2025 National Championships - Stage One Stars: Pauline Wilson
Our next National Championships Stage One Stars story features Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Pauline Wilson from Willowbank Bowling Club, who has qualified in an incredible four disciples for this year’s event.
As Bowls Scotland’s Ladies District Co-Ordinator for District 23, Pauline has to balance her busy volunteer role off the green alongside still competing at the top level on the green. In 2025, Pauline has been on an amazing winning run so far to qualify for the National Championships in the Ladies Singles, Ladies Over 55 Singles, Ladies B6-B7-B8 Singles and Para Physically Disabled Open Pairs.
Despite being eligible for the para competitions due to her amputated leg, Pauline is still highly competitive in the mainstream disciplines which is testament to her natural ability, hard work and determination. She has previously reached the quarter-final stage of the Ladies Over 55 Singles on two occasions, demonstrating that there are certainly no barriers to participation in our sport.
Pauline has also tasted success at Ayr previously, having twice won gold in the Ladies B6-B7-B8 Singles in 2019 and 2024. If successful this year, Pauline will become the first player to win this event on three occasions and the first player to win back-to-back titles.
Fresh from recently winning the 2025 Para Home Nations with her Scotland teammates at Royal Leamington Spa Bowling Club, Pauline will be looking to make her mark as this year’s National Championships ahead of the Commonwealth Games taking place in Glasgow next year.
Find our full Q&A with Pauline below:
Q1. When did you start playing bowls and how did it come about?
PW: “I started playing bowls when I was about 18, the guy I went out with was a bowler. I lived in Durham, so when I visited him in the Scottish Borders, if I wanted to see anything of him I thought I’d better start playing bowls too.
“I joined Melrose Bowling Club and while he was playing his matches, the two ‘auld guys’, the octogenarians of the club, would take me under their wing and teach me how to play bowls. I was always being reminded that ‘drawin’s the game hen!’.”
Q2. What’s the best thing about playing bowls?
PW: “It’s the challenge, not necessarily from my opponent but the playing conditions, the green, the bumps, the funny runs and not to mention the elements. Of course, it can be frustrating when the wind catches hold of a bowl and steers it off course, or the rain comes down and the speed of the green changes. It’s all part of the game and it can be very, let’s say ‘character building!’.
“But when I find the line and I get the weight right it all comes together and there’s no better feeling of satisfaction than being able to draw a bowl in for shot, chap and lie to get the shot or demolish a head of bowls and get the result I played for.”
Q3. You were recently part of the Scotland team that won the 2025 Para Home Nations. Can you tell us more about this victory?
PW: “We were playing at Leamington Spa, it was the first time I had returned there since winning my gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. It was quite emotional to walk around the facilities and remember that achievement. It was a very different atmosphere this time with no stands to protect the greens from the wind that was playing havoc with everyone’s bowls.
“It was hot and our coaches were great at keeping us all going, making sure the fluids were handy and giving us plenty of encouragement. The team, with quite a few new caps, played very well together, we always had three players off so they were there to give their encouragement too. The para team were determined to win, we have all overcome many challenges to get there so we’re always going to put the effort in to make it count, and we did. Our co-captains were there with words of wisdom and a rallying call before every match. It was a fantastic occasion for everyone involved and to have won the series before we had even started the last match was something quite extraordinary.
“We still went out and smashed it in that final match, we didn’t take our foot off the throttle (well those of us that can actually put a foot on the throttle!). That's the great thing about the para team, we have a healthy sense of humour, which is all part of our team make up and camaraderie.”
Q4. Tell us more about qualifying for four disciplines for the 2025 National Championships – how difficult an achievement is this and what does it feel like to compete in the National Championships at Ayr?
PW: “It’s very difficult to qualify in one discipline let alone four. Before any player starts on their Scottish path, especially in the singles, they usually have to have won their club championship, which I did, and those matches were not easy. The final of my championship was 21-20, it could have gone either way. Same with the over 55 singles, I had to win our club’s senior singles.
“From there as all bowlers know you play in the first stage of the Scottish playdowns. Juggling all the different competitions, travelling to play on different greens, sometimes playing two matches in one day to get them all fitted in. It’s all part of the challenges that I mentioned earlier on, but I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it.
“With the Ladies Para B6-B7-B8 Singles, unfortunately there are only four ladies that have entered the Scottish competition, so we all go straight to the semi-final for this one.
“For the Para PD Open Pairs there was a round robin qualifier this year. The high standard of players entering the pairs competition ensured that every match would be competitive, such is the quality of para bowls. I will be playing with Mary Wilson from Dudley Bowling Club, this was a last-minute hook up as neither of us had a partner a few weeks before the event. We proved to be a winning combination. With an unbeaten record on the day, we finished top of our group to qualify for Ayr.
“Apart from the nerves before going onto the green to play, I love it. All bowlers together, everyone there an enthusiast, what's not to love. Witnessing some fantastic bowling, meeting up with friends that I might only see from one year to the next. Getting to rub shoulders with those big names in the bowling world, it’s brilliant.
“The atmosphere is buzzing, it’s a great place to be if you’re passionate about bowling.”
Q5. What would it mean to you to become a national champion in 2025?
PW: “To become a national champion would be something very special, especially in mainstream bowls. Since moving back to Scotland in 2018 I have reached the quarter finals a couple of times, and way back in 1985 I was a finalist in the fours that year at the tender age of 21. To go one step further and win in 2025 would be a fantastic achievement.”
Q6. As a gold medallist from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, is the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games a target for you to compete at next year?
PW: “Absolutely that’s a huge target. I would like nothing better than to be given the opportunity to represent Scotland at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games and defend the Women’s Para Pairs title that I won with Rosemary Lenton at Birmingham.”
A huge thank you to Pauline for sharing her story as part the lead up to the 2025 National Championships. For more information on this year’s event, please visit: https://www.bowlsscotland.com/competitions/national/national-championships