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Young bowler comes through in clutch to win provincials

BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW Talk about coming through under pressure.
BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW

Talk about coming through under pressure.

Facing adversity and pressure to win his first big bowling tournament, Neil Cameron, 12, completed a come behind victory to win the 2003 Youth Bowling Council (YBC) Provincial Bantam Boys championship at Holiday Lanes in Sudbury.

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Neil Cameron, 12, will compete at the YBC youth championships in British Columbia starting Friday after winning the provincial crown in thrilling fashion here in Sudbury.
After the big win a couple of weeks ago, Cameron will now compete for gold in Kelowna, B.C. starting this Friday at the YBC Four Steps to Stardom National Tournament.

With his grandfather Chancey Baker, who is also his coach, in the hospital for heart problems, Cameron made a late charge in his final game to win the championship.

?I really wanted to win it for my grandfather and he was proud of me,? said Cameron, who shot a very solid 911 after five games to win the provincial title.

The final pits the top five competitors against each other. Going into the final game Cameron was down by 19 pins to the only competitor with a higher score.

Cameron delivered in the clutch with a score of 222, the second-best game of his young bowling career.

?I finished the game with five straight strikes to win,? said Cameron. ?It was great and exciting.?
Cameron has a 182.2 average per game and his personal best score is 233.

Earlier in the same tournament Cameron pulled off an elusive 6, 10, 7 split?one of the most difficult shots to pull off.

?I was so happy and I just wanted to tell everybody I did it.?

Cameron practices twice a week and is driven to succeed.

?He works at it and he?s got determination,? said Baker, a veteran youth bowling coach and proud grandfather of the new provincial champion. ?He wants to be the best.?

Cameron began bowling when he was three years old and his grandfather has been his coach his entire career.

?I watched my grandpa bowl when I was younger and I wanted to bowl too,? he said proudly.

Cameron started in five-pin bowling and then made the transition to 10-pin.

?Ten-pin bowling just looked like more fun.?

Cameron bowls with a 16-pound ball, the heaviest legal ball allowed.

?It hits hard and knocks the pins down better.?

Cameron loves the social aspect of bowling saying he?;s met dozens of new friends because of the game.

The competitiveness of top-level bowling also makes the competitive juices flow and makes you want to continue to practice and improve, he said.

?You have to concentrate and try really hard,? said Cameron. ?You also have to have really good aim.?
Besides bowling, Cameron keeps himself busy in other athletic activities like extreme biking, snowboarding, basketball, skateboarding, baseball and hockey.

?In hockey I am trying out for AA next year and I am trying out for a recreational baseball team this year,? said the talented young athlete.

Cameron already has his sights on the future.

?I would like to try and get a scholarship in bowling and I would like to be a fireman because you get to help people.?

Anyone wishing to follow Cameron?s quest for gold in Kelowna can do so by logging onto www. bpac. ca.

The site will post up-to-date scores, pictures of the bowlers as well as general tournament information.

Being a provincial champion is an outstanding accomplishment and one he?s very proud of, but becoming a national champion would be a dream come true?a dream he believes can become reality over the next few days.

?I am looking forward to it and I am hoping to win,? said Cameron. ?I am just going to bowl as hard as I can.?


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