WINNING the All-Ireland U18 boys’ road bowling title has a lot of perks, Shane Crowley smiles, as he gets ready to represent Ireland at this weekend’s King and Queen of the Roads Festival in Ballincurrig.
‘I can’t wait for it,’ the Schull bowler said, as he picked up a West Cork Sports Star monthly award at the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery on Monday night. It’s another trophy to add to his impressive collection.
‘I’m teaming up with Emma Hurley, who won the All-Ireland U18 girls’ title, and we’ll take on teams from Germany and The Netherlands.
‘That's the bonus of winning an All-Ireland – you get to bowl in a competition like this and represent Ireland.’
Crowley and Hurley will combine their talents in the Proto Mark Youth International Triple Crown on Sunday morning, and it will be the latest chance to show what he can do on the big stage. They will be up against Max oude Engberink and Lotte Telgenhof oude Koehorst (The Netherlands) and Tomke Harms and Jannis Saat (Germany).
The Schull teen (18) is coming off the back of his best year yet as he captured the All-Ireland U18 title in August, beating Tyrone’s Eoghan McVeigh in the final in Armagh. This meant a lot to Crowley as he had come up short in the 2024 All-Ireland final.
‘After losing last year’s final, I didn’t want to lose two in a row,’ he says, drawing on the experience of 2024 to pull through in this year’s final.
‘I had bowled up on that road (Keady–Tassagh road) before so I know what it was like, and I had also competed in Ulster before so all that experience helps.’
The road surfaces are different, he explains.
‘It was smooth as glass up there, whereas down here our roads are a bit rougher,’ he says, but he took it all in his stride, using his power to surge one bowl up after four throws. While McVeigh hung in there, and closed to within 50 metres at one stage, Crowley wasn’t going to be denied.
‘It was a relief when I won,’ he says.
‘If I had lost another All-Ireland, after winning two counties, it would have been disappointing.’
With back-to-back Munster U18 titles, and now an All-Ireland crown, Crowley is making people sit up and take notice. Next year he’ll compete in the junior A grade, but this weekend it’s all about flying the Schull flag on the big stage.
