Humble bowler one of best in Canada
- Andréa Ledding | January 13, 2015
Richard Dolan first started bowling when he was 9 years old, and has won nearly 500 medals to date, as well as a “Male Athlete of the Year 2013-2014” plaque.
“I started with the five pins,” he explained by phone interview, between practice sessions and working full-time at Dakota Dunes Casino as a beverage porter. “I started competing when I was age 9 as well.”
After 12 years of five-pin bowling, he began 10-pin bowling three or four years ago to qualify for the World Games, excelling in the sport in a very short time. Although he’s too modest to say so, only admitting that he finds them comparative, obviously his skills transfer between the two styles – as he went to the national games this past July in Vancouver, after qualifying for and competing in the provincial games in 2013.
“I enjoy the 10-pin more,” Richard noted, adding he often practices at Eastview and prepared for the national games by practising a few times a week for a couple hours each time. The experience itself, he noted, was fantastic. “The weather was nice and warm.”
As for the bowling aspect, he was the most improved on the team, he says. But his former five-pin coach notes that he was chosen to be on the only 10-pin team representing Saskatchewan, and competed in the highest division with the highest averages, where he won gold.
“It feels good inside,” Richard says humbly.
His former coach also notes that Richard is considered the top ten-pin competitive bowler in the entire country for Special Olympics, and there is a strong likelihood that if he hasn’t already been chosen, he will soon be announced as one of four athletes selected for Special Olympics Canada at the World Games in 2015 in Los Angeles in ten-pin bowling.
When Richard isn’t bowling or working, he can often be found playing other sports such as floor hockey. Additional hobbies include skateboarding, playing video games, or hanging out with friends. But bowling is still what he loves best.
“Bowling is one of my top passions. My future goal is to keep going for the Special Olympics as possible and maybe in the next like couple of years down the road be going as a pro,” Richard said, adding that he’d love to attend the top world competitions, competing with the older bowlers whom he looks up to.
Click here for more Sports stories.