{"id":11776,"date":"2004-06-10T15:58:43","date_gmt":"2004-06-10T05:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.linke.com.au\/TB\/?p=11776"},"modified":"2021-11-18T11:39:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T01:39:01","slug":"2004-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.linke.com.au\/TB\/north-america\/2004-orlando\/","title":{"rendered":"2004: Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

June 2004<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After\nplaying cricket for almost 25 years and retiring I wanted to get back into\nsport. I\u2019d loved ten pin bowling my whole life, in fact I\u2019ve bowled longer than\nI\u2019ve played cricket. I started bowling when I was around 10 at school. It was a\nsport they\u2019d let the \u201cblind kids\u201d do. We weren\u2019t allowed to take part in\ncontact spots, so footy, soccer, AFL was out. So, I took up ten pin bowling and\nloved it, so stuck with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my teen\nyears I played a lot. I\u2019d regularly play in leagues at night and on the\nweekends. It helped with my cricket, strengthening my arm, which helped with\nquick bowling off a short run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d enter marathon\ncompetitions, where you\u2019d play 10, 20 and in some cases 30 games over a four to\nsix hour period. It was great fun. I\u2019d win trophies here and there, but my\nfocus was improving my game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my 20s I\nplayed a lot: I even went to South Australia and played in a national tournament\nwith a mate. We broke down on the drive over there and almost didn\u2019t make it. But\nwe did OK, winning a few trophies and pins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of my\nbowling before 2002 though was done in sighted tournaments. Now a lot of bowling\nrelies on your eyesight, but I\u2019d always made do with people helping me and focused\non my technique more than my eyesight. But in 2002 when blind ten pin bowling\nhit the stage with national and international tournaments, I was certainly going\nto give it a go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From late\n2002, I fitted in more practice, got a coach and bowled in a couple of serious\nsighted leagues in Belconnen in Canberra. I\u2019d regularly averaged 160 in leagues\nover the years, but I wanted to push my game further and targeted 190 as an\naverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2004\nwhen the World Blind Ten Pin Bowling Championships were announced for Orlando in\nFlorida I was averaging 182. I tried out for the Australian team and was\nselected. I had a great lead in tournament and during the trials shot a couple of\n600 series, which placed me at the top end of the game amongst blind\ncompetitors in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scene\nwas set. Australia had picked a strong side of competitors and we boarded a\nplane in Sydney bound for Orlando.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived on\n10 June. The weather was the first thing that hit us. Mid 30s with 90% humidity.\nIt was horrible. We had a few days to get acclimated, which including a mix of\nsight seeing and practice. We\u2019d practice for three to four hours per day. Getting\nused to the lane conditions was the hardest. Coming from Canberra\u2019s cold, dry\nclimate, into a moist hot environment meant for different lane conditions. It was\nhard work, but over a few days I stated hitting the lane where I wanted to. I\nshot a 276 in one practice game and felt I was ready to take on all comers. I started\nwith 8 strikes, so pretty happy with that. The game before was a 222, I finished\nthat game with five strikes. 13 in a row, pity it wasn\u2019t in the same game!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tournament<\/h4><\/div>
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tournament\ninvolved a variety of events with different pairings of players based on their\neye sight, as well as a team event and an individual event. There was also a mixed\ndoubles event and a variety of special awards. It was great fun arriving each morning,\nhanging out with players from our team, Australia and other teams from around the\nworld. I made quick friends with some folks from the USA and a couple of Japanese\nbowlers. I didn\u2019t however make friends with a chap from South Korea. We were\nfierce competitors from day one. His average was 185 going into the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening\nceremony was an awe inspiring event. We were all paraded into the alley in our official\nuniforms, with a scout from the local scout groups carrying our flag for us. Apart\nfrom standing out in the hot sun waiting to go in, everything was just so much\nfun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the\nceremony we got straight into it. Singles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shot quite\nwell for the first event. A 589 series, which wasn\u2019t enough to secure gold, but\nI did win a silver medal. My little friend from South Korea shot a 594.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Action shot of me bowling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the afternoon\nI was paired with Donna and we almost won our doubles event, securing another silver.\nWe were both under par for our averages and paid the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next\nthree days of the tournament introduced the team\u2019s events and another singles\nevent. A number of our team bowled well and we were winning medals left right\nand centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each event\nhad bowlers of similar eye sight competing against each other. When I wasn\u2019t\ncompeting I as working with our team helping out with pin spotting, water\nrunning and tactics. It was a great environment and a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nperformed very well on each day, winning medals in just about every event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I secured\nanother silver medal in the teams event a couple of days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I did it. Gold. In the final singles event of the tournament. This was the scratch event, the one you want to win. I bowled the best I had all tournament and secured a 620 series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n