Greg Wilson of Cochrane represented Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4 to 15 when he competed nationally for Canada in lawn bowls. Lawn bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so they stop close to a smaller ball called a 'jack' or 'kitty'. It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat, convex or uneven. It is normally played outdoors and the surface is either natural grass, artificial turf or cotula if the game is taking place in New Zealand. Wilson, who originally hails from Burlington, Ont., started in the sport at age 17 through his father, who shared an office space with a Canadian lawn bowling champion. Wilson has been playing the sport ever since. "My dad, like everybody else, looked at the game like an old man sport. So my dad used to tease his coworker (Dave Burrows) about playing an old man sport," Wilson said with a chuckle. "Dave knew my dad was a competitive athlete so he knew my dad would love it. So my dad saw it as something that myself, my brother and sister and him could go out and do as a family. From the first minute I tried it, I was hooked and fell in love with the game." Wilson was part of the four-man and triples Canadian lawn bowls team, which was made up of Chris Stadnyk (lead), Wilson (second) and Cameron Lefresne (skip). The team went 2-2 in group stage play, which placed the Canadians in second place behind first place New Zealand and in front of Namibia, Niue and Sinapore. Finishing second in group play placed Wilson and his squad in the quarter-finals against Jersey, a match they won 17-7 to advance Canada to the semi-finals against host team Australia with a chance to go to the gold medal match. Canada fell to the home side 20-5, placing the Canadians in the third place match with a chance to bring home a medal for their country. Unfortunately for Wilson and his teammates, they came up just short 19-16 to Norfolk Islands. In the men's fours, the team made up of Wilson, Lefresne and the two Stadnyk brothers, Chris and Ryan, once again finished 2-2 in group play, but it was not enough to advance to the quarter-finals as New Zealand and Wales finished ahead of the Canadians in the standings. Wilson said competing in the Commonwealth Games was an amazing experience, a goal that he has been working toward since he first started the sport. "It was a surreal experience. I've been striving towards that goal for the last 19 years of playing lawn bowls, starting when I was 17-years-old and as soon as I realized the Commonwealth Games was a possibility for me, that was the peak of the mountain so to speak," Wilson said. "To actually be there, in the athletes village, surrounded by tons of people who are passionate about sport that they've fallen in love with, it was a great experience for everybody. The atmosphere was mind blowing. You kind of build up in your mind what a multi-sport event is going to be like, but until you're actually there it's hard to imagine until you're actually there." "The buzz before the competition start when you first get there and get a feel for what's going on in the village, the atmosphere is definitely electric. This Commonwealth Games is the first one where they had an equal number of medals available for both the men and the women, which I thought was really special to be a part of." "It was also the first time para-athletes have been involved in the same games as the other athletes. Usually there's separate events during different times, but it was cool because you were rubbing shoulders with the guys that were racing the wheelchairs and the para-athletes in the swimming ... we were all there for the same reason, so it was cool to be with a group of people that were anticipating big things in their own events." Wilson has represented Canada in lawn bowls since 2007, but this was the first time he got to represent the maple leaf at a large event such as the Commonwealth Games. "It was the proudest moment of my life. It's been a dream of mine since I started playing," Wilson said. "To go out there with the maple leaf on my back, the sense of patriotism and pride to be playing for Canada, it was unbelievable and surreal experience."
