Josh Cartwright, 16, already with two years of division one experience under his belt at Tatura Hilltop, will play alongside his 12-year-old brother Jacob — who debuted in the same team at the top level last season — and and another Kyabram P-12 College “grade sixer’’, 12-year-old Charlie Boswood.
It will be Charlie’s debut at division one level, with the Kyabram outfit due to tackle Stanhope this weekend.
Stanhope has another two teenagers, 16-year-olds Jorja Ponton and Hayley Hancock, who will also be involved in the fixture.
All five bowlers, along with Henry Boswood, 14, the elder brother of Charlie and 12-year-old Liam McInnes will all play weekend pennant bowls this season.
Henry Boswood has been selected in the division four team and Liam will play in Division four.
Division one skip David Cartwright will play alongside his sons, while Darren Boswood will also play with his son, Charlie.
Liam McInnes will no doubt have ambitions to join his father, Paul, who is a leading bowler with the division one team.
Six-year-old Oliver McInnes already has his own uniform and is practising feverishly to match the exploits of his father and older brother.
All seven district teengers are part of the David Cartwright-coached Goulburn Murray Devils, a development program for Under-18 lawn bowlers, which has weekly sessions on a Monday afternoon.
If not for the weekend’s abandoned first round of the 2022-23 season the youngsters would have already created some sort of a record — significantly lowering the average age of the new-look Kyabram team.
Goulburn Murray association officials abandoned opening rounds of the Goulburn Valley and Murray playing areas because of the big wet and imminent floods.
The Cartwright brothers and Charlie Boswood, along with division two player and division four’s Jacob Cartwright, Charlie Boswood and Liam Francis, were all skippers in the winning primary division team at the Victorian School Sports lawn bowls championships.
Kyabram P-12 College has won the last two primary school titles and is the only school to have ever claimed the senior and junior secondary, and primary, state titles in the same year.
Liam, Charlie and Jacob all played in back-to-back Victorian primary schools championship teams.
This year they started at Rochester, then travelled to Swan Hill for the regional final and, finally, won the state final at Sunbury.
Paul McInnes said the club welcomed the involvement of junior lawn bowlers and extended an open invitation to the Thursday evening training sessions.
David Cartwright and his Goulburn Murray Devils squad are regularly involved in tournament play with the other 15 Victorian country regions.
Apart from Kyabram and Stanhope, players from Shepparton, Numurkah and Benalla are all involved in the program.
He said there was a strong pathway for young lawn bowlers to follow, and plenty of success stories — including his own 18-year-old daughter, Olivia, fresh off an outstanding tournament with the state team where she was named the top female player.
The highly lucrative BBL and Ultimate Bowls League also offer financial incentive to reach the elite level of the sport.
Olivia Cartwright, another to be involved in the all-conquering Kyabram P-12 lawn bowls dynasty, has also recently been given a hint she could see be part of the Emerging Jackaroos squad — one step blow the national team.
Eighteen-year-old Olivia will this year play with the Moama Steamers in the Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields top flight, its Premier League.
She is part of that squad with two other district teenagers, Rochester’s Cameron Keenan and Echuca bowling prodigy Jacob Brighton.
David Cartwright said the fact these kids were being given opportunities to play high-level competition stood them in good stead for a bright future in the sport.
“The experience they get from competing at a high standard is invaluable,” he said.
As for their more senior competition, Cartwright said it was more of a steep learning curve for them than it was for the juniors.
“They are often asking ‘how do I talk to a junior, how do I sit down and have a beer with him after the game?’ It makes it a bit of a challenge,” he said.
“As for the kids, well they more than hold their own.”
