Behind those glasses and the quiet demeanor burns a zone champion striving toward provincial bowling glory.

Rachael DeCaire, 18, recently earned herself a berth in the upcoming 44th annual Youth Bowling Canada 4 Steps to Stardom five-pin bowling provincial championships by finishing with the highest five-game total of 1,156 at the zone level competition for Huronia. The zone includes Orillia, Barrie, Base Borden, Collingwood and Muskoka.

DeCaire has bowled for 13 years and cannot even remember her first game, but remembers her last as clear as day.

She narrowly beat her nearest competitor by three points when the totals were all tallied.

“The last game I was struggling. It was my lowest game,” she said, who finished with a 186 score. “You get nervous. A little bit of tension to your hand makes a big difference. I kept getting ‘aces’ (when the two corner pins stay up). In the 10th frame I got aces and I got both corner pins and that’s what won the game. If I missed one of those I would have lost.”

The closest competitor finished with a score of 300 in her final game, striking out (getting three strikes) in the 10th frame, but did not know DeCaire had mathematically won when bowling her last game. It was a comforting feeling for the young woman.

“This is the one tournament everyone wants to win. It’s the biggest,” she said. “I’m glad because I’ve always had hard competition. People I’ve bowled against (before) have gone on to bowl at nationals so I’ve always competed against those bowlers. Now they’ve finally graduated. Now it’s my turn.”

She’ll be heading down to Ottawa’s West Park Bowl this Friday before the competition scheduled on March 9 to assess the lanes and its tendencies.

Much of her interest in the sport is attributed to her family who at one time all played in leagues competitively. Recently it’s been her grandfather, whom she plays with and gets tips from, that has been her mentor and bowling partner.

“My mom really wanted me to be in gymnastics, but it wasn’t really my thing,” she said. “My grandfather always jokes with me that it was the best decision in my life to quit gymnastics and bowl. That’s how it started.”

Her grandfather was recently named to the Huronia Hall of Fame for bowling since being announced as a lifetime member. Unfortunately he won’t be able to attend her tournament, as he will be competing in his own that same weekend.

Plenty of support

Support comes from her family as well, including her mother who is also an YBC coach.

DeCaire likes the sport for its social aspects as well as its potential for lifelong involvement.

Unlike recreational bowlers, DeCaire said the higher calibre requires greater mental focus and preparation. She uses a visualization technique, seeing her pins drop before they happen.

Although the closest 10-pin bowling alley is in Barrie, she has never really felt as strongly for it as she does the Canadian version.

“For me 10-pin is all about throwing strikes. If you want to throw strikes you bowl 10-pin. If you like accuracy, spares and (the desire to) pick up all your pins (then it’s five-pin). It’s harder in a way and more challenging,” she said. “It’s what I was brought up doing.”

DeCaire is active in a variety of sports at high school including badminton, track and field middle distances such as the 1,500 metre and 3,000 metre and basketball.

Basketball has skills that transfer well to bowling she said.

“It’s all about the mental (aspect). The follow-through in basketball is the same thing in bowling, it’s just the opposite direction. The fundamentals are basically the same,” she said.

Two times a week she bowls and competes in the YBC league and the Wednesday night mixed adult league at the Muskoka Bowl lanes at Muskoka Riverside Inn in Bracebridge.

Before she even considers a potential professional career in the Master Bowlers Association of Ontario, school will come first.

In her final year of high school, the senior student is hoping to go to either Wilfrid Laurier University or University of Waterloo for kinesiology.