It was an exhilarating environment at the McCurdy Bowling Centre in Kelowna as athletes and parents from across the country were in town to open the Youth Bowl Canada (YBC) Ten-pin National Championships.
Vying for team and individual titles are male and female bowlers in three divisions, bantam, junior and senior, with an age range of eight to 21 years old.
Among those competing are six athletes from BC, including Zander Stirling, Cooper Chater, Amy Buchanan and Molly Pellegrini from Kelowna.
After an opening ceremony earlier on Monday, the participants split into their male and female provincial teams for seven games.
Each provincial team is made of three bowlers, one from each of the previously mentioned divisions.
Beginning Tuesday, the bowlers will be on their own as they attempt to win a title in their respective divisions.
The bowling centre looks different than usual as bleachers have been set up to accommodate the large crowd of supporters, including some who came from as far as Quebec.
“I just love the atmosphere it brings," said bowling manager Rick Tran on what he is most excited about the tournament.
For the interested bowling enthusiasts, three different oil patterns will be used throughout the event.
The easiest of which was used on Monday and the hardest pattern is planned for Tuesday, with the medium difficulty pattern expected for Wednesday to close the event.
The public is welcome to visit the centre and watch the event, but there is limited seating, with there already a strong following for all the players.
“More than happy to have the public come in and check it out and see what it's about because maybe they might learn something about the sport,” added Tran.
The championships close this Wednesday.
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