Hilary King (born 1931) is a Welsh bowler and, as first woman President of the World Indoor Bowls Council (2001) and the first woman to be given Honorary Life Membership of the World Indoor Bowls Council, a pioneer for women in the sport.

Early life

Born Hilary Pomeroy and raised in

Treherbert Treherbert () is a village and community situated at the head of the Rhondda Fawr valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historically part of Glamorgan, Treherbert is a former industrial coal mining village which was at its eco ...

, the daughter of local shopkeepers, King took up outdoor

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

in the mid 1960s.

Career

Although an accomplished bowler in her own right, King's main contribution to the sport has been as an administrator. Starting as Secretary of Treherbert Ladies Outdoor Club (1976–94), she became Secretary of Glamorgan County Bowls Association (1980–85) and soon became Secretary of Rhondda Indoor Bowls (1982–84) while simultaneously National Tournament Secretary (1982–85). In 1985 she became Secretary of the Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowling Association, a post she still holds. She was in addition, the Secretary of British Isles Women’s Indoor Bowls Council (2000–03). Keen to promote the sustainability of the sport, in the 2000s King set up and organised the annual Welsh Ladies Junior Singles and the World Junior Singles Tournament (named the Wilf Pomeroy Trophy after Hilary's father, the mixed Under 16 Club Leagues and, determined also to promote the benefits of sport for older people, she initiated the Welsh over 60’s Mixed Pairs Tournament. Aware of the power of the media, due to her efforts the Ladies National Bowls Singles event has been televised since 2003, which means that the sport can reach a wider audience and its popularity has been increased even further. In the 2008 Birthday Honours, King was awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in recognition for her services to Bowls in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

External links

Welsh Ladies Indoor Bowls Association website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Hilary Welsh female bowls players Members of the Order of the British Empire 1931 births Living people Sportspeople from Treherbert Welsh sports executives and administrators