Lucas Punkari
Having qualified for this weekend’s Youth Challenge Nationals in Winnipeg after finishing in first place at the provincials in Sudbury back on Dec. 3, 17-year-old Fort Frances native Lyle Dolph is more than ready to take on the top bowlers in the country.
“I’m feeling kind of anxious about it and I’m also kind of nervous at the same time,” Dolph admitted.
“But through talking to the other bowlers and coaches who are from down east and from Thunder Bay, they are also feeling the same way going into this event, so I think we are all pretty excited going into it,” he added.
Dolph will head to Winnipeg tomorrow morning, where he’ll meet up with the five other members of the Northern Ontario squad, four of whom are from Thunder Bay and the other coming from Sudbury.
Then it’s off to the Polo Park Lanes that afternoon, where he’ll be bowling in 25 games until Sunday morning.
“Concentration is going to be a key while you are there as you will be bowling in so many games,” Dolph reasoned.
“And you can’t let the other bowlers that you are competing against get into your head, so you need to make sure that you are concentrating on your own game,” he stressed.
Since qualifying for the nationals, Dolph has been keeping his game sharp with his regular league play at Plaza Lanes.
He also competed at the “Four Steps to Stardom” provincial roll-offs in Sudbury earlier this month, where he finished in third.
“Honestly, I thought that I struggled a lot during that event,” Dolph remarked.
“I was off of my game a lot when I was there, as I felt a bit stressed out and I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind out there,” he admitted.
“That is something that I have really been focusing on here as of late, and I’m also trying to stay more focused on shooting a slower ball and hitting the middle.”
Besides focusing on the mental side of the game, Dolph also has been working on a few shots he thinks will be important during the course of the event.
“I’ve been just practising my trick shots basically,” he explained.
“A lot of it is stuff that I haven’t been getting a lot lately, such as my chop-offs, which are things I need to focus on as every pin counts at Nationals.
“Plus, you are also competing not just for your total pin score, but you are also going head-to-head with other bowlers, so you have to keep that in mind when you are playing.”
While his main goals during the competition are to bowl well and stay positive, Dolph is also has his sights set on an honour that will help him out next year with his schooling.
“There is a scholarship there if you bowl really well and take part in 75 percent of the games,” noted Dolph, who has been accepted in a four-year Bachelor of Music program at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
“So that is something I would like to get, as that would help me out a lot for school next year,” he said.
“But in order to achieve that, I need to make sure that I am playing well.”
