By . Louise Eccles . It was once the sport of choice for retired gentlemen across Britain’s leafy villages. But 24-year-old Natalie Melmore hopes to transform the fusty image of lawn bowls this week when she steps out on to the green for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The glamorous sportswoman is England’s reigning champion after she became the surprise winner of the singles competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in Delhi. Natalie Melmore, 24, hopes to transform the fusty image of lawn bowls this week when she steps out on to the green for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She is a law and criminology graduate who has worked as a waitress to support herself . Now, Miss Melmore says she hopes her presence on Team England this summer will inspire young women to take up a sport, which is traditionally played by people many decades older than herself. She will play in singles and pairs when the Games begin on Wednesday. The sales manager, of Newton Abbott, Devon, is a law and criminology graduate who has worked as a waitress to support herself, and trains in her spare time . She said: ‘A lot of people still think bowls is exclusively for old people. ‘I’m working really hard to try to change that perception and speak to young kids in schools. ‘The problem is people do not want to try a sport where people take the mick out of them. Peer pressure is a big thing. ‘It is not a sport which impresses your friends at the moment. Unfortunately bowls isn’t as glamorous as other sports.’ To prove her point, she recalls a time when she appeared on BBC’s Newsround to promote bowls as an 11-year-old child. ‘I got a bit of stick about that at school’, she said. Miss Melmore at an award ceremony after winning gold in the women's lawn bowls singles during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, 2010 . ‘Even now, I sometimes feel I have to justify why I play bowls to people by saying I am successful at it and that I play competitively.’ Her unlikely appearance for a bowls player, however, has its advantages, she says. ‘I joke that I should hustle older players by showing up at clubs and offering to play a quick game against someone for cash. ‘No one would suspect I was any good. Maybe if I get short of money...’. Miss Melmore, who was taught to play when she was nine by her father, said she had never encountered any sexism in the sport and that, playing with older men, meant she largely encountered ‘chivalry rather than chauvinism’. She said: ‘Our club is right by the sea so, on a glorious summer’s day, there is no better sport to play. ‘It is such a sociable hobby. I can’t think of any other sport where grandparents can take their grandchildren along and play together.’ The uniform of white tailored trousers, she says, is rather ‘old-fashioned’ and could do with an overhaul. But she admits with a smile that it was ‘really exciting’ when her Devon club introduced bright blue T-shirts. Miss Melmore, who was taught to play when she was nine by her father, said she had never encountered any sexism in the sport and that, playing with older men, meant she largely encountered ‘chivalry rather than chauvinism’ ‘It’s not exactly tie-dye tops, but we will get there eventually’, she says. ‘When I first started at county level, we would have to wear gloves, hats, tights, skirts and blouses – no trousers. ‘The rules were 20 years behind society.’ Miss Melmore is in a long-term relationship with Jamie Chestney, 27, a fellow bowls player and Commonwealth Games competitor for England, after meeting at a tournament in Cyprus several years ago. But when they tried to play mixed pairs for a year they ‘nearly strangled each other’ so now keep their work and personal lives separate. Both are now training in Glasgow in preparation for the games, which start on Wednesday. However, while Miss Melmore says there is a lot of ‘natural talent’ in the team, she also believes they would have been better prepared if they had received more funding from Sport England. She believes the Government was forced to cut back on funding for the Commonwealth Games after spending vast sums of money on the London 2012 Olympics. Miss Melmore, who must train in between her full-time job, because ‘there is no money in the sport’, said: ‘Unfortunately the funding from Sport England has been quite low this time around, as with other minority sports. ‘The London 2012 Olympics was heavily invested in, which is great and we did really well. I don’t want to take anything away from the Olympics. ‘But the money hasn’t been as free-flowing since then. ‘I think as a result quite a few smaller sports have not had as much funding as they did for Delhi.’ She said competitors from countries such as Australia, or the host city of Scotland, would be ‘better prepared’, having played in overseas tournaments over the winter. ‘In the last Games, the funding was one of the reasons we did so well. We could travel around the world playing against world-class players. ‘I should have been playing all winter like I did before Delhi and playing globally but, because we are so short of funding, we haven’t been able to do any international tournaments over the winter.’ She said it had been a ‘tough time’ for the squad, but that they were still hopeful of winning medals. ‘In the ideal world of course someone would be generous enough to sponsor us and allow me to train in the sport I love to do’, she said. But the ever-cheerful player heaped praise on the team of coaches and sports psychologists and said: ‘I play because I love the sport, not for money. If anything else, it keeps me out of trouble. ‘A medal of any colour would be amazing.’ Miss Melmore was a surprise gold medallist when she beat New Zealand’s world champion and world number one Val Smith to claim the title in Delhi four years ago. Growing up, she did ‘every sport under the sun’, including athletics, football hockey and swimming, including at county level. But when her father introduced her to bowls when she was still at primary school she fell in love with it and, at the age of 15, she was forced to pick her many hobbies. ‘It was hard to choose between swimming and bowls but, when I was told I was going to have to start swimming before school, it was all over. ‘Bowls is my hobby, I really love it.
Natalie Melmore is England’s reigning champion .
Was surprise winner of singles competition at 2010 Commonwealth Games .
