Bowling Centre hosts summer camp kids for day of noisy fun

For a few hours on Aug. 15, the South Hill Bowling Centre was a riotous mix of clattering pins and bowling balls, children laughing and shouting, and calls of order and encouragement from youth play leaders as summer program kids tested their skills.

“It’s going pretty well, I think,” laughed Paige Pierce, who led Monday’s activities.

Pierce has worked at the Yara Centre and with the summer playground groups for several years and is now full time.

“We took two city buses to get here, and they have all the kids up on the screens so they can see their names and get a chance to play.”

Pierce said summer programs have been great so far, with full participation and all the kids enjoying themselves.

Owners Jeannette and Chuck Cole were thrilled to have all so many youths enjoying themselves and testing out their new equipment.

“We just did a lot of upgrades, so today will show us if the equipment still has any problems we need to address,” Jeannette explained. “And of course, it’s great to see the centre full of kids having a good time.”

Chuck said it reminded him of the many birthday parties held at the centre.

“Come mess up our place instead of yours,” he smiled. “We love it, bring your kids on out.”

(Editor's note: About 60 summer program participants were part of the activities. Interviews and photos were included only for children with written parental permission.)

“Let’s say I want to get the middle pin,” Arianna, 11, said seriously. “I’ll throw on the right side, because usually my bowling ball will tilt (to the left), so then I’ll hit the middle.”

Kimberley, 5, had a great time. She likes bowling and knocking down the pins. Her friend Riya, who is turning nine next August, explained that she bowls by getting strikes. Riya also had a lot of fun.

Erayeen, 8, is not a professional bowler. Nevertheless, he is very good at it, and his strategy is to aim for the middle. He wasn’t really trying to win, just to enjoy himself.

“They’re chaos, they’re kids, but they’re doing really well,” said Ashley Westgard, the acting manager of South Hill Bowling Centre. “I don’t know if they’ve all been bowling before, but we are giving them a free game as they leave and a YBC (Youth Bowl Canada) registration letter, so hopefully some of them will enjoy the bowling and register for our upcoming fall league.”

Information about bowling for kids is available at YouthBowl.ca/faq/. You can also call the South Hill Bowling Centre at 306-693-0955.