My last column featured my father Ray Cyr with information and thoughts about his bowling career. In this column, I will be writing about a local bowler with a lot of success throughout the area from Whitesboro, New York: Dave Jecko. Over the years Coach Jecko has inspired and helped many local bowlers, including me, by sharing stories about his experiences.
The “weekend warrior” is what we call people like Dave Jecko. The name “Jecko” stands out to most people in the area, along with other bowlers across the state. Mr. Jecko is a math teacher at Whitesboro High School, as well as the Whitesboro Boys Varsity Bowling team’s coach. Coach Jecko’s career started in the Junior League at Riverside Lanes at the age of 7 years old. 23 years later he has built a strong reputation and is considered one of the top bowlers from our area. Staying amateur has been the biggest success for Jecko who has little experience in “professional” tournaments.
Coach Jecko believes the hardest part about bowling is the “mental game.” The “mental game” is arguably the biggest factor of bowling. Mr. Jecko says mental preparation is important and recommends “staying focused, making good decisions based on what you know/see, and then executing.”
For most athletes the “challenge” of the sport is what makes or breaks their career, but for Jecko that is not the case. Mr. Jecko says his favorite part about bowling is, “the challenge of figuring how to succeed and the friendships I have made.”
I can agree with this because without challenges, there’s nothing to get better at. Along with that, friendships made from bowling keeps it fun and more of a joy to bowl just like any other sport.
Rough patches or “slumps” are bound to happen. Coach Jecko states the reason for this is, “It can be tough to believe in yourself when things aren’t going well”. But he also adds, “…even when there is doubt, you have to keep working and stay positive to succeed.”
We have all heard something like “stay positive” when competing or having those talks. But how do we apply it? Mr. Jecko advises, “Every day on the lanes is a new day and you need to have a short memory.” He also mentions, “When you put time into the sport you need to convince yourself that good things are going to happen.”
Going back to friendships made through bowling, he also adds, “Great friends/teammates are also important to have around.”
This is very important. Being a competitive bowler myself, great friends and teammates who support you shot after shot, makes us want to keep making better shots to get rewarded with the emotions from other people around you.
Memories last a lifetime, Mr. Jecko says his favorite memory is his dad watching him shoot 300 in person. Followed by that, he mentions shooting a 3-game 889 series was “pretty cool” as well which is the Utica/Rome Bowling Association record, along with Utica’s Pin O Rama Lane’s house record when it closed almost a year ago.
