From the classroom to the rinks: Lawn bowler enjoys thrills of sport

The 67-year-old joined the Terang Bowls Club five years ago after a near three-decade career as a teacher in the south-west town and he hasn't looked back, filling various positions both on and off the greens.

He said he enjoyed the camaraderie of playing in the club's Western District Playing Area division one team and meeting new people from across the region, whether opposition or new teammates.

"It's a nice, great club here at Terang, we work together nicely and have a great supportive group involved," he told The Standard prior to the team's match against Lawn Green at the Lawn Tennis Bowls Club in Warrnambool on Tuesday, November 21.

"It's just nice country people who enjoy each other's company and that's really important to us. I really enjoy it. It's my first and will be my only club."

Downie said he enjoyed the tactical side of the game after first picking up a bowl years earlier and believed experience in other sports had helped his performance.

"I started out initially playing in the corporate bowls, I was a teacher in Terang for 27 years, played bowls and when I retired I got involved with the club," he said.

"There's a lot of tactics and coaching in the sport, strategies and so forth within the club environment.

"Playing corporate bowls I picked it up pretty well, it helps playing a lot of other sports too. I played a lot of tennis and a lot of volleyball over my time.

"I have a physical education background and that sort of stuff which has helped me."

Downie's Terang Blue team put up a strong fight on Tuesday against Lawn Green in round seven action, but were defeated 65-57 away from home.

In other results from the round across the day, City Diamonds proved too strong for Warrnambool Gold with an 82-31 win, City Sapphires edged out Port Fairy Gold to win 55-49 and Timboon Maroon secured a strong 65-41 victory against Koroit Orange.

After seven completed division one rounds, City Diamonds remain the team to beat and after undefeated, with Timboon Maroons the challenger at this stage with just the one loss, while Port Fairy Gold are still searching for its first victory of the season.