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Interview with Nick Brett |
As he prepares to embark on his 20th consecutive International Series when the England team travel to
Belfast next month, one thing is clear- Nick Brett LOVES bowls. With a haul of accolades and titles to his name, most recently a Commonwealth Games gold medal and a Bowls England National Pairs win to add to the collection, Nick still has the same passion for the game that was sparked when he stepped in to fill a gap in his father´s league team at the age of 11. "I love the social side and that I can play with anybody I want to, whether that be a family member or a friend," Nick said. "Whether they have just started or are world number one, I can play with them, any time of the day and the week. "I guess I am just lucky. My dad was 69 when he died and still had the desire and passion to play all day, everyday. I guess I am the same, I am one of those people who wants to be competitive all the time otherwise I couldn´t have played 35 years back-to-back. "I like to play against the best players in the country and the world in as big a competition as I can, as often as I can, to see if I am any good. "When you are playing against the best, I get a real buzz about playing in the top games with crowds watching, people cheering or booing, it´s something I love to do. I am getting older now so when that goes away I don´t know what I am going to do." Nick admits that when he had not made the junior international team at the age of 21, a decade after he started playing, he had doubts about his future in the game at the top level. He said: "I knew people who were in the teams and didn´t necessarily think they were that much better than me but all of a sudden I got a chance. I got in as reserve and then the following year I made the side. "Then I started to enter the PBAs to try to qualify, along with about a thousand others. It was really different back then and rarely did I get past the second round. "I have got red hair and unfortunately have the frustrations to go with that. "I feel like there is much more for me to manage than everyone else, it is not just a case of trying to get the bowls close, it is also trying to keep your powder dry as people in my county like to call it. These days I have probably got a better handle on it over the last few years and I think it has driven me." Despite enjoying much success indoors, including winning the Indoor World Singles in 2016, Nick had not broken into an elite squad outdoors until he was selected for Birmingham 2022 at the end of last year. He said: "A home Commonwealth Games is probably a once in a lifetime experience for anybody, let alone somebody that is probably the oldest in the playing squad, it was a privilege for me to get selected, it definitely wasn´t a foregone conclusion. "It was a new one for me, I have spent the last ten years on the indoor circuit, not so much an automatic selection but knowing that I have been winning things so you go to trials and you have a good chance of getting re-selected. Outdoors is a completely different story- I didn´t have a lot behind me in the outdoor game so just tried to play as good as I could in every match. "I did feel a lot of pressure because it was something that I wanted to get selected for." Nick describes the moment he found out he had made the team as "as massive amount of excitement and relief." He added: "I started to look forward to the Games instantly. We played seven or eight weekends practising and playing against other countries who were looking to come and take gold medals away from England. "It was a wonderful experience and I tried to put as much in as possible. We did not shy away from being honest about what we wanted. "As you are building up to the games you are still dreaming of getting gold medals. When the groups were drawn we knew we had tough games to play with no foregone conclusions. As we were playing, I was just focussing on winning every game. "In the first game of the triples we played the Malaysians for the fourth time in six months and we had not yet beaten them. We managed to win the game by one on the last end which was a massive thing for us first game. "In the second game we were in trouble against the South African team and Jamie played a wonder bowl to make a five and we only lost one more end. "Once you get to the quarter finals knock out bowls is anyone´s game. Every time you win a game you are keeping the dream of a gold medal alive. "Luckily enough I was able to get one with some world-class performances from Jamie and Louis. "We were a touch unlucky in the fours thanks to some great bowls by the Indian team otherwise we would have been trying to play off for another gold." 
Nick hopes that the spectacle of the bowls at Leamington will inspire people to find out where their local club is.He said: "Leamington will never ever look like it did when we played Commonwealth Games. The stands were massive, it was like going to a concert- a pass to get in, food stands everywhere and like a military operation to get in and out. "It was unbelievable walking through the gates the first time, it was such a buzz. "Now I think we all have to get out there and use every platform that we have got. We all use social media which is not followed by just bowlers which means that we can get out there and spread the word. "I recently opened the club up to my wife´s work and my daughter´s gym club who wanted to see my medals. I invited them all along to come and have a go, no one had played before. The feedback was phenomenal and half of them have been back to play again of their own accord. "People were surprised at the game and surprised at how much they enjoyed it and that´s the message that I would out there- come and have a go and see. "If you have any competitive genes and want to beat your mum, your husband, your friend, you are going to enjoy playing the game of bowls because you will want to get closer than the person that you are playing against. Come and have a go, it will drag you in. "The biggest hurdle is to get rid of the stigma of bowls being an old person´s game. No-one can get away from the fact that we do have older people playing but 99.9 per cent of players say they wish they had started younger. "We should be going round schools and other sports clubs and telling people about the game. You might start by telling them what you do and they may well laugh but take them to a club for a go and I am sure that around 60 to 70 per cent of people will say that they have enjoyed it. People just need to be challenged by someone in the first place." Nick, who has been a selector for the men´s junior international team for the past five years, is looking forward to managing for the first time this weekend as the series gets underway in Ffrith. "I have really enjoyed the different element and watching the youngsters grow," he said. "You don´t know some of the players on the fringes so have to learn about different players and their personalities. I think it has helped me to learn things about myself and to be more adaptable with who I play with. "This weekend will undoubtedly bring challenges because I will be on the spot when things go wrong but I want to use my experience to help the lads and make a plan about how we want to play and what we want to do. I need to be calm during the game because I will want to play every bowl for them but I can only stand there and advise." Nick has high hopes for the indoor season but believes that for clubs to be successful and thrive they need to be flexible with what they can offer players. He said: "After Covid I think people are getting back to wanting to go out and do things now. Indoor bowls has to compete against other sports to get people in to play. "A lot of clubs are doing taster sessions but it is what happens after that because do people really want to play four or five times a week in leagues? I think we need to cater for people being able to just drop in and pay as you play. "I think indoor needs to get on board with new formats. Playing 21end league games dressed as you would for a match in whites, I think clubs need to be a bit more openminded-shorter formats, relaxed dress codes, the substitute rule so people maybe playing for only an hour. "We need to be catering for every single person, even those who have only got a short time to spare." Nick is a big fan of the Open Singles Circuit, which is now run by the EIBA, and encourages players of all standards to have a go. He said: "I think the OSC is a wonderful innovation and I have played in it for lots of years. "It started small but there are so many more clubs playing it now, almost 30 tournaments which is brilliant. "For the people that play regularly in the OSC events, it makes them better players over a longer period of time and makes them sharper so it is fantastic. "You have the world class players going around the country playing in these events and you can have club players drawn against them. "What other sport can you do that in?" Sian Honnor Previous Article Yaz Hasan |
29th September 2022
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