A New Zealander whose scope of contribution to bowls over his lifetime has been massive, Kerry Clark is a true giant of the game. Kerry’s involvement in so many areas of our sport is unparalleled.  

Kerry was New Zealand’s youngest international player at 21 years of age when first selected for the World Bowls Men’s championship in Worthing, England in 1972. He was a gold medalist in the Christchurch (New Zealand) 1974 Commonwealth Games men’s fours with Dave Baldwin, Jack Somerville and Gordon Jolly. Kerry also narrowly missed singles medals at both World Bowls 1976 in South Africa and at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.  

In 1980, Kerry became a New Zealand selector and team manager during their golden era in the men’s game with unparalleled success at World Bowls 1984 in Aberdeen, Scotland, and 1988 in Auckland New Zealand, and strong performances in the 1982 (Brisbane, Australia), 1986 (Edinburgh, Scotland) and 1990 Commonwealth Games (Auckland, New Zealand).  

Kerry first joined the International Bowling Board in 1982 and was president from 1988 – 1990. He became Chair of the New Zealand Bowling Association in 1992 and CEO in 1996 a position he held until 2018 by which time it had become Bowls New Zealand, governing the amalgamated sport. With the establishment of World Bowls in 2000, Kerry became a board member and led New Zealand’s hosting of the 2008 and 2016 amalgamated World Bowls championships held in Christchurch, along with a host of other World Bowls initiatives including regional championships.  

Kerry also became involved in leading the World Bowls Laws Committee and supervised the revision processes for the editions. He was also the World Bowls Technical Lead at many international events and successive Commonwealth Games. The latter included the 1998 edition in Kuala Lumpur where he worked with Tun Ahmad and his organising team, and the 2010 edition in New Delhi, where Kerry had worked with Raj Bengani before his passing, and directly led the development of the bowls infrastructure with fellow Kiwi Bill Fowlie.