Young Reut Resident Tops Israeli Youth Bowling

Fourteen year old Eyal Damari is perhaps the most promising youth bowler in Israel. Eyal has been bowling for almost as long as he has been able to walk and hold a bowling ball. The devout fan of PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) champ Jason Belmonte, an Australian two-handed bowler who has been dominating the lanes around the World, has been dominating the lanes in Israel.

In the National Youth League, Eyal is leading all 15 bowlers with a season-high average of 161.02 through 11 sessions (44 games) this season. His team was in first place out of 24 teams in the Special Olympics Unified League in Israel in the 2013-14 season. The Unified League pairs a junior bowler with an adult bowler. In the Israel Under-19 Championship tournament, Eyal made it to the semi-finals, rolling a 194 in the first game and finishing in 9th place overall, with a scratch average of 171.6 for his nine games.

Eyal also bowls in the Modi'in Sunday Night Bowling League, a league made up mostly of Modi'in area residents that meets at Planet Bowling in Rishon Le Zion from September through July. There are ten teams in the league, and Eyal is the only junior bowler amongst the 32 bowlers in the league. As of May 11, 2014, he was ranked 16th in the league, with a 161.64 average in his 87 games this season. His season high game has been a 208, and his best series this season is a 549. His father Amnon Damari is averaging 180.38 for 84 games this season, and is ranked 4th in the league. His high game in the league this season is a 243, and his high series for the season is 641. Amnon also bowls in the Work-place League and in other competitions. So, is it heredity or environment?

With his attitude and skill, and dedicated practice, Eyal Damari can go a long way in bowling, and may be the Israeli Kamron Doyle, or the next Or Aviram. Kamron Doyle, who hails from Tennessee, USA, is bowling's wonder-kid, and rolled his first 300 game at age 10, and became the youngest bowler to roll an 800 series for three games at age 11 years and 2 months. At age 12, he became the youngest bowler to cash in a PBA Regional event, and at age 14 he cashed in a major event-- the US Open. In May, 2014, at age 16, Kamron won his first PBA Regional event. Or Aviram is the only Israeli bowler to cash in a PBA event, and in 2013 he won the World Cup of Bowling, the top amateur event in the World, beating 73 other bowlers from around the World to capture the title. Along the way, Aviram rolled a pair of 300 games and a pair of 299 games.