Kyabram teenager Olivia Cartwright will make Moama Bowling Club her new home in 2022-23.
Cartwright is aiming to be the second female, alongside Cassandra Millerick, to be included in the club’s Premier League team in the elite Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields competition.
She and Millerick were teammates at the weekend when they contested a three-test series against NSW on the rink that Cartwright will call home later this year.
Cartwright bowled with Jodie Fruend, Emma Simmonds and Lisa Phillips in the three tests, winning one and losing two others. Millerick was the skip on another rink for the series.
Last month she was involved in four winning test teams, as Victoria dominated Tasmania in a five test series.
Victoria won four of the five matches and Cartwright’s rink also won four matches.
Cartwright won the state Under 18 title in April when she beat Sunbury’s Akasha Fortune.
She was also the Under 18 girls’ pair winner this year, with Crewick’s Dusty Taylor-Irwin, and combined with Cameron Keenan and Jacob Brighton to win the Under 18 open triples event.
The trio will play together again next month in a schools event.
Cartwright, who turned 18 in June and is a school captain at Kyabram P-12 College, is crossing from Goulburn Valley club Tatura Hill Top to play with Moama in the competition that is based primarily in Bendigo.
Her brothers, Jake and Josh, and father, David, will all play with Kyabram this year in pennant competition.
Cartwright will not be a walk-up start for the team, which is coached by Millerick’s fiancé and Scottish international, Kevin Anderson.
The team led the Bendigo Premier League competition for much of the 2021-22 season, before being bundled out in the finals.
Three rinks of four bowlers represented Victoria at Moama on Saturday, but both states were missing members due to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Cartwright has already signalled her intention to aim for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria.
She has been involved in two rounds of test match bowls, using them as a lead-up to the Under 18 national titles in October.
Cartwright’s brother, Josh, is trying out for the Victorian side.
Both will play for the Victorian secondary schools team, with younger sibling Jake an emergency.
That event is on September 12 at Sunbury — three teams of five representing the state.
Jacob Brighton from Echuca and Rochester’s Cameron Keenan are also in the Sporting Schools Victoria team.
Keenan will also be playing with Moama this year after a year at Kangaroo Flat.