Bowling has many aspects to the game that most people don’t think about. In this column, I will be writing about my dad. The lessons he has learned about bowling from his own journey have inspired me and other bowlers to follow his footsteps and beyond.
Ray Cyr has earned a reputation for being one of the area’s best bowlers in Utica for a long time. Ray Cyr is a bowling pro shop owner, and operator at Ray Cyr’s Maximum Potentials Bowlers Shop in Yorkville, New York. Cyr started bowling at the age of 12, and has been bowling for 42 years. Ray has tried to compete at every level, having much success and failure.
The hardest part about bowling is “how constantly the oil patterns are changing all the time whenever you’re bowling,” Cyr states. “The lane constantly changes as you’re bowling after every shot– it’s hard to stay on top of it,” he adds.
Ray’s favorite part about bowling is meeting people and building friendships that last for years. Also, Ray describes “how good it feels to come in clutch, like needing a strike to win the game or make the cut, things like that. It feels good to be able to pull through when you need it.”
Being able to get past the rough times competing as a bowler is tough. Questioning your ability to bowl is a big one. Ray talks about challenges like “going a long time without success can have you asking yourself if it’s worth it or not and if you will ever win again.”
Overcoming those thoughts is one of the hardest challenges to face though. To find a way out of those negative times and thoughts, Cyr suggests bowlers need to “Work harder and just try to get better. A lot of times when you get in those ‘slumps’ you have to just keep grinding away and working at it and one day it clicks.”
One of his favorite memories he has had from bowling is watching me bowl one of my few 300 games along with winning a tournament with my oldest brother Michael there to watch along the way in a very competitive field.
When he is not bowling he is spending a lot of quality time with his family. He is a father of 6 kids, and a husband to Jennifer Cyr. Full of sarcasm, humor, and joy, my dad makes everything better no matter the time, and place.
