SA lawn bowler Chris Flavel earns selection for Australian para-sport squad UK tour in July
A physio visit for a sore back turned into a diagnosis of a long-term degenerative condition for SA lawn bowler Chris Flavel. But it has not stopped him earning national team selection as he eyes the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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WHEN SA lawn bowler Chris Flavel visited the physio with a sore back in 2007, he expected to receive treatment for a minor injury sustained during a gym session.
Instead he was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder leading to progressive degeneration of the face, shoulder blades and upper arm muscles.
“I went in thinking I had done something small, but they worked out I had something a lot bigger,” Flavel 35, said.
“It’s a long-term degenerative condition and there’s no cure for it.
“It has its good days and its bad days, and there are plenty of days when you don’t feel that crash hot.
“But bowls is one place where I don’t actually feel that impaired.
“It’s one of the few sports that I can actually play at a reasonable level and it gives me satisfaction that I get to exercise my competitive instincts.”
The condition had done nothing to slow the Payneham bowler’s progress on the greens as he shone against the state’s best able-bodied players in the SA Premier League.
His consistent performances had also earned him a recall to the Australian para-sport squad for the Jackaroos’ UK tour in July.
It was a chance to stake an early claim for a Commonwealth Games berth, given Flavel would face England, Scotland and Ireland in clashes at the Birmingham 2022 Leamington Spa venue.
“I was pretty pumped to get the nod to go over to the UK,” said Flavel, who narrowly missed selection for the last year’s Gold Coast Games.
“They’ve had a couple of retirements out of the group that won (Commonwealth) gold, so there’s a few opportunities floating around for Birmingham.
“The major goal is 2022 so obviously I want to perform well, but also improve from the last time I was in one of these squads.
“It’s a bit of an honour to be among the first (Australian) group to go over and test out the host venue and see what the conditions are going to be like.
“Hopefully I can take the learnings from not getting selected (previously) and put those into practice.”
Flavel followed his grandparents and father, Robert Flavel, into bowls aged 10 in his hometown Port Pirie.
He joined Lockleys in 2011, before shifting to Payneham three years ago where his impressive displays had led to a place in SA able-bodied training squads.
Flavel hoped to inspire other people with disabilities to take up the sport.
“I was born into a family of lawn bowlers, so I got the bug, or the curse, quite early,” Flavel, of Brahma Lodge, said.
“But the sport in general is quite open and accepting of everyone.
“If you’re wheelchair-bound or whatever your disability is, you can still perform in the sport at some reasonable level.
“It’s definitely one of those sports that takes all-comers and all abilities.”
Originally published as SA lawn bowler Chris Flavel earns selection for Australian para-sport squad UK tour in July
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