It's now early October, the air's definitely chillier after a nice, warm, dry September, but it's still too soon for any snow on the local mountains.
But we have some news, not about Cory's skiing, but about a different sport that he is also involved with - 5 pin bowling. Now for those of you from outside of Canada, this is a sport that is unique to our country. Five pin bowling uses - yes, you guessed it - 5 pins rather than the usual 10. The pins are larger than the pins used in 10 pin, but the same lanes are used and the pins are spaced further apart. The bowling ball is also much smaller than the one used in 10 pin.
Cory has been bowling for several years and his average is around 190 - 200, which is actually quite good. He has bowled a number of 300+ games, including a remarkable 348, and on separate day, a triple of 845.
In Special Olympics, there is only the opportunity to progress as a team, there is no individual progression to the Provincial or National games. And since 5 pin is strictly a Canadian game, there is obviously no World Games for this sport.
Last spring, Cory competed in a regional qualifying tournament to determine which team would represent our region (made up of about 20 teams from Richmond, Burnaby, and Delta). Special Olympics has a rather elaborate qualifying process so it took some time to confirm, but Cory has been selected to represent our region at the Provincial Games in Abbotsford, BC in July 2009.
And he's really excited about attending another Provincial Games (see previous posts for the story of his participation in the Provincial Winter Games in Kelowna in February 2007), though these will be Summer Games.
Cory at work during bowling practice:
And a shot of the score screen for one of his better games - 314!:
So, the bowling program for this season starts next Sunday, and we wait (not so patiently) for ski season to start in December.
