Lee Sheppard has coached bowling for 19 years, but she's never guided a team to nationals, until now.
Sheppard is taking her Black Diamond Lanes bantam girls team all the way to Winnipeg this weekend for Youth Bowling Canada's five-pin national championships.
The team, comprised of 10-year-olds Kaitlyn Harris, Holly Thurston, Haylee Wiebe and Jadyn Arnett, earned the honour to compete in the Manitoba capital when it won the bantam girls B.C. title in Chilliwack in March.
"It's exciting for all of us," said Sheppard prior to the team's departure. "We're all brand new and we're all rookies. This is such a wonderful group. We'd love to bring another gold medal and banner home."
At the provincial championships, the team rolled four games, compiling 2,169 points to win gold and earn the right to represent B.C. at nationals. After scoring more than 500 overall points in their first three games, they saved their best game for last, tallying 566 points. Their four-game point total was 184 points better than the team that won silver.
"In the bantam division, a good average is in the mid-500s, so they were fairly consistent," said Sheppard. "They kept a positive attitude, they kept smiling and they had fun."
"We tried our best. We ignored the cheering and stayed focused," added Harris. "The key to a good game is locking your wrist, slowing down your feet and reaching out to the pin."
Nationals will be a tougher test with seven provinces and regions represented. B.C. will bowl 21 games from today to Monday, playing each region/province three times. Six games are slated for today, nine on Sunday and five more on Monday.
Other teams include Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northern Ontario, southern Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.
With so many games each day, maintaining endurance and staying rested will be necessary, said Sheppard.
The entire Black Diamond Lanes team is from Prince George.
Harris is a Grade 5 student at Spruceland elementary; Thurston is a Grade 5 student at Foothills elementary; Wiebe is a Grade 5 student at Buckhorn elementary and Arnett is a Grade 5 student at Heritage elementary.
