Teenager Lily Dodd might be the brunt of the jokes at school but when she hits the bowls green there's no stopping her.
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While she cops flak for playing what many people label 'an old person's sport', she doesn't let it stop her from sticking at the game she's most passionate about.
"I get bagged everyday at school," Lily said.
"But you get to the point where you're like 'I can't be bothered with it (the criticism)', I play it because I love it (bowls)."
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The sport's uniqueness is actually one of the aspects she likes most about it.
"It's different and it's probably the only sport I'm good at," she said.
"You meet a lot of people and they become such good friends and you become a family, you learn so much and you're always improving your game."
The talented youngster, who hails from Melton Bowls Club, won a silver medal in the under 18 state championship triples this week at City Memorial.
The under 18 event rounded out the State Champions Week which saw bowlers of all ages converge in Warrnambool.
The event started Sunday and finished on Friday.
Lily's friend Alana Flapper also picked up a silver in the under 18 mixed pairs.
Alana described the grief she cops for playing bowls as "ridiculous".
"I'm going into year 12 and only very few people at school know I play bowls, that's because there's so much stigma - 'oh you're playing an old person's sport, you're playing with 40, 50, 60, 70-year-olds'," she said of the criticism.
"I'm like 'yeah I am but that's because I love it'."
The teenager challenged doubters to get to a green and see how many young people have become involved in the game.
"Come and watch, come and watch a game and you'll realise it's not an old person's sport," she said.
Lily added bowls was on the rise.
"There's a new generation coming and the game is expanding, we're getting more competitive," the 14-year-old said.
"It's not just a game we're playing for fun anymore, it's becoming bigger."
Oscar Jones, from Ballarat and who plays for Yarraville-Footscray Bowling Club, said he typically played alongside bowlers in their 20s and 30s.
He noticed an increase in players from that age bracket about two years ago.
"When you find you're in the higher divisions lots of them are of a younger age in their 20s and 30s, there's a lot of them," he said.
"It's becoming more a younger person's sport."
Bendigo East Bowling Club's Bailee Randell said it was the same in Bendigo.
"Especially at Bendigo East there's a lot more young division one players," he said.
Baillee believes the under 18 championships are part of the reason why more youngsters are inspired to pick up a bowl.
"They see young kids having a go," the 13-year-old said.
Alana, at Essendon Bowls Club, has also noticed the trend in recent years.
"There's been such a good grounding from under 18s and things like that, that there's so many people in their mid-20s and early 30s playing - you see that across the whole state and Australia," she said.
The talk might be about those between 20 and 40 years old but Alana highlighted the participation at under 18 level.
"As much as it's classified as an old person's sport, the amount of under 18s coming in and coming through the ranks, it's wonderful," she said. "The social aspect of bowls is incredible and the competition is something to be so proud of."
While Lily and Alana receive a fair bit of grief for playing bowls, Oscar and Bailee said they barely received any.
Bailee is rather a bowls recruiter.
"I've encouraged them (my friends) to actually come and try it," he said.
"And they're actually enjoying it."
All four put plenty of time into improving their game.
Lily and Alana said they played about five days a week. "I used to play tennis but bowls took over, I love bowls too much to do anything else," Alana said with a smile.
Oscar plays three days a week, including travel to Yarraville-Footscray in Melbourne, a couple of times a week.
Bailee has a busy schedule and plays cricket.
The youngster from Rochester has been playing bowls since he was three years old thanks to his dad, Chris, who represented Australia.
"Every time I went to watch Dad, I always wanted to go on the green when I was about five or six," he said. "I couldn't because I wasn't playing that day and I was a bit disappointed and started sooking because I wanted to go on the green."
But Bailee didn't have to wait long as he started playing pennant when he was about seven.
Oscar started playing when he was eight.
"My dad and my pop played and I started playing with them and then my nan joined," he said.
Lily, who started as a fill-in when she was eight, has had four generations of bowlers come before her.
"So I've grown up watching my dad play pennant and all his tournaments," she said.
"I thought I'd give it a go and was somewhat decent at it." Family was also the reason Alana got involved.
She explained she was around indoor bowls when she was young and starting getting into the outdoor game when she was nine.
"It was through my uncle, my dad, my mum, pretty much everyone in my family plays," she said.
Her uncle, Matt Flapper, has represented Australia.
Oscar and Bailee agreed offering more opportunities for young people to get involved in bowls was key to increasing participation.
"Have some more tournaments, get clubs to do roll-up events, barefoot bowls, work events," Oscar said.
Bailee suggested getting schools involved.
"Doing school trips and having a school event," he said.
"Our school at Rochester did that, we went to Moama for the day and had a couple of games."