Potter’s path follows familiar lane

Israel Potter has found a way to turn his passion into making a living.

The 23-year-old Brandonite, who is a generational talent in the Wheat City as a 10-pin bowler, now runs the pro shop at LaVérendrye Lanes in St. Boniface.

“I love it,” Potter said. “It’s definitely my field of expertise, to say the least. I love the sport of bowling, so to be able to make a living out of being in bowling is amazing.”

Potter, who moved to Winnipeg in December 2022, estimates he’s at the facility about 50 to 55 hours a week. He’s been busy enough that he admits he’s been practising less than he wants to, but he still plays in enough tournaments to stay sharp.

“When I’m not bowling, I’m in a bowling alley,” Potter said with a chuckle.

While he may not be getting all the practice in that he wants, the results are still coming. In January, he joined François Lavoie, Darren Alexander, Graham Fach, Nicholas Blagojevic and Tyler Lee on the Canadian men’s team after bowling well at the national trials.

“That was definitely the highlight of my career,” Potter said. “That’s been a goal in the back of my mind for forever. It was always my goal to make the youth team and it never happened. I got close a couple of times. It’s just one of those things. I know how good our mens’ teams are and they only have six spots.

“We have four of the best players in the world playing in the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) alone, so that’s four of the spots gone. For me to finally put together a good tournament and make that team was just incredibly special for me.”

He hasn’t had a chance to wear the Maple Leaf at an event yet. The team picks players to attend events, which begin again in October and November. The players who will be attending those events should be announced soon.

Happily for Potter, his girlfriend Kristen Jolly also made the women’s team for the first time.

“That was a very special thing we got to do together,” Potter said.

He’s currently enjoying a month break, although he’s playing in a pair of PBA regionals. Then he’ll begin to prepare if he’s picked for any of the international events with Canada.

He has aged out of