Lorna is aiming for success in Scotland squad
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LORNA Cormack remains the only female bowler from Thurso to have won a Scottish call-up in a career which spans three decades.
Considered the number one women’s bowls player in the north of Scotland, she is the only Highlander in the Scotland squad who will compete in next month’s home internationals in Edinburgh.
She made her international comeback last year after taking a break from seeking national selection in 1990. But coming from a passionate bowling family, she could not resist seeking to return to the national stage.
Her parents, Tom and Marjorie McDermid, are both accomplished bowlers, along with her son, Danny, who became the first man from Thurso to win the Northern Counties championship in 2015.
Last year, Lorna won four caps at the home internationals when Scotland came second after beating Ireland, Jersey and Wales and losing out to overall champions England.
Bowling in front of a passionate home crowd next month, Lorna hopes to be part of the Scotland team that can go one better.
She said: "We got beaten by England by just two shots last year, which was agonising as we annihilated Ireland as well as beating Jersey and Wales.
"Hopefully on home soil we can do it, as we were so close last year. I am quite optimistic about our chances."
The 51-year-old took up the sport at the age of 13 and, with the encouragement of her parents, she was three years later called up to represent her country at junior level in 1986, the following year becoming the Scottish women’s junior champion.
Lorna put her international career on hold to start a family, though she continued to figure prominently in local and regional tournaments.
Last year, she was persuaded by her son to take part in the national trials which saw her chosen for the home international squad for the first time.
She said: "I’ve played bowls since I was 13 and would say I have improved with age. I have played continuously over the last 30 years but not at a high level as now, and there was about seven years when I wasn’t playing competitively.
"However, when I got my son interested in bowls, it led to us being down the bowling green all the time.
"Due to the success Danny has achieved in the sport, he encouraged me to get back into it and is one of the reasons why I’m representing Scotland again."
Lorna was one of three bowlers from the north of Scotland invited to travel to the trials in Edinburgh in a squad dominated by players from the central belt.
Her quality shone through in the two games she played, and she was delighted to later receive a letter notifying her of her call-up.
"It was a tough selection process," she said.
"We each had to play two matches and every bowl we threw was judged during the trials."
"I was only one of three female bowlers from the north of Scotland to be invited, with the other two coming from Nairn and Turriff.
"The rest of the shortlist all came from the central belt and even though i'm the only person from the north to be picked, i'm proud to be representing the area in the Scotland squad."
The home internationals are seen as a marker for the sport’s two biggest events, the world championships and Commonwealth Games.
Lorna has no ambitions to compete at those events, but hopes she can continue representing her country.
"The home internationals are seen as the stepping stone to those events," she said.
"But I am quite happy being picked for the home international squad.
"I would like to continue being selected as it would mean going to Jersey and Ireland to play in the tournament, but I hope we can win it on home soil first."
