Logan City has again dominated the ten pin bowling realm.
So far this year, Logan City Lanes has brought home back-to-back ‘association of the year’ awards at the Tenpin Bowling Association of Queensland (TBAQ) awards, two of our adult and junior teams have been named ‘team of the year’ in their respective categories, and two local bowlers named ‘female star of the year’ in the adult and junior categories.
Meanwhile, a local 16-year-old is this month heading to the national competition to defend her title as ‘champion’ of the girls’ division.
“It was a bit of a struggle during qualifying,” girls’ national champion Bella Westlake said.
“I bowled a lot better than I anticipated. I was just staying focused, making sure I was executing my shots properly.
“I was doing whatever it took, and then it came down to that last game and all I had to do was win. I did and it was great.”
At another tournament earlier this year, Ms Westlake recorded the highest female average in the competition with a score of 191.1.
She said reaching the milestone wasn’t the goal, but admitted it felt great once she realised she was in the running.
“And then, I think on the last day, I shot 250 or something and that pushed me over the edge to come first.”
Ms Westlake said while bowling involved a bit of luck, it was mostly a game of skill with intense mental challenges.
“Obviously there are times where you throw a really lucky strike… [but] we bowl in oil patterns that are what we consider very hard, and you need a lot of accuracy and skill to be able to compete.
“It is a mental battle and you have to overcome that a lot.
“It’s a very individual game where you have to be very focused in what you’re doing, because it can become very overwhelming if you’re struggling.”
This year’s TBAQ awards ceremony was held in Logan for the first time, at the Blackbox Theatre in the Kingston Butter Factory Cultural Precinct.
Among the many winners who live or train in Logan include Tamika Pettigrew, who was named the ‘star of the year’ in the female youth category, and Minhee Kim, also named ‘star of the year’ in the female adult category.
TBAQ CEO Gail Torrens said Logan was an area of “impressive talent”.
“I am really noticing the impressive amount of talent and the number of winners of our State-wide awards from the Logan City region,” she said.
“I am sure these results stem from the active role that both Mt Warren and Logan City sport associations have acted as crucibles for talent development.
“TBAQ is grateful for the strong support of these tenpin venues, local coaches and fundraising support by volunteers and families assisting these athletes attain sport pathway goals in our sport.”
