Jack is a champion – and a British one at that!

Jack Lloyd has just been crowned as men’s singles winner in the B1 Category of the UK Outdoor Championships for Visually Impaired Bowlers, held this year in Kelvingrove, Glasgow, and in doing so provided a wonderful sporting inspiration for others with a disability.

 

The B1 category is for fully blind competitors and 58 year old Jack fended off the challenge of the top bowlers from the other home countries to receive the superb wooden trophy which has the names of all the top blind bowlers of yesteryear – and now joined by a rightly-thrilled Mr Lloyd, who is Milford Haven born and bred.

 

 

Jack qualified for the trip to Glasgow as Welsh champion after beating the rest of the best Welsh bowlers in Swansea earlier in the year, winning all his matches and then practising up to five times every week since for two hours with his coach/assistant, 66 year old Geoffrey John, better known to all as ‘Woofy’ and someone who is not afraid to put Jack through his paces.

 

“’Woofy’ is a hard task-master,” admitted Jack, “who is not afraid to let me know when I am not bowling as well as I should.
 

“He is my eyes on the green and tells me how far off the jack I am – and once in Glasgow I felt his walking stick on my backside as a wake-up call!
 

“His brother, Graham John, was also a great help because he paid his own way to come with us to Glasgow and was a brilliant bag manager and water carrier for us.”

 

 

All the hard work paid off because Jack and his last-four opponents Eric Gallagher (Scotland), Amin Ahmed (England) and Harry Murray (Scotland) played each other twice in a round-robin finale over a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday where they played from 10am to 12.30 pm and then from 1.30pm to 4pm.

 

“It was a physical test and there was a need for real concentration,” Jack told us, “with the winner decided on number of games won and, if level, on number of shots scored.
 

“I won four of my matches in a real cut and thrust competition and the next nearest had three wins so it meant I was the winner – and I felt ten feet tall!
 

I had great support from the rest of the squad – I could hear them cheering me on and I will never forget that moment.”

 

 

There is also camaraderie to the squad, with Gilbert Miles as the joker who had his comeuppance in Scotland, where he decided to take charge of transport from the hotel to Kelvingrove. He had organised a taxi and he was joined by Jack and the rest of the lads in piling into the vehicle – but when Gilbert told the bemused driver where they wanted to go he stopped the vehicle and pointed out their destination, 50 metres down the road. Gilbert was a little quiet for a while after that as Jack and Co reminded him of his error!

 

 

Being British champion now qualifies Jack to compete at the World Championships in New Zealand and he would naturally love to visit ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’ to compete, depending on circumstances and cost.

What is certain is that, like in all of his bowling, Jack will have total support from his family.
 

“My wife Wendy has been outstanding in the way she encourages me all the way – and told me I couldn’t come home without a medal.

 

“Then there’s my daughter Rebecca, who was a good swimmer with Milford Haven before she went off to college, and who takes a real interest in my sport. 
 

He has a gorgeous Labrador called ‘Jackson’ who has the role of being his guide dog and allows Jack some independence so that he can walk from home in Steynton down to town or the Meads Leisure Centre, and this intrepid duo appeared on television recently walking part of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

 

“Outside of my family there is terrific support from Pembrokeshire Disability Sport led by Angela Miles, all my friends at the Disability Bowling Club in The Meads, plus ‘Woofy’, of course, whilst Haverfordwest Bowls Club was a great help in providing use of their green and kind offer of transport.”

 

 

In his youth Jack was a very keen footballer with Hakin United, where he played alongside the likes of Micky Steer, John Sinnett, Chris Jenkins, Chris Hughes, Michael Roberts and Graham Lincoln, and scored his share of goals in his centre forward role.
 

Then he moved across the path at The Observatory and joined Milford Haven Rugby Club with a few pals, starting as a flanker and then playing as loose head prop. Jack had a few games in the first team but played mainly for a good second XV which won the Junior Union Cup on more than one occasion.

 

But prior to finishing with rugby at 37 his eyesight deteriorated as Retinitis Pigmentosa was diagnosed. It meant Jack had to finish work at Texaco when he was 43 and for ten years his sporting activity was put on hold.

 

 

“But then Martin Goodall, who has sadly passed away, persuaded me to give bowls a chance and I took to it straight away. “There is camaraderie second to none and I also play against fully sighted people – and my only regret is that I didn’t play when I had my sight.
 

“I am competitive by nature but I was brought down to earth with a bump in 2010 when I entered the Welsh Indoor Championships at Landore and qualified for the British Indoor Championships in Belfast – and was slammed 21-3, 21-6 and 21-4!

 

So when he was chosen again in 2012 Jack made sure that he was well prepared and came back with a bronze medal of a forerunner of things to come. It was also the start of his teaming up with ‘Woofy’ after a few years with Welsh team manager John Wilson, and another great help was Tony Banner as he started to make a name for himself in ever-widening circles.

 

 

Practice has certainly paid off and Jack is already looking forward to defending his newly-won title in two years time as England host the event, probably in Gateshead or Poole. There is also the little matter of the World Championships in New Zealand on the horizon, and we sincerely hope that comes trek about for Jack Lloyd because he really is a great ambassador for Pembrokeshire Bowls in particular and Pembrokeshire Sport in general!