The Atlantic International Challenge (formerly the Four Nations Series) is set to start in the next few days. The event will take place from August 25th to August 30th in Ayr, Scotland at Bowls Scotland’s National Training Centre. The four participating countries are Canada, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the USA.
The event was developed collaboratively between Scotland, Canada, USA and Ireland as a way to develop high performance athletes and provide opportunities for international play. While the Lawn Bowling community continues to wait for decisions regarding international competition at the Commonwealth Games and subsequently World Bowls, this event will be the first opportunity for 10 athletes named to the 2023-2026 National Squad to compete together.
“We are excited to add this new opportunity for competition in our international calendar and to have 10 National Squad members attend. This will be a great opportunity for skill development for not only newly named members to the squad, but veteran athletes as well. We look forward cheering on Team Canada as our high-performance athletes deliver notable performances” expresses Britany Gordon, CEO of Bowls Canada. ” I also want to extend a huge thank you to Bowls Scotland for hosting the inaugural Atlantic Challenge and to the three other participating nations for their collaborative efforts on this event.”
The Atlantic International Challenge is an overall team event, rather than an individual event; as such, nations will be competing to get the most points through the whole event. The event will make use of the World Championship format, where five men and five women will compete from each nation. The five-player format will include 4 days of singles/fours matches running concurrently with pairs/triples, followed by a final day on Friday where there will be a final chance to get points in two single and triples matches.
The men’s team representing Canada includes both veteran of the National Squad as well as newly named members. Newcomers to the National Squad Jon MacDonald and Kody Olthof will be attending their first international event and will complement the team with their skillset. The third new member to the National Squad is Mike McNorton who has represented Canada at the World Bowls Indoor Championship for the first time this year and will try his hand at his second international competition during this event. The team is completed with two experienced bowlers, Cameron Lefresne and Rob Law. These two players have shown dedication to skill development and on-the-greens prowess in past games which suit this event and team greatly. Wearing the maple leaf for the women’s side, we have experienced bowlers and Team.
Canada veterans in the lineup including silver medalist in triples at the 2023 World Bowls Emma Boyd, Joanna Cooper, and Baylee Van Steijn. A new member to the National Squad, but experienced on the international scene, is Linda Ng who will be representing Canada at the Atlantic International Challenge. Lastly, Jordan Kos who has had exposure and success in competition from local to international, will be rounding out the team. Make sure to follow along and cheer for Team Canada in their first international competition since being named earlier this year.
The full players selected for this year’s Atlantic International Challenge from the four participating countries can be found below:
Team Canada
| Men’s | Women’s |
| Jon MacDonald | Emma Boyd |
| Mike McNorton | Joanna Cooper |
| Cameron Lefresne | Linda Ng |
| Rob Law | Baylee Van Steijn |
| Kody Olthof | Jordan Kos |
Team Ireland
| Men’s | Women’s |
| Ian McClure | Sandra Bailie |
| Stuart Bennett | Zoe Stratton |
| Stephen Kirkwood | Zoe Minish |
| Adam Rankin | Hannah Cochrane |
| Mark Foster | Sophie McIntyre |
Team Scotland
| Men’s | Women’s |
| Jason Banks | Dee Hoggan |
| Gary Prunty | Dawn Anderson |
| Mark Kelsey | Rebecca Houston |
| Connor Milne | Beth Riva |
| Daniel Gormley | Lynn Lees |
Team USA
| Men’s | Women’s |
| Bill Brault | Joanne Hedgespeth |
| Daniel Gorelick | Dee McSparran |
| Scottie Marzonie | Martha Nilsen |
| Bob Schneider | Joan Robbins |
| Corey Vose | Sandy Wall |
For more information, contact Don Caswell, High Performance Manager, at dcaswell@bowlscanada.com.
About Bowls Canada Boulingrin
Bowls Canada Boulingrin (BCB) is the governing body responsible for lawn bowls in Canada. The BCB mission is to advance the sport of bowls in Canada. For more details on Bowls Canada Boulingrin and the sport of lawn bowls, visit www.bowlscanada.com.