24 | T H E B A R O SSA MA G
>> Angaston Bowling Club member, Liam Buckley.
He may be confined to a wheel chair,
but that hasn’t stopped Liam Buckley
from living his life to the full and
achieving goals many of his able-bodied
counterparts would struggle to reach.
Born and raised in Angaston, this
bearded Barossan on wheels is not only
on-trend when it comes to his facial
hair, he’s also among the best lawn
bowlers on the green, thanks to his
bull-dog like determination which has
led him to reaching the pinnacle of his
sport – a world title victory.
It’s not a bad effort for the 28 year old
who was diagnosed with muscular
dystrophy around two decades ago.
“My physical education teacher at
Angaston Primary School picked up on
it because I used to fall over a lot, for no
reason. My dad’s family doctor...his wife
was a specialist so she got us in touch
with a renowned neurologist. I got a
blood test taken and that’s when I was
diagnosed. Pretty sure I was seven, just
turning eight.”
Being a big fan of cricket, it was heart
breaking to discover he wouldn’t be
able to get out on the pitch. But when
Liam’s father, Christopher, a former
Angaston Bowling Club member and
premiership player, introduced his son
to the bowling green, his sporting talent
quickly revealed itself.
He was also led to the game of 8-ball
and found that both sports offered
more than a fun pastime with fewer
physical demands.
“With these sports, generally the people
you play with are a lot older than what
you are,” explains Liam.
“That was a really good learning
experience for me, I matured a lot
quicker than I perhaps might have
otherwise and could hold decent
conversations with adults at a much
younger age. I think that made getting
along with people and forming
relationships, particularly in the
workplace and stuff like that, easy.
It’s a big attribute of mine now.
“It’s had more benefit to me than
I could have imagined at the time.
Obviously back then I just liked playing
the game, it was entertainment, but all
those other things that come with
it were of great benefit as well.”
Whilst Liam loved 8 ball, by the time
he reached the age of 15, he simply
couldn’t stand up long enough to play
anymore and had to give it away.
But lawn bowls was a different story,
there was nothing that would keep this
young gun off the green and Angaston
Bowling Club members rallied to
ensure he could “stay in the game”.
“They were really good… A lot of those
older blokes out there looked out for
me. There was a couple of fellas, like
Brian Teakle and Brian Bowden….when
I could no longer walk the length of the
green and thought that was the end of
it, I can’t do it anymore, they actually
came around to my house and sat down
with me and my parents and said we’ll
just get you on there with that gopher,
we can modify that. Just to keep him
involved with the game…I had a gopher
thing that I zipped around high school.”
Liam was eventually forced out of
the gopher and into a wheelchair
permanently when his muscles
deteriorated further, but the situation
opened up a whole new world for the
young bowler.
He says all the “stars aligned” when his
talent was discovered by “a lovely old
lady” who was a coach at a junior bowls
event he attended.
“I was about 14 or 15 and she obviously
recognised I had a disability and she
didn’t care. She just came up to me and
asked if I was interested in joining the
state team. They’re called the Wombats
- the South Australian Multi-disability
Lawn Bowls team.
“I said I suppose. I didn’t know such a
team existed… I didn’t even have a bowls
chair. The one I did have, if I used it
nowadays, they’d have a heart attack,
it was so illegal!
“I got involved in the training and
once I was exposed at that higher
level, it was just a rapid improvement
straight away. I got to play against the
best state bowlers who were all pretty
handy. National winners, Australian
representatives, even a Paralympic
bronze medalist – they were all there
at the time and they were teaching me.”
Again, there were important life lessons
to be learnt from such senior players,
particularly the important mental side
of the game and the need to be level
headed.
“More between the ears, because
when you are younger, you’re just a
bull at a gate and if you are getting beat,
you tend to spit the chewy and throw
the toys out of the cot! It was a sharp
learning curve.”
Meanwhile, Liam was excelling at
school with his eyes fixed firmly on
the career he was drawn to from an
early age.
“I always had a fascination with crime…
catching crooks. I would have liked to
be a copper but because I physically
wasn’t able, I thought I would become
a lawyer.
“I got into Flinder’s Law and lived at the
College. I was lucky Foundation Barossa
gave me a scholarship and I had a secret
benefactor…. I’m very thankful because
without that, I simply wouldn’t have
been able to do what I did.”
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