Greg Sabatino photoWilliams Lake bowlers Renee O’Hara (left), 8, and Kara McAlpine, 8, are off to the Youth Bowling Doubles Provincials this weekend in Kelowna, alongside their coach, Kevin McAlpine (back).

Greg Sabatino photoWilliams Lake bowlers Renee O’Hara (left), 8, and Kara McAlpine, 8, are off to the Youth Bowling Doubles Provincials this weekend in Kelowna, alongside their coach, Kevin McAlpine (back).

Youth bowlers to play for bantam doubles title

Two Williams Lake bowlers are off to Kelowna for the Provincial Youth Doubles this weekend

Two Williams Lake bowlers will compete this weekend for a provincial youth doubles bowling title.

Renee O’Hara, 8, and her teammate, Kara McAlpine, 8, will be among the best bantam bowlers in the province April 7 bowling for the championship at Kelowna’s Capri Lanes.

The duo qualified late March after finishing with a silver medal at the zone champions in Prince George.

Their coach and Kara’s dad, Kevin McAlpine, a provincial- and national-level bowler himself, said the team has vastly improved throughout the year and bowled 230 pins over their average at zones through three games.

At zones, they competed against Quesnel, Prince George and Dawson Creek.

Growing up in a family of bowlers, Kevin said Kara started bowling six years ago. For Renee, this is her first year of competitive bowling.

“It’s lots of fun, and I’m excited for provincials,” Renee said. “I’m getting better, and practicing lots. I’m just hoping to do well [at provincials] — the best I can — and as long as we’re having fun that’s all that matters.”

Kara, meanwhile, said they’re happy about the chance to bowl at provincials.

“I just like everything about bowling,” she said. “Getting strikes is probably my favourite. I got my first turkey [last week], so it’s going really well.”

Williams Lake Tribune