Jane’s Story

I started my actual bowling career by competing in my favorite league that I bowled with my mom was actually the first one I ever bowled. It was a parent child league and you also got a free bowling ball from it. One of my friends at the time wanted to do it with me and I was so excited to try something new. And I sucked. I could barely keep it on the lane and I barely even knocked the pins down. That did not stop me though and I powered through. I kept working I joined another league after that one was finished and that is where I met a couple people that I would call my friends, my coaches, and my bowling family. It was a Saturday morning league, like my mom bowled, but this time it was located at Harvest Lanes. I got help from other bowlers, older kids in the league, the coach that they had there, and sometimes even the workers. 

Gareth, Cody H, Cody U, Adam, Andy, Terri, Renee, Kevin, and my mom. Those were the people that helped me to grow and become a better bowler in that league. Terri was the main manager that ran the league on those Saturday mornings. Gareth was the main coach and the person who drilled my first ball. He taught me so many things and was the first person who helped me be able to keep it on the lane for the most part. Cody H was another worker and he was mostly just moral support for me because he was quick to become one of my really close friends. Adam was the person who would help me with picking spares. Cody U was the person who got rid of my back-up ball, and also became my high school coach. Renee also became my high school coach. Kevin quickly became one of my close friends and my bowling ball driller. After I started high school, I joined the high school bowling program where I was competing against other high schools. People who were my bowling friends became my coaches. I am forever grateful for Cody U and Renee. They gave me tips and tricks that worked for them and sometimes they worked for me while other times they did not. That is okay because the best part of bowling is learning how to conquer the next challenge. With that information you are less likely to fail next time. 

Another reason that those people are some of the most important people in my bowling career is because Harvest Lanes is where I got my first job and continued growing my love of bowling and the atmosphere that surrounds it. Bowling is unlike any other sport and I am so thankful that I was able to find something that means so much not only me but so many other people.

There have been many people that have influenced my bowling career and without them I would not be where I am today. For that I am eternally grateful. That being said getting here was no easy task and I have my own challenges and memories with these people. 

My dad’s name is Timothy, Tim for short, Senaldi and he is another one of my biggest supporters and influences. Growing up he was not as involved with bowling as my mom was, but that does not mean he did not play other sports. The main sports my father played was hockey, baseball, and golf. A lot of things that he learned about bowling was learned from his parents, my mom, and from the other sports he played. He did not really start bowling until he met my mom, about 26 years ago. That is when he really started getting into it and became pretty good. Of course, he had been bowling before with his parents, but it was nothing more than just bowling for a couple hours on the weekend with a house ball and bumpers. When he stared his first league, he got his own personal ball and his own bowling shoes. One of my dad’s favorite leagues to bowl was a Thursday night league that he bowled with my mom, my mom’s dad, Jerry, and my mom’s brother, Scott. The main reason was because it was a chance to spend time with my mom without any of the kids, except for the nights I was able to convince them to take me with them. 

My dad has taken a lot what he learned from the other sports to apply it to the sport of bowling. Golf and bowling are very similar in multiple instances. Both sports require a great deal of patience. Golf and bowling are both considered physical sports, but they need a strong mental game as well. He has also tried to take some of the things he learned from baseball and hockey and apply them to bowling. The main one being that practice makes perfect. Well maybe not perfect but practice does make you better, and that is all you can ask for because nobody in this world is perfect. The highest game that my dad has bowled is a 268, with a high series of 658.

My dad might not be as into bowling as the rest of my family, but without him I would not be where I am today. He pushed me to be better and to never stop. He is the reason that I am trying to be the best bowler I can be. I am forever thankful for my dad pushing me to be the person and the bowler I am today.

While being quarantined in my house because of the Corona Virus I had a lot of time to interview the next person who influenced me in bowling. That person would be my grandpa or Jerry Glenn. This proved to be a little more difficult because my grandma and grandpa live in Texas from just after Thanksgiving to about late March to mid-April. With everything going on they decided to stay in Texas to prevent the spread and limit their exposure to it. To make it possible to interview my grandpa I had to call him, and these are his answers. 

         Bowling is something that has been around for a long time, it did not start getting popular until the early 1930’s right after the probation. People were looking for new avenues of entertainment and thus bowling gained a lot of popularity. My grandpa was just getting into the sport as it was gaining its popularity. So, the person who got my grandpa into bowling was himself. He was self-taught and practiced a lot to get better and better until he is where he is now. He has a high game of 298 and a high series of 712. Bowling was something that was not forced upon him, but instead something to do when there was nothing else to. His favorite aspect of bowling is a couple things. He really likes the math aspect of bowling (like father like daughter). He also really likes the relationships you make from bowling. Like any sport you make friends with the people on your team. But unlike many sports you also make friends with other people on other teams. The environment in bowling is unlike anything else and once you experience it you are hooked. As my grandpa started getting older, he has not been able to bowl as much because of pain that his body has and the stress that bowling puts on your body. He does wish he could bowl more and in a perfect world he would. My grandpa’s favorite league to bowl would be a nine pin Thursday night league. This league is one of his favorites because he was able to bowl with his daughter (my mom) and his granddaughter (me). What is a nine-pin league? A nine-pin league is where if you hit nine pins on the first ball, it is considered a strike. It was a really fun league and a great way to get into bowling. 

         My grandpa loves bowling and has taken many aspects he has learned from bowling and was able to use it in his everyday life. I think everyone should experience bowling at least once in their life. Maybe I am biased, maybe not. Either way bowling was one way for my grandpa and I to form a tighter bond, and that is something I will treasure forever.

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