Lee Schraner

Schraner began bowls in December 1994 at Mount Cottrell Bowling Club, located in the outskirts of Melton and Rockbank.[3] After a squad omission Schraner retired from bowls in 2011 to concentrate on his business career. He later returned to the sport and won the 2019 World Singles Champion of Champions, beating Tony Cheung in the final,[4] and the 2019 National fours.

He played 206 test matches for Victoria from 2004-2013 and 91 test matches for Tasmania (2014–2019) and is the coach of Bendigo East.[1]

Schraner represented Australia at Under 25 level and Open Men's Level on numerous occasions, but yielded only one official cap for his Country. He became the 132nd male to represent Australia in Lawn Bowls when he led in the pairs for Mark Jacobsen against England, in the "Battle on the Border" at Moama Bowling Club.

In 2006 Schraner represented the Australian Under 25 side against New Zealand in Christchurch. He skipped the Fours & Triples, winning 3 matches and losing 3 matches. Overall, Australia won the series 3-0. Schraner was again named in the 2007 Australian Under 25 side, the only to remain from the 2006 side, handed skipping duties in the Triples and the coveted Singles role. With two wins and a tie in the Triples, on top of an unblemished Singles record, Schraner again helped the Australian side record consecutive 3-0 series victories.

After a distinguished Under 25 career, Schraner was rewarded with Australian Squad Men's Selection in 2008, where he remained in the squad until he was omitted in 2011. He became available for National Selection in 2014 after a string of impressive results at both State & National level. In July 2018 he was named in the Australian Jackaroos Emerging Squad (the tier below the Open squad), but after just one year, he was omitted in June 2019. At age 37, he retired indefinitely from National duties.[5]

Schraner has represented Australia at Under 25 level and Open level on 41 occasions, but only one of those matches was an officially capped match. His single capped match was his 13th International appearance. Of the 41 matches, 31 were in Singles, 6 were in Triples, 3 were in Fours and 1 was in Pairs. 28 of Schraner's matches were in the 2018 & 2019 World Champion of Champions Singles, where he qualified by winning back-to-back 2017 & 2018 Australian Champion of Champions Singles. Schraner lost just 6 of his 41 matches in Australian colours and just 2 of his 31 Singles matches, highlighting a 94% win record as an International Singles player.

Schraner has been a prolific winner of State and National titles for more than a decade. To date, he has won 15 National level Gold Medals and 18 State level Gold Medals:

Schraner completed Secondary School at Kurunjang Secondary College in Melton, Victoria in 1999. He later attended Deakin University where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce (2000–2002) with majors in Commercial Law, Accounting, Finance & Financial Planning. Schraner is now a GST Specialist and licensed BAS Agent, running his own business from home called LJ Schraner Group, a bookkeeping service specialising in Uber, Ola and Drive Share operations.

Schraner has been a published author on four occasions:

Schraner was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Clinical Depression, and Psychomotor Retardation, after suffering a nervous breakdown in 2003. He publicly shares his battles with mental health on his personal facebook page, attempting to breakdown the stigma of Men's Mental Health.[9] Schraner is also an openly gay athlete, known for his support of the movement to legalise Gay Marriage in Australia.[10]