She said: ‘A lot of people still think bowls is exclusively for old people'
By . Louise Eccles . It was once the sport of choice for retired gentlemen across Britain’s leafy villages. But 24-year-old Natalie Melmore hopes to transform the fusty image of lawn bowls this week when she steps out on to the green for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The glamorous sportswoman is England’s reigning champion after she became the surprise winner of the singles competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in Delhi. Natalie Melmore, 24, hopes to transform the fusty image of lawn bowls this week when she steps out on to the green for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She is a law and criminology graduate who has worked as a waitress to support herself . Now, Miss Melmore says she hopes her presence on Team England this summer will inspire young women to take up a sport, which is traditionally played by people many decades older than herself. She will play in singles and pairs when the Games begin on Wednesday. The sales manager, of Newton Abbott, Devon, is a law and criminology graduate who has worked as a waitress to support herself, and trains in her spare time . She said: ‘A lot of people still think bowls is exclusively for old people. ‘I’m working really hard to try to change that perception and speak to young kids in schools. ‘The problem is people do not want to try a sport where people take the mick out of them. Peer pressure is a big thing. ‘It is not a sport which impresses your friends at the moment. Unfortunately bowls isn’t as glamorous as other sports.’ To prove her point, she recalls a time when she appeared on BBC’s Newsround to promote bowls as an 11-year-old child. ‘I got a bit of stick about that at school’, she said. Miss Melmore at an award ceremony after winning gold in the women's lawn bowls singles during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, 2010 . ‘Even now, I sometimes feel I have to justify why I play bowls to people by saying I am successful at it and that I play competitively.’ Her unlikely appearance for a bowls player, however, has its advantages, she says. ‘I joke that I should hustle older players by showing up at clubs and offering to play a quick game against someone for cash. ‘No one would suspect I was any good. Maybe if I get short of money...’. Miss Melmore, who was taught to play when she was nine by her father, said she had never encountered any sexism in the sport and that, playing with older men, meant she largely encountered ‘chivalry rather than chauvinism’. She said: ‘Our club is right by the sea so, on a glorious summer’s day, there is no better sport to play. ‘It is such a sociable hobby. I can’t think of any other sport where grandparents can take their grandchildren along and play together.’ The uniform of white tailored trousers, she says, is rather ‘old-fashioned’ and could do with an overhaul. But she admits with a smile that it was ‘really exciting’ when her Devon club introduced bright blue T-shirts. Miss Melmore, who was taught to play when she was nine by her father, said she had never encountered any sexism in the sport and that, playing with older men, meant she largely encountered ‘chivalry rather than chauvinism’ ‘It’s not exactly tie-dye tops, but we will get there eventually’, she says. ‘When I first started at county level, we would have to wear gloves, hats, tights, skirts and blouses – no trousers. ‘The rules were 20 years behind society.’ Miss Melmore is in a long-term relationship with Jamie Chestney, 27, a fellow bowls player and Commonwealth Games competitor for England, after meeting at a tournament in Cyprus several years ago. But when they tried to play mixed pairs for a year they ‘nearly strangled each other’ so now keep their work and personal lives separate. Both are now training in Glasgow in preparation for the games, which start on Wednesday. However, while Miss Melmore says there is a lot of ‘natural talent’ in the team, she also believes they would have been better prepared if they had received more funding from Sport England. She believes the Government was forced to cut back on funding for the Commonwealth Games after spending vast sums of money on the London 2012 Olympics. Miss Melmore, who must train in between her full-time job, because ‘there is no money in the sport’, said: ‘Unfortunately the funding from Sport England has been quite low this time around, as with other minority sports. ‘The London 2012 Olympics was heavily invested in, which is great and we did really well. I don’t want to take anything away from the Olympics. ‘But the money hasn’t been as free-flowing since then. ‘I think as a result quite a few smaller sports have not had as much funding as they did for Delhi.’ She said competitors from countries such as Australia, or the host city of Scotland, would be ‘better prepared’, having played in overseas tournaments over the winter. ‘In the last Games, the funding was one of the reasons we did so well. We could travel around the world playing against world-class players. ‘I should have been playing all winter like I did before Delhi and playing globally but, because we are so short of funding, we haven’t been able to do any international tournaments over the winter.’ She said it had been a ‘tough time’ for the squad, but that they were still hopeful of winning medals. ‘In the ideal world of course someone would be generous enough to sponsor us and allow me to train in the sport I love to do’, she said. But the ever-cheerful player heaped praise on the team of coaches and sports psychologists and said: ‘I play because I love the sport, not for money. If anything else, it keeps me out of trouble. ‘A medal of any colour would be amazing.’ Miss Melmore was a surprise gold medallist when she beat New Zealand’s world champion and world number one Val Smith to claim the title in Delhi four years ago. Growing up, she did ‘every sport under the sun’, including athletics, football hockey and swimming, including at county level. But when her father introduced her to bowls when she was still at primary school she fell in love with it and, at the age of 15, she was forced to pick her many hobbies. ‘It was hard to choose between swimming and bowls but, when I was told I was going to have to start swimming before school, it was all over. ‘Bowls is my hobby, I really love it.
sportswoman is England’s reigning champion after she became the surprise winner of the singles competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in . She said: ‘A lot of people still think bowls is exclusively for old people. ‘I’m working really