Amy Pharaoh was just eight-years-old when her parents started taking her along to watch them play bowls every weekend.
“By the time I was nine,” she says today, “I was like; I’m not watching this anymore, give me a go.”
Almost four decades on, the 47-year-old from Lincolnshire is one of the planet’s greatest players. She has been inducted into the Bowls World Hall of Fame and has earned multiple international medals throughout a long and distinguished career.
Now, this summer, she is preparing for her fifth – and potentially final – Commonwealth Games. And she is hoping to finish on a high.
Pharaoh was just 14 when she reached her first England National Final and set off on her long and glorious journey. “I’ve always been a competitive person,” she says. “It first started out in leagues. My parents played in the A team, and I played in the C team. We used to go to village greens that were next to a pub, and the other players always bought me a packet of crisps and a can of pop.
“I absolutely loved it, everyone was really friendly, and, because it was the C team, it was a lot more fun.”
Among her triumphs since then have been gold medals at the world outdoor and indoor championships, gold at the European Championships, and gold at the British Isles championships. Last year, she was ranked as the 12th best player in the world.
Not bad when you consider, as a day job, Pharaoh is currently head of PE at Waltham Toll Bar Academy in Grimsby.
“My PE teachers were really inspirational at my secondary school,” she says. “I wanted to do what they do.”
For the first time, the 2026 Commonwealth Games – to be held this month in Glasgow – will feature bowls as an indoor sport. Pharaoh will be competing in the women’s pairs alongside teammate Sian Honnor. It will be her first time playing inside since having her son Harry in 2013.
“So, this is fifth Commonwealth Games, but it will be like my first,,” she says. “My dad and I were chatting about competing indoors, so I decided to throw my hat in the ring, have a go and see how it goes.
“Me and Sian played together a long time ago, so that’s a challenge in itself. We’re getting to know each other again and we’re moving in the right direction.”
Throughout the course of her competitive career, she has competed in countries all over the world, including in India, Australia and China.
“I’ve travelled to places that I would never have been to in a million years, and I am so grateful for that,” she says. “You get to experience a different culture in every country you compete in. We don’t get much time to explore – however I’ve seen a lot of bowls greens over the years.”
Of her favourite moments on the green, she says: “I always played with my mum before she passed away. Sharing that experience with someone so close to you is really unique and I never properly appreciated it as much as I should have done. You don’t realise how special it is until it’s gone…
“I also loved playing in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Me and Sophie Tolchard were involved in what other people have described as one of the best games of bowls they have seen – although we sadly lost to Australia on the very last bowl.”
Revenge was sweet, though. “The following year, we went to Australia for World Bowls and beat them in the final of the fours,” remembers Pharaoh. “That was a really big deal.”
To this day, Pharaoh remains a member of Cleethorpes Bowling Club. Glenys Bolt – who is also a club member and who has played with Pharaoh on many occasions – says: “She’s such a role model in everything she does. I feel very lucky that I get to play with her.”
And back with Paraoh herself, she is keen to encourage more people to get involved with the soort. “With a lot of sports it takes a long time to get somewhere,” she says. “But with bowls, there are opportunities to do really well. The pathway for competition and development is there, and there are no barriers.
“You can play with the older generation, you can play with children, you can play as a family. It’s such an accessible sport, and once you give it a go, you will get hooked.”
Now, she’s looking forward to the end of the school term and this summer’s games. “I’ll get myself out my comfort zone,” she says. “And I’ll go for it.”
