the first time females were permitted to play, and a one-off test match against Fiji in ‘82.
Speaking from her Murwillumbah home earlier today, Smith said she wasn’t one for too much fanfare.
“I’ve always been very sports minded,” Smith said.
“But I’m also a very humble person and not used to talking about things like this.
“I was very grateful to represent Australia and it was a tremendous honour.
“We were unlucky not to win a (gold) medal (in 1986) in Scotland, the rain came down and by the time we finished we were almost in complete darkness.
“Things have changed a lot since I first stated playing (in 1959).
“I can remember the days when we wore white stockings and your frocks had to be so many inches below the knee.
“I still enjoy playing socially, though, a couple of times a week.”
Since Western Australia’s Edna Cheffins became the first female to represent Australia in 1967, 75 more players have gone on to represent the green and gold, including Smith, with Kensington-Marryatville’s Penny Landherr the most recent, earning cap number 76 at the Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Championships last month.
Click here to see a full list of Australian representatives.
