See our Wall of Fame

100 th. Anniversary of Bowling

5 pin bowling will be 100 years old in 2009.

Alberta 5 Pin is looking for photos of bowling centres and bowlers from years gone by.  If you have any photos that could be copied, please contact us

Provincial Sports Newsletter

Congratulations to Brady Swier of Ponoka who won the men's section of the UNO Provincial Finals.  Brady won $500 first prize.  Waneta Armstrong of Leduc finished 4th on the ladies side of the event.  Results.

Bantam Boys team win Provincial Y.B.C. championship in Calgary and go to Canadian Championship in Winnipeg in mid May.

The team was composed of Steven Stammers, Jake Coulter, Cody Pratt, Eric Walters and Brendan Innes with coach Bruce Watson all of Heritage Lanes.

All Central Alberta teams and singles are posted 

High Low Provincial Champions for 2007

Click for Complete Results for all competitors

Great human interest bowling story on Maaike van Soeren from Red Deer Advocate

February 3, 2007, Youth Challenge Provincial Results

Congratulations to

Central Boy's Zone 4 Team on winning Provincials

and

Richard Jackson, making the Team going to Nationals

Special thanks to the coaches and managers

for taking the time to work with our up and coming youth

Open Provincials Zone Finals - Results with analysis for high scores, averages, highs per game and 300's clearly marked.

Red Deer Advocate

February 21, 2007

Coach first lady of the lanes.

By CARL HAHN

LIFE staff   

INNISFAIL - Anyone who thinks you need fingers to bowl apparently needs a lesson in open-mindedness.

The girl who was born with no fingers on one hand is one of bowling coach Maaike van Soeren's favourite memories.

The girl had been told by someone else that she could never learn to bowl, but she went to van Soeren to see if there was any hope.

I said, “Oh, we will, lady. And you'll be a good bowler.”

They worked together for three years, until the girl's family moved away. And at the end of every bowling season, the girl's mother would send in flow­ers for van Soeren, for making her daughter believe she really was worth coaching, and could do the things everyone else does.

"Her mom was so happy.”

Van Soeren has been a coach with the Master Bowlers Association for 28 years, cruising the lanes of Innisfail Bowling Lanes for that entire time. She coaches youth bowlers at the Innisfail lanes Mon­days and Tuesdays after school.

The 73-year-old bowls with the 55-plus group Wednesday mornings and assists the seniors who need a hand as well. That's in addition to all the evenings she spends bowling in the masters league herself.

"I coach twice a week and I bowl four times a week," she says. "My husband said I'm here all the time. My husband said, they should get a bed for You."

She hasn't forgotten what it was like to be clueless about bowling, though. About 35 years ago a neigh­bour twisted van Soeren's arm into filling a vacant spot on her ladies team.

I said, “I don't know nothing about bowling,” and she said, “Oh, you go along and I will show you.” But it didn't really work out that well.

A few years later she de­cided to take a coaching clin­ic, to help improve her style. It was a difficult experience.  “They told me I was the poorest bowler in the whole bunch that was taking the course.”

An older fellow had sym­pathy, though, and told her she had potential. She and her husband had a dairy farm then, so she had strong hands that would set her above other women on the lanes.

After the course was over, he took her aside and coached her. He showed her how to pace out the right place to start her run, and how to develop a routine to ensure consistent rolling.

She proved his faith, joining the Master Bowlers Asso­ciation of Alberta in 1979. She's been to nationals with the association twice.

"At one time my average was as high as 280."

Van Soeren's had some in­juries since then that have affected her game, but can still break the 300 mark from time to time. As a diabetic she likes to keep bowling - and curling as well - to keep herself active and burn off calories. She says her doctor told her a single game is worth 176 calories.

The association requires its members to spend time coaching kids, but van Soeren puts in more time than the association requires. Staff at the Innisfail lanes confirm she's always got time for the kids.

“We have sometimes diffi­cult kids to work with, and I have no problem to slow them down or do anything else,” she says.

After 28 years of coaching she has no intention of let­ting up. There's no calculat­ing how many kids she's in­fluenced.

"There's quite a few kids here I coached their par­ents."

Dayton Cossey, 17, is one of them. Van Soeren recalls his mom Becky was one of her early students.

Cossey started out with a different coach, so van So­eren didn't coach him until he moved up a level. But in his first year with van Soeren his average score improved 50 points. He rolls a 201 now.

“She's a really good coach. She helped me a lot,” he says.

Dallas Griffin, 18, is in his final year of youth bowling, and van Soeren was there the first time he picked up a bowling ball. He still goes back to her when his 212 av­erage is in jeopardy.

“Even if she's coaching someone else and I struggle I just talk to her.”

A reminder of the basic routines helps him retrieve his consistency.

“And it works,” he says. “She's a pretty good coach.”

Even the adults have benefited - when they're will­ing. Van Soeren recalls one man who sent his wife over to ask questions, because he didn't want to take directions from a woman. The coach re­fused, saying the man would just have to ask for himself.

“About two months later, he was so bad, he finally come over,” she recalls. “I said, Sure, I will teach you, so long as you will listen and try to do what I tell you.  Now he's one of our better bowlers.”