NORM PASCOE

May 27, 2011

Described by some good scholars of the game as one of the best seconds to represent Western Australia, Norm Pascoe certainly made the position his own in the eighties and early nineties, playing the position a hundred and fifteen times in the black and gold, after making his debut in 1985, with Steve Shroy as skip, accompanied by John Caffell and Kim Jones.

It wasn't the first time Pascoe had donned State colours, however.

As a centre half back with Midland he had played interstate amateurs, and looked set for a league stint at Swans, but only managed a couple of reserves games in the black and white before a crook back put paid to any ambitions of playing league.

During his football days he locked horns on many occasions with a diminutive rover from Wundowie, who was later to be a formidable opponent on the bowling green, before becoming a club and State teammate on numerous occasions, as well as partnering Pascoe in a State fours championship and a Gold Coast Carnival Fours.

"Sardy was a good player, after the Haydn Bunton style, but a bit quicker," Norm remembers of Peter Sardelic. "He'd get about a hundred kicks a game, but they would cover about ten metres, he'd almost be kicking it to himself, he'd get there first and kick it again."

Norm was also a capable cricketer, but gave it away as a teenager. "It was too bloody hot out there fielding all day, I preferred swimming," he said.

A coachbuilder with Western Australian Government Railways, Norm grew up in Midland, and wandered down to the Morrison Park Bowling Club one Sunday at the age of forty one, with his father, Bill, who was a foundation member of the club. "I couldn't practice much, because I wasn't able to get to the club as much as I'd have liked, so I went to Bedford two years later," he said. The bowls disease grabbed hold of Pascoe at Grand Promenade, and he became a permanent fixture on the greens from day one. "I would pick Mick Payne's brains, as well as read all the coaching books, and practice, practice, practice," he said.

It paid off, because within two seasons he was playing in the Bedford top sixteen , which smoothly progressed to first division. Two years later he had a skippers berth, and won the State singles six years afterward, beating Ron Sexton in the final, a win that ultimately led to State selection.

After a stint at Scarborough, Pascoe moved to Safety Bay in 1989, and signed with Cockburn, where he resumed acquaintances with Sardelic. Part of the all conquering Cockburn combination for fourteen years, he eventually transferred closer to home at Safety Bay for two years, where he helped gain promotion to one red, before returning to the Roosters for three more seasons. He is now in his third year at Rockingham.

Like most of his era, Norm used the old Henselite bowls originally, but progressed to the modern bowls as his career blossomed. "I was sponsored by Henselite for some years, and would use all the new bowls," he said. "I'd pick them up and try them out."

Winner of the State fours in 1992 with Sardelic, Geoff Whyatt, and Alan Davis, Pascoe also partnered Marko Krajancic in a State pairs championship win, which, along with the singles title, he cherishes, but his personal highlight was the Gold Coast carnival. "It was awesome at Tweed Heads," he enthused. "Winning the fours and pairs there in front of thousands hanging from the rafters was out of this world."
Norm was partnered by John Ravlich in a memorable pairs win at the Gold Coast over Kelvin Kerkow and Rob Parrella in 1991, seven years after combining with Sardelic, Fred Ayres, and Merv Reid to win the fours at the same venue.

The Gold Coast also provided him with some humerous moments, including a couple of episodes involving the jack.

"At Musgrave Hill one day Keith Lemner was fourteen-eleven down," he recalled. "The green there is a level above the car park. Keith went for a drive, sprang the jack over the four foot wall into the parking area, and the sound of broken glass prompted an appraisal of the damage. On checking the scene, he discovered his opponent's brand new Mazda sporting a smashed windscreen."

"Keith didn't add to his score."

"On another occasion, on the first day of the Gold Coast Fours at Surfers Paradise, we played on the adjacent rink to a team of Kiwis. A drive from a burly member of the side resulted in the kitty shooting over the spiked fence onto Gold Coast Highway and smashing into a Ford Transit van. The puzzled driver pulled up, saying: "What the hell.." as the little white ball continued on it's merry way through the traffic lights. The driver could see the damage but hadn't a clue what caused it."

Norm also described some encounters with the reptile population.

"We were playing a Geraldton "all stars" team at Geraldton. A dugite wandered onto the green chasing a mouse, and Doc Adamson leapt onto the nearest chair, lost his footing, and an opposition player caught him."

"Another time at Darwin we were practicing for an interstate series when these two big bungarras made their way between heads without touching a bowl. The women quickly found their cameras and it looked more like a film set than a bowling green."

Pascoe has no hesitation in naming Bert Sharp as the best bowler he'd seen. "Bert was in my estimation the complete bowler," he said. "He had everything."

"I was playing in a State Singles one day at Midland in 1983. Bert was playing someone else on the next rink,. He turned to me during an early game and said: "See you tomorrow." I replied: "Gotta win today first," to which Bert responded: "I don't intend losing, do you?"

"The next day at Gosnells we played each other, and I was holding game with his last to come, but guess what, the maestro picked up a three to sink my singles hopes that year. We had a few ales together, because Bert didn't mind a drink, and he went out to play a second division bowler. I had a glance through the window, and there was Bert fourteen- seven down. I said to Bert: "You little shit. Bundle me up and now your getting done by a second division bowler?"

"He gave a knowing smile and raced to a twenty four-fourteen win."

Pascoe has also done his share of the behind the scenes club work. A delegate for Bedford for six years, he also served as President of the Bowls section at Cockburn. He is now heavily involved in coaching at Rockingham, as the club nurtures the many new bowlers they are attracting through an effective recruiting campaign.

He still keeps active, enjoying a regular swim, and can often be seen pedalling his pushbike around town.

You don't chalk up a ton of State games in any sport unless you've got a bit of ability, and Norm Pascoe certainly has his share of that, at seventy five still a leading skipper in first division pennants.

RON HEAD