I started bowling when I was about 6 years old. I started bowling down the hallway at home, with toilet paper and a tennis ball. I’d set up the toilet paper and roll the tennis ball down the hall. Then my mom and dad would bowl and I’d watch them and that was really nice. Then we’d go bowling on Sundays after church just to go out. Then I got into a youth league. Then when I moved to Boston I actually joined my first official league, so that was probably in 1990-something. So that was the first time I had ever been on a league.
I bowled a 300 back when I was in Boston, maybe in 2006. One of my teammates actually videotaped my last strike. I was in Boston and I had my UC Santa Cruz shirt on, and I came back and I slid on my knees like James Brown and it’s on YouTube. My brother was a big bowler, he started before I did, he’s bowled maybe 10 or 15 300s but there are no pictures, so I don’t know if he really did it, because I didn’t see it. And he was like “No way, you bowled your first 300 and it’s on video!” So yeah, that was my best moment.
Another big memory was going to Reno for the playoffs, where they filmed all the bowling movies and there’s a lot of bowling history. It was really good. One year we won the Summer league and we got to go there. Then the following year we went to Nationals in Reno, seeing your name in those big lights, that’s really up there.
300
There are a lot of nice people here, very nice people. I came here from out of town and I was looking to bowl and I found a league and the staff was really nice. You get to meet people and make friends. It’s nice to meet up with people and make friends and know there are people who can help you out if you need it.