Bowling idols

“Holy cow! I never thought I’d be here.”

That’s what 14-year-old Ayden Teer thought to himself when meeting his idol, E.J. Tackett.

A native Hoosier, Tackett was one of five members of the Professional Bowlers Association who visited Crown City Lanes in Dunkirk on Monday night. Joining Tackett were Sean Rash, Matt Ogle, Jesper Svensson and Kyle Troup. Between the five of them, they have earned 50 PBA standard titles and seven PBA major titles.

“It’ll give me some experience and when I talk to them they give me tips so it’ll make me a lot better,” Teer said. “Hopefully I can watch them and learn something from them because some day I want to be (competing) with them.”

Crown City Lanes’s youth program runs for 20 weeks on Saturday mornings. The program has about 45 children who participate, making it one of the biggest youth programs for the area according to co-owner Duane Marcum.

Monday night’s event was designed to give participants in the youth program the opportunity to meet professionals, get inspired and learn a thing or two.

“When you have a youth group as big as ours, we had to do something,” Marcum said.

Marcum and co-owner Tim Ritchie received a lot of help from the community to make the event happen. While they were willing to pay for the event out of pocket, explained Marcum, they received enough support from the community and local sponsors to cover the cost. They even received help from Marcum’s aunt and uncle who helped put together flyers and banners for the event.

They also got some important help from local community member Anthony Robbins. Robbins had been emailing different PBA members for three months before he found Rash to make the event happen.

“We didn’t get these kinds of opportunities for clinics like this growing up,” Rash said. “This is just something that has come really dear to my heart to give back to the next generation.”

Before the clinic, the group was in Akron, Ohio, for the PBA Tournament of Champions and stopped in Dunkirk before going to Kokomo for the PBA Kokomo Classic PTQ.

The event kicked off with a meet and greet during which the youth bowlers could talk to the pros, take pictures and get autographs. There was then an hour-long question and answer session that included attendees asking about the professionals’ habits, favorite memories on tour and specifics on the mechanics of bowling. The event rounded out with the opportunity for the children to bowl with the pros to and receive instruction and tips.

Rash sets up a bunch of these events throughout the year, even expanding outside of the country. Ultimately, his goal for these events is to inspire kids to continue bowling and grow the sport.

“I hope they come and practice tomorrow and that they come and practice in a week and that they bowl for the rest of their life, ” Rash said. “They just continue and enjoy the sport that we all love. I hope it grows and when they get older and start their own families that they get them to bowl.”

For 14-year-old Leighton Brown, Rash achieved his goal of bringing the sport to life and sparking passion.

“When I see them on TV they just look like paper characters, but I got to meet them today and realize these people have been through a similar bowling alley experience and lived their story,” Brown said. “I play a lot of other sports. Bowling is what I do as a hobby almost, but this has made want to get better at bowling and concentrate on the sport more.”