Dawn Halvorson, a bowling coach of almost 7 years, is accompanying 10-year-old bowler Hermionie Daling to the Nationals tournament in Oshawa, Ontario but is not being recognized as a coach and therefore has to pay her own way.

Halvorson says she has been Hermoine's only coach since she began bowling five years ago.

"(I've been coaching her) since she was 5. I was her first coach, well, her only coach really."

Immediately, Halvorson says she could tell Daling was someone special.

"Right away I could tell that she had the knack of bowling competitively. There's the odd kid that you can tell that they are going to go further than just normal bowling every Saturday."

Halvorson says Daling is a kind bowler and has one important quality Halvorson says bowlers need.

"She's a little crazy too," says Halvorson. "I think you have to be crazy to be a bowler."

Despite not being recognized as a coach, Halvorson says she made a deal with Daling to come to Nationals with her.

"We made a deal about 2 or 3 years ago that if she made it to Nationals, I would buy her a proper bowling bag and I would go with her if it was not a team event. In singles, they don't recognize coaches, which is really odd, but for teams, you get a coach."

Halvorson claims that one of the most important lessons you can learn in bowling is to control your mood when playing

"It's really odd to say, but you can't get angry when you're bowling because your mood controls your game. If you get angry, your game will crash. You have to stay happy and in a good mood."

Altogether, despite having to pay out of her own pocket, Halvorson is excited to go.

"Hopefully, for her to bring home the purple banner. It's the same as saying you took gold and that you're best in Canada."

 

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