Juneau’s Special Olympics bowlers show just how fun the game can be

There seemed to be just one prerequisite for the athletes competing in the Juneau Special Olympics bowling local games at the Pinz Bowling Alley on Willoughby Avenue last weekend — smiles.

“The great fun thing about today is we are bowling and we’ll pick who will go to Anchorage, and we’ll get to see everybody, and have fun and compete,” Fu Bao Hartle, 25, said. “What I really like about bowling is having fun and meeting new friends, and making new friends with people I have never met before or friends I haven’t seen in the last year.”

Twenty-six traditional athletes — those with varying types of intellectual developmental or physical disabilities — were seemingly in competition with one another for spots on three teams that will represent Juneau at the State Games at Eagle River Bowling Lanes in Eagle River from Nov. 8-10. They bowled three games Saturday and six on Sunday. Each had a team, single and doubles match included.

Hartle, a spokesperson and athlete with Special Olympics Juneau, began bowling in 2012 and has perfected a double-underhand basket release that requires no advance on the approach, just a standing address at the edge of the lane.

“I like to hit strikes the most,” Hartle said. “All the pins down. I don’t do that very often, but I got a lot of strikes last week.”

He said, “eggs and stuff” were his pregame meal and “having fun” was required.

“I’ve gotten better,” he said. “You may not know it, but I went to the state for swimming also. If somebody wants to join swimming in the springtime just sign up, and basketball also. Please support the Special Olympics.”

Keehan Lee, 20, also has a two-handed release except he wastes little time grabbing his ball from the rack, facing the pins and releasing as he runs forward. Sometimes he also runs to give hugs to fans.

“It is going good,” Lee said. “I’m having fun. These are all my friends.”

Ethan Kinville, 24, is another underhand bowler.

“I have done that since I was little,” he said. “It’s called a Granny Bowl.”

Kinville also has a unique leg kick he throws when picking up a spare.

“That is from my karate,” he said. “It’s called Korean Karate. It shows the audience that I just scored a pick up. I just love the passion of bowling. I put my heart in it and I’m very dedicated.”

Also flashing a smile after every ball was Sabrina Richmond, 45.

“I’ve been bowling for a long time,” she said. “I think I started bowling in 1999. My secret is I know where to put the rack.”

Richmond is wheelchair bound and bowls with a Winnie-The-Pooh stuffed bear on her lap.

“For good luck,” she said. “I got a couple strikes today.”

She said the key to being a good bowler was to, “have fun, be a good teammate and give good luck to the other bowlers. My teammate is awesome.”

Her “teammate” is Direct Service Provider Danielle Zimmerer who aids in positioning a rack where she releases the ball, and for four years has provided care services, been an attendant and a close friend.

“She is fun and has a wild personality,” Zimmerer said. “She is honest, loyal and energetic. She really picks me up if I’m having a bad day, we are more like sisters.”

Tyler Anderson, 20, has bowled at the state tournament and possesses one of the best bowling mechanics and hardest releases in Juneau.

“My secret is just to be patient and I always like to be with my friends bowling,” Anderson said. “That is how I got up to where I am now. I have been practicing ever since before I entered middle school. I look where my fingers are and I just curve the ball where I want it to be. I’m still working on that. I enjoy the sport. It is a lot of fun and I get to be with my friends. And we get to see who will go up to Anchorage. We are trying to beat Anchorage, they have always been whipping our asses but I’m hoping we’ll whip theirs this year, that would be fun too.”

Anderson, who has a stuffed strawberry for good luck, also competed in the USA Games 2022 in Orlando, Florida.

“It was really good, but it was hot,” he said.

In his bowling group was another top form athlete, CJ Umbs.

“I like bowling,” Umbs, 30, said. “I like my teammates. It takes a lot of practice. We have fun and we’re pretty good.”

First year bowler Ryan Story, 29, was matching their form as well.

“It is just a good time here,” he said. “I have a good time just getting down the lane. I am a little bit of a natural bowler. It is fun. I hope to get a high score, but I’m having fun.”

