Time now for our last posting about Cory at the 2010 Special Olympics National Summer Games in London, Ontario last July, with photos and video that we just didn't have time to post earlier.

Starting with departure day, July 11, 2010.

At home, looking rather pleased and excited to get going:




Airport parking lot...Cory discovered on Mount Hood 3 years ago that the life of an athlete is very much the life of a baggage handler:




With a lot of "hurry up then wait"....




...while the rest of Team BC congregates:




Time to check-in at the flight counter:




See ya in London Cory - Good Luck!



Now onto the competition:

A strike in Game 1 versus Saskatchewan, and with a score of 251, 42 points over his average, Cory earns a point for his team which gains 6 out of 8 possible points:





During Game Two, this time vs Alberta, a score of 206, 3 points below his average, but still earns a point and his team earns 7 of the 8 possible points:





Then a nice spare with Cory's uncle Gilles cheering him on:




Game 3, against Prince Edward Island, and a score of 192 which would turn out to be Cory's lowest score for the entire competition. Cory does not earn a point and the team gains only 1 of the 8 possible points.

After punching the head pin, an awkward delivery that still takes down a couple of pins:




Then a strike with Uncle Gilles still cheering with a big "Yes!":




Another good ball, still against PEI on Day One, but the right corner refuses to fall:





Then Day Two, starting with Manitoba...a nice throw..and his mum groans as the left corner pin stays up:




Next it's the right corner pin's turn again, and it was starting to look like just one of those days!




But as he has learned, he forgets about the last ball and any thought of bad luck, and focuses on getting the spare.




Then two strikes in a row...and a focused attempt for a turkey (3 in a row), with dad doing some tongue-in-cheek play-by-play, that just misses:




Cory bowls 231 in this game, 22 points over his average, earns a point and the team takes 7 of the 8 points.

Looking back, it's clear that Cory was able to win this tournament not by throwing a lot of strikes - the most consecutive strikes he had was 3, and he only did that twice all week. He has bowled up to 6 in a row before. But his ability to not get discouraged by pins not dropping and focusing on getting the spare really gave him an advantage. This was a difficult bowling alley for the higher average bowlers as only 4 of the 30 top bowlers beat their averages. With the pins not dropping as easily as they normally do, bowlers who would normally get a strike with a good ball often left just one pin standing. So it really was the bowlers with the ability to focus on their second ball that did well. Bowlers with lower averages normally need two or three balls to get all five pins anyways so the pins staying up after the first ball didn't really affect them. But for those bowlers who bowl 4 or 5 strikes per game with averages in the 200-range, spares were the only way to get a high score.

Then onto the next game, a memorable one, this one against another team from Alberta. And things did not start well, with Cory punching the head pin in the first frame.





The next frame not much better as Cory misses his target:




And by the fifth frame, halfway through the game with only 60 points up on the board, Cory struggles with his composure and it's time for his coach Judy to have a chat:





And whatever Judy said, it worked. Cory came back with a strike in the 6th frame, and with this spare on his last ball of the game, put 163 points up on the board over the last five frames to finish at 223, 14 points over his average. You can hear me say "one of his best games ever" - not because of the score but because he had to overcome a lot of adversity to get there. His 223 is 14 points over his average but not quite good enough to earn a point and his team takes only 3 of the 8 points.




After the game, a few minutes to chat with Cousin Debbie, with Uncle Gilles looking on with his other Cousin Diane.




Then it's onto Day 3 and a game against the Northwest Territories. At this point, we knew Cory's team was in 2nd place, 3.5 points behind another team from BC, a team they will compete against in the second game of the day. That game could likely decide which team will go directly to the Gold Medal game the next day.


Here's a good looking ball against the Territories, but the right corner stays up:




But all the pins fall down on this shot:





The left corner stays up on the next shot, but Cory nicely picks up the spare:





Then a strike and this game seems to be going just fine:



But then a couple of open frames where Cory did not spare or strike, followed by a couple of strikes in a row, finishing with a score of 247, 38 points above his average,earning a point and the team takes all 8 possible points.






Then it's the game against the other team from BC, which will determine who will qualify for the Gold Medal game the next day. A good start...




But then this...




and this.....




and this.




Which means time for another chat with Coach Judy.



And again Coach Judy knows exactly what to say...










And that spare ends a game of 226, 17 points above Cory's average, earning one point for the team and the team earns 6 of the 8 points and takes 1st place, moving directly to the Gold Medal game the next day.

And, Cory has a total pinfall count of 1576 for the 7 games, 113 points over his average, and that gives him 1st place in the A Division where 6 of the other 7 bowlers did not beat their averages. The 2nd place bowler was 50 points above his average, so Cory's score was more than double his nearest rival. An excellent week of bowling under pressure in a difficult bowling alley for high average bowlers.

It's great to know that Cory prepared himself very well, both in practicing a lot by playing over 200 games during the winter as well as being prepared for the pressure and adversity. Certainly his coach helped him a lot but few champions can do it all on their own. He has learned that a good plan is the basis for good results, so now he is working on a plan for the upcoming ski season which hopefully will include a first-ever race camp in November to kick-start this qualifying winter of ski racing.

The team Gold Medal win is well documented in previous posts so that brings the story to his triumphant arrival back at Vancouver airport on July 18. We had flown back the night before in order to be there when Team BC returned, and other family members and friends were with us too.


