You Don't Have to Win to Be a Winner!

When my youngest son was small, he used to go bowling every weekend at the Kemptville Bowling Lanes. Now it's his oldest son's turn, and for the past seven years he has taken on the challenge. This year he qualified to take part in the 4 Steps to Stardom, and recently went to the Provincial Tournament in Brantford.

In order to qualify, first you have to have good attendance at the weekly games at the local lane.  Then, if more than 4 bowlers wish to take part in the Singles Zone Final they have a bowl off there, to determine who can advance.   The winners from the Zone Final go on to the Provincial Tournament, and the winners from there go on to the Nationals.

In December, my 10 year old grandson became an Ottawa Valley Champion, and qualified to move on to the Provincials in Brantford. That got us all excited.  As I understand it, he is only bowler from the Kemptville to ever advance to the Provincials.

Because he came in first at the Zone Finals,  he was even interviewed on the radio.

Now the neat thing was that when I was busy bragging about him on Facebook, a lady I met the

previous year at her niece's wedding jumped into the conversation to ask where and when the Provincial tournament was being held. It seems her granddaughter would be there too, and would be representing Grimsby.

We made plans to join my son and his family to attend the Provincial Tournament in Brantford. It was the first chance to give our new GPS a good trail run.  I've always been the family navigator, but I think I can actually retire now.  Not only does this handy gadget tell you how to best get to where you want to go, it also warns you well in advance of traffic slowdowns ahead, so you can avoid them if you feel that necessary. 

For a while there, we were worried that he wouldn't get to go as our little bowler sprained his ankle a couple of weeks before the tournament.  Luckily the young heal quickly and after wondering for a week or so, the trip was on.

The tournament was great fun, and it was even better since I had friends to visit with and two kids to watch, instead of one.  They were not competing against each other as they are in totally different divisions, due to both age and gender.

While my grandson did not win the tournament, he is still an Ottawa Valley Champion, and now officially the eleventh best bowler in the Bantam Boy division in all of Ontario.  We are extremely proud of him.  Since he's only 10, I'm sure there will be more bowling competitions in his future.