Another unique bowler was Leroy George, 52, who would release the ball and immediately turn around and talk with the audience.

“Just practice,” he said. “I know where it is going. I’ve been bowling for almost 15 years now. I just like the sport.”

He would also banter good-naturedly with lane-sharer Niall Johnson, 47, who has been bowling since age eight.

“Yeah, he’s awesome,” Johnson said. “I’ve known him since a long time ago. Bowling is fun because we get to see people we know in the Special Olympics. I know a few moves, I’m going to beat him.”

Lee Lewis, 73, has been a Special Olympics bowling coach since 2001

“It has been absolutely rewarding,” she said. She has overseen Juneau’s Special Olympics for 23 years and was recording scores to send to state. Her niece Krystina Collins, 37, in Palmer, has been a traditional athlete for 30 years. “I love it. and I love the sport of bowling. I’m not able to bowl now, I had major surgery and I’m learning to walk again, but this is just so fulfilling to see the athletes come out. I always tell them the most important thing is to have fun. Everyone of these athletes wants to travel. If I had my way I would take them all.”

Only five town sites in Alaska participate in Special Olympics bowling qualification: Anchorage, Juneau, Kodiak, Mat-Su and Tanana Valley. Since Juneau and Kodiak do not have the number of participating athletes or lane availability the other three sites will have many more state qualifiers. Eagle River Lanes alone has 40 lanes.

“Their quotas are bigger than what I’m allowed,” Lewis said. “Our advancement to state depends on how they bowled yesterday and today.

Her daughter Tanya Lewis, 47, granddaughter Aubree Hall, 27, and grandson Jaasyah Crowley, 14, were on the lanes participating.

“It’s good, we challenge ourselves,” Hall said. “My mom is a better bowler. I like meeting new people and seeing friends that will be able to go to state.”

Crowley said bowling with the family was hard.

“They are better, yes,” he said. “They are way better than me. This event is nice because of the people here and my family has bowled for years.”

Tanya is a unified partner, an athlete with non-intellectual or physical disabilities, and Aubree and Jaasyah are traditional athletes.

“This is Jaasyah’s first year, but he has been beating average,” T. Lewis said. “I love bowling. I have been bowling in the Friday night league and Special Olympics for six years. But I have always come and watched because my brother did it before us. It’s a lot of fun. It’s a great atmosphere. The athletes are all encouraging. Everybody loves everybody and are always congratulating each other whether they miss or not.”

Tanya and Renee Ramirez, 49, are partners for traditional athletes Amanda Savikko, 34, and Aubree. They have qualified for the state venue.

“I wouldn’t say bowling is hard,” Savikko said. “Just challenging. I just love being out and about with people that I know. It is just too fun.”

The final scores had not been tallied when the decision was made on Sunday to announce the remaining two four-person teams — a traditional women’s and a traditional men’s — that will be qualifying for the state championships in Eagle River at the league’s season ending pizza party banquet this coming Sunday.

And no one cared.

Everyone was just having fun on the Pinz lanes.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.

Special Olympics participation in Alaska

Special Olympics Alaska reaches around 2,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities in nine community programs who compete in 13 different sports throughout the year. Four winter-season sports are offered: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, floor hockey, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. Summer-season sports are basketball, gymnastics, powerlifting, swimming, and track and field. Fall-season sports are bocce, golf and the bowling season.

At the end of the sports season, athletes have the chance to advance to the state competition in Anchorage to compete against the other communities. Every two to four years the athletes also are able to qualify for higher competitions at the national and/or international level.

There is no charge to the athletes for participation in the events

According to Dakota Ramirez, community programs manager for Special Olympics Alaska, “the Juneau Community has 24 athletes who compete in basketball, bowling, and swimming. We are always encouraging more people to join the program, whether as athletes, unified partners (people without an intellectual disability), or volunteers.”

For more information about getting involved contact please Ramirez at dakota@specialolympicsalaska.org.