Here's Cory at Vancouver airport with good family friend Elaine, Aunt Sandie and Uncle Brian, and his mum. Sandie had brought large Canadian flag, fitting for a national champion:



<

Waiting for his luggage with Cousin Rebecca:

So that's it, 2 Gold Medals from the 2010 Special Olympics National Summer Games hang on Cory's bedroom wall. A first and wonderful experience at a National competition.

Bowling season restarts in about 3 weeks and there may be a few local tournaments to compete in, but of course this is a big ski year. We'll post again in a few months when the ski season is near.

Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you. You can do so using the anonymous option and just leave your name in the comment so we know it's you.

The 2010 Special Olympics National Summer Games - In Cory's Words

The National Summer Games was such a fun experience. I came back home with 2 Gold Medals (one individual and one team award). It all started when I found out at the end of August last year when I received the letter telling me I had qualified for the National Summer Games. I decided that I really wanted to do as well as I could so I joined a second bowling league in addition to the Special Olympics one - with older women and my team is called the Shellmont Beauties! - so that I could get more practice. In total, I played over 200 games from September to last May. Then the bowling season ended, so I started practicing 3 or 4 times a week on my own and once a week with my Team BC teammates and coach.

As part of my Team BC training program, I had to keep track of everything I ate and all my physical activity since last November in a daily journal which my coach reviewed with me every week. So I think by the time the Games started in July I was ready to do my best.

Then the Team BC uniforms arrived with a snazzy blue bowling shirt to wear during the Games. We were also given shorts, T-shirts, a jacket and a hat, and two bags to put it all in, all of them said "Team BC" on them. By then, I was getting really excited about it all.

We left Vancouver on the evening of Sunday, July 11, all of us wearing our Team BC jackets, shorts, T-shirt, and hat. We all flew together on two planes to Toronto and then we got on a bus to take us to London.

We rested the next day, played cards, unloaded our stuff, and got to know our new surroundings at the University of Western Ontario. It was great to find out that the food was very good with lots of choices. The Opening Ceremonies were at the University Stadium on Tuesday July 13. It was really exciting to walk into the stadium with over 200 other athletes from BC, all in uniform. I couldn't help but find my mum and dad in the bleachers since they were making so much noise and waving a huge BC flag.

The next day we practiced and I was terrible - I bowled 132 and my average is 209. So I was very nervous going into the real tournament the next day. My coach Judy helped calm me down though. It seemed to be a difficult bowling alley since the pins would wobble a lot but not fall down.

So then the tournament began the next day and I bowled 251 so I was much more confident and bowled 206 and 192, a little below my average. But my teammates were doing really well so our team had a very good first day overall.

Things started well the next day as I bowled 231 in the first game. But halfway through the second game, my score was only 60! I was getting anxious and confused and started to get angry, upset, and worried. Coach Judy talked to me again about the situation, she told me to slow down and take it easy. I then added 163 points to my score so by the end of the game, I had bowled 223. Phew!!

By now we had to two more games to play the next day before we'd know if we'd have a chance at a Team medal, and there were individual medals to be awarded after the two games. I bowled 247 and 226 and I thought I had a good chance for a medal, which is what I had wanted, of any colour. I don't know if my dad knew, but he wouldn't tell me. So I waited for the announcement.

They started with Division A, which was my division. They announced the Bronze Medal winner and it wasn't me. Then the Silver Medal winner and that wasn't me either. Then I'm thinking "is it me for the Gold, or no medal at all?". Then I heard my name and I RAN up to get my Gold Medal! I felt proud of myself, and I shook everyone's hands on the podium. I was so relieved that I had won a medal, and it was even a Gold one! I went back to my team and everyone wanted to see and touch the medal - especially my dad and mum.

We then found out that our team finished in first place in our division so we'd be bowling for Gold the next day. We went back to the University to play cards and relax. I was still pumped with energy and looking forward to the next day.

The next day we learned that we'd be playing one of the teams that beat us earlier in the week. I was feeling good and confident and I was bowling quite well, though my teammates were struggling a little. But then I punched the head pin in the 8th frame and again in the 9th (punching the head pin with the first ball makes it pretty much impossible to get a spare). I saw my opponent bowl a spare in the ninth frame so now I was nervous and started to look at the scores too much so I took a small break to rethink my next ball. I tried to relax and took longer than usual to throw my ball and then I threw a strike. I bowled 257 but I didn't know if that was enough for my team to win the Gold Medal.

When we found out we had won, I was excited with a weird feeling in my stomach. It felt pretty good and I sure was happy!

My team and I celebrated a bit with our families - we had a Dairy Queen ice cream cone, my dad's such a big spender - and then we headed back to the University to prepare for the Closing Ceremonies. We walked into an arena in uniform with music, some speeches, and a dance party. I danced a little and we partied until we had to leave to prepare for our return to Vancouver.

When we arrived in Vancouver the next morning, my mum, dad, aunt, uncle, and cousin were there to greet me at the airport and I was excited to see them all there. We had a cup of coffee together - I was desperate for a good cup of coffee - and we talked about the Games. I then went home and slept for most of the afternoon. Tired happy sleep.

What a great experience it all was. Maybe I'll be able to go again in 2012 for the Winter Games in Alberta, but first I have a lot of work to do and I'm already thinking about what I'll have to do to get there.

I want to thank my mum and dad, Coach Judy, and my relatives for all their support. It was especially nice to see my uncle and cousins from Montreal in London to cheer me on.

My next big event will be next March in Kelowna, BC, where I will compete in the BC Provincial Winter Games to try to qualify for the Nationals in 2012. I'm sure my dad will put it all in this blog!

Thanks everyone! And I enjoy reading your comments (you can use the anonymous option and just add your name in your message).