At just fifteen years old, Zoe Davies is not just playing lawn bowls; she is redefining it. The talented teen from the Warilla Bowls Club is simultaneously dismantling two significant barriers in the sport: her youth and her gender.
As the youngest member of her club and one of the few competitive female junior bowlers across New South Wales, Davies is proving herself to be a formidable future champion. Her journey into the world of bowls began long before high school, inspired by watching her grandparents and older brother play.
From Sidelines to the Green
Zoe Davies recalls being dragged along to club events by her mother to watch her brother compete. "My brother would play in heaps of club events, and I'd always have to get dragged along with my mum," Davies said. "We'd just sit there and watch, and then one day, after my brother was finished with the game, he asked me if I wanted to have a roll up. I got into it ever since then."
This casual invitation sparked a passion that has seen her rise rapidly through the ranks. She was also the youngest bowler at her previous club in Windang, a status she held until her recent move to Warilla.
Challenging the Stereotypes
Davies is acutely aware that lawn bowls is often perceived as an 'old man's sport,' a stereotype she is actively breaking. She is one of the only under-18 girls in the Illawarra region competing at a high level, noting that other sports are often seen as 'cooler' by her peers.
"It's a bit hard to get a few girls into the sport, because obviously it's not one of the common sports," Davies admitted. "There are a few girls out there, but definitely not as many as boys."
Despite the challenges, she has observed a slow but steady growth in the sport's popularity with younger generations. Clubs in Sydney and Warilla are establishing junior academies in a concerted effort to attract more youth, particularly girls. "They're definitely trying to get a few more girls and even boys into the game," she said, acknowledging the difficulty of competing with other sports for children's time.
A Meteoric Rise to National Success
Davies' initial attempts at bowling were, by her own admission, far from perfect. "It obviously takes a bit to get used to how things work with the game," she said. Her breakthrough came in 2023 at a NSW combined high school event where she won a gold medal in the pairs and a bronze in the singles.
This success was a major confidence booster, but her most impressive achievement came more recently at the under-18 national championships. Competing against bowlers several years her senior, the fifteen-year-old sensation dominated the competition, winning an incredible four gold medals.
Her gold medals were secured in the girls' pairs, the girls' fours, the girls' overall category, and she also helped her team clinch the overall trophy. This remarkable feat is even more significant as all three of her teammates will age out of the under-18 division in 2026, marking the end of an era. "Seeing their time finish is definitely a wow moment," Davies reflected. "That's gonna be me in two years."
Eyes on the Jackaroo Jersey
With two NSW state team representations already under her belt in 2024 and 2025, Davies has a clear and ambitious goal for her future. She is now setting her sights on being selected for the Emerging Jackaroos squad, the development pathway for the Australian national lawn bowls team.
"If you were to get picked in that, then you go under a coaching program to then obviously progress to go play for Australia," she explained.
Reflecting on her rapid progress, Davies believes the last two to three years have been pivotal. "The last two or three years I've been playing has definitely been the time where I knuckle in a lot more than I had and now I definitely look to achieve playing for Australia very soon," she said with determination. For Zoe Davies, the green is not just a playing field; it's a platform to inspire a new generation.
