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“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>About 14 years ago in this bowling

column, I coined the phrase: “Everybody plays — nobody

sits.”

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>I was referring of course to Youth

Bowling.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>What prompted it was I watched my then

6-year-old son, Brandon, sit the bench when he played baseball and

basketball, and feel bad about himself. But then he would get up

early every Saturday morning and head to Manor Lanes to bowl on his

team in the Kid’s League. He was so excited he could hardly wait to

get there.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>Why the difference in attitude?

Because, he knew when he went, he would always get to play. It

didn’t matter if he tossed ball after ball in the gutter and

couldn’t make a spare — much less throw a strike. The fact

remained; he always played every frame of every game.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>Knowing he had that opportunity to play

no matter what the outcome prompted him to want to practice. And,

of course, as he practiced he got better. And when he got better, I

bought him his own ball, bag and shoes. And that made him even

better at the game.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>And even more exciting, the league took

him to tournaments around the state, and he grew to be more

competitive and knowledgeable about the sport.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>Eventually, he rolled his first 300

game at age 12.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>Now, if that is not a marker of

success, I can offer you nothing else.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>During those formative years, he got

great instruction from Dave Show at Manor Lanes, and he was

mothered and treated with the highest respect by Lynn Halasz, who

ran the league at the time, and then Toni Barry, who worked with

the kids at Mt. Vernon Bowl when he started to roll

there.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>Today, that same attitude is still the

mainstay of every bowling house in the area with a Youth League

dedicated coaches and caring staff.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>And, Brandon, and Jennifer Barry, who

just tossed the first 800 series by a woman in Fayette County, are

just two of thousands of area kids who over the last 10 years have

used Youth League bowling as a grounds to help them mature and

develop their skills for success. 

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>It really doesn’t take a rocket

scientist to figure out that if you give the kids something to do

and they enjoy doing it, it will keep them busy enough to stay out

of trouble. That is why one of the best pieces of advice a

counselor will give a parent is to get the children involved in

sports. The time the boys and girls spend practicing and playing an

organized sport while they are growing up occupies them and doesn’t

allow them too much of the other time in which to get in

trouble.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>It is a pretty sure bet that if Dad or

Mom played what I call the “Big Three” — football, basketball or

baseball — at the high school or college level, it doesn’t take

much to get Junior interested. I mean, it is almost expected that

the kids in the family will also play.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>But, there are two drawbacks to these

sports that we don’t find in bowling. The first is football has

sometimes 50 players on the roster, but only 22 play regularly

during a game. The others sit on the bench. Basketball might have

15 on the roster, but only five get on the court at game time.

Baseball is just the same. Not everyone gets to play.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>The second drawback is that age will

eventually catch up with an athlete in these sports. After a

certain time, it just becomes physically impossible to play those

sports and play them well. That is why bowling and golf are so

popular. You can play them and play them well even at 80 years

old.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>But, bowling is completely alone when

it comes to social skills. It is not too often that a guy will ask

a girl out on a date to play football. Or even golf, for that

matter. But bowling? Well, it is a social game, played by anyone at

any age.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>So, the end result is that while all

sports are great for youth development. If you want to give your

youngsters an advantage for their future lives and careers, rent

them a pair of bowling shoes and put them on the lanes. When you

see how much they love the sport, enroll them in a Bowling Youth

league at any bowling establishment close to you, and just watch

what happens.

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>And, the best part? Everybody plays,

nobody sits. That just can’t be beat.

BOWLING

NEWS

“font-family: Dutch811 BT;”>Uniontown resident Gary George writes a

establishments.