Six-year-old bowler wins state championship

When 6-year-old Cameron Collins bowls, he looks like a novice, the way he dashes to the lane and heaves his ball down the lane.

Then again, looks can be deceiving. Just as Collins' 10-pound ball seems destined for the gutter, it hooks sharply and smashes all 10 pins. He scurries back to the ball return, waits for his pins to reset and does it all again. When he is finished, he puts his bowling balls in a bag that he rolls along behind him. The bowling tote is almost as tall as he is.

"He picked bowling up as a natural," says Collins' father, Owen, who watches his son from the concourse at JC Bel-Air Bowling Lanes on East Court Street. Collins is such a natural that he recently won the Youth America Bowling Association (YABA) state championship in Chattanooga. The elementary bowler scored a 405-scratchh over three games and recorded a 786 with handicap.

Collins won the competition by 50 pins. "There's nights I wish I had scores like that," said David Cooper, vice-president of the Tennessee Bowling Association. "That's dog-gone good for a 6-year-old." Collins' high game at the state was a 155. His personal best is 161.

A first-grader at Dyersburg Primary, Collins spends his free time honing his games. His father said he averages 25 games per weekend. And the 4-foot wonder gets attention when he hits the lanes. His hook-ball has become his trademark.

"I didn't want him trying it at first because he hit a lot of gutter balls," Mr. Collins said. "I don't say anything now.

"He wanted to do it like the big boys," the proud father added. "He picked it up by watching other people and watching the pros on TV."

Cooper said Collins' hook is a special gift rarely seen in elementary bowlers. "It is very unusual to see a youngster throw a ball with that much movement," Cooper said. Jane Cherry, owner of JC Bel-Air Bowling Lanes, credits Collins' success to his determination. "He's focused," Cherry said. "He never takes his eye off that lane."

Collins' focus has also earned him the Dyersburg city championship two years in a row. He also finished second at this year's state in combined score with a 2183. In team play, Collins' "Child's Play" troupe finished third. His teammates included Kris Tate, Clint Vickery and Aaron Suiterer.

Another Dyersburg team, McDonald's McKids, finished second. Dyersburg's bowlers ranked in 81 events at the YABA state finals in Chattanooga last weekend. The busload of bowlers took up 21 lanes of a 40-lane house at the East Tennessee tournament. It was the largest turn out by any city in the state of Tennessee.

"The people of Chattanooga didn't know what to think," Cooper said.