After not practicing for a while, the 300 Club competition was a bit tough for 15-year-old Dylan Manderscheid, who still managed to walk out with a second place win.
Anyone who is in a league at Kemway Lanes and bowls a 300 at any time during the year has a chance to get into the club. Once a year, Kemway hosts a competition for these members that starts with men versus men and women versus women. The victor from each gender category then faces off against each other.
“Most of the guys were adults so it was a little intimidating, but I know most of them so it was really fun,” said Manderscheid. “They thought, ‘Oh, this is just a kid,’ but then I started throwing some big scores and had them opening up their eyes.”
After beating all the other men, Manderscheid faced off against Sara Thiemann, who was the winner in the female category. Of course, the other guys ribbed Manderscheid a bit about “losing to a girl,” but he said he didn’t let that bother him.
In fact, it seems as though Thiemann and Manderscheid have been having a bit of an ongoing competition for a couple of years now. Manderscheid said he beat her in a competition last year and so it was only fair that she beat him this year.
“I haven’t been practicing since YBC (Youth Bowling Canada) ended,” he said. “If I had kept practicing, I probably would’ve been more prepared.”
Despite the competition and the scores, Manderscheid said his favourite part is still getting to socialize and see his friends at these events.
There may not be any more competitions because it’s summer, but he said he’ll probably still go down a couple times a week to keep practicing and “stay in rhythm.”
“Hopefully next year I’ll go far again,” he said.
