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The Hudson family are just champion in short mat bowls
Julie, Paul and Andrew Hudson have an unusual claim to fame in the world of short mat bowling because all three play for the Hook village team and are part of the ten players from the club who are the current Welsh team champions.
For Julie it is a new feat but for husband Paul and son Andrew it is another string to their bows since both have won world titles previously as well as doing well this season. Paul played alongside Martin Davies in the Londonderry area of Ireland in winning his world crown whilst Andrew joined Sion Hughes (Hook) in winning the world pairs nearer to home in Carmarthen.
To qualify to represent Pembrokeshire at short mat bowls in the Welsh Championships, held at the indoor bowling rink in Llandudno, Hook had to fend off the strong challenge of Tavernspite, another of the 12 teams which currently play in the top echelon of local short mat bowls, with another 12 playing in the second division, known as the President’s Shield.
Llandudno success
Success in this county earned Hook the chance to go to Llandudno, with their team comprising a singles player, doubles, triples and fours, the competition played on a round-robin basis and with points allocated for each match. All 11 Welsh county associations were represented and after a lengthy battle it was Hook who eased through ahead of Skewen, near Neath, with Andrew playing in the singles, Julie as second player in the triples alongside Martin Davies and Martin Curruthers, with Paul as lead in the fours.
‘Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’
Julie hasn’t been playing as long as her men folk but has soon made up for lost time after starting out in short mat bowls about five years after they did. She would be the first to admit that she hadn’t played a great deal of sport for a while but went along when Hook were holding an open evening to try and encourage youngsters in the village to participate. Julie admits that hers was an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach but it paid off because she enjoyed being involved and has gradually improved ever since.
She has represented Pembrokeshire for the past five years and has also tried her hand at doubles, as well as triples. Her team plays other clubs as far afield as Llanteg and Tavernspite, Letterston and Little Haven, Penally and East Williamston, Crundale, Merlin’s Bridge and Haverfordwest.
Son beats dad
Andrew first played at seven years old and was a regular in the President’s League when he was nine, coincidentally replacing big sister Kate because she was unavailable. When he was chosen for Wales he carried the flag as the youngest member of the team and this year he has been honoured with that role again, along with Robert Hughes (Penally) because both are playing for their tenth year.
Andrew has won the following Welsh titles- singles in 2005, doubles in 2006, triples 4 times, 3 with Paul and Martyn and once with Andrew Evans (Tavernspite) and Jon Gladstone (Hook), Fours in 2002 - with Martyn Paul and Gareth. We believe in terms of titles won he is the most successful Pembs player to date.
It is worth mentioning that in that final with Jonathan Gladstone (Hook) and Andrew Evans (Tavernspite) they played an intriguing match against dad Paul, Martin Davies and Robert Hughes. Julie received a text message from her husband at 6pm telling her his triple had lost in the final and a second from Andrew, at 6.05pm, announcing that her son had won the Welsh Open!
This season will be Andrew’s tenth representing his country and he is now club captain, taking over from dad, who has done the job for over a decade and this will be Paul’s 12th successive year in the county set-up, some of that time as a captain and selector.
But Dad has done very well!
Paul first played for Wales in the British Isles Championships in 1997 and in November will have played 12 years running in this competition. He is the only person from Pembrokeshire to play for Wales this long. He has won the British Isles Triples (with Andrew and Martyn) and the world Championship triples (with the same two) and has been runner up in the British Fours. He has won the World Triples with Andrew and Martyn and the World Fours with players from Carmarthen and West Glamorgan. He was placed third in the World Championships in 2004 playing doubles with Martyn Davies.
Social but very competitive
The trio play every week and although, “It is socially a good place to meet new people it would give totally the wrong picture to describe it as anything other than very competitive,” says Julie, “We all want to win but there is some good fun before and after our matches.”
Ask her about tactics and she would say that Andrew and Paul are good tacticians.
“Martin Davies usually tells me what to do as skip but I sometimes show him and the rest that I can outsmart them when there is a need. I’m not fussed on singles though and fours take too long so I am ideally suited for pairs or triples.”
All three joined forces to win the county triples title some years ago and Julie is also fixture secretary for the league and organises the fixtures and collates the results, something she now enjoys doing.
It is very clear that all three members of the Hudson family are geared up for short mat bowls and although they have all done really well it is a fair bet that we still have a great deal more to hear of them in the future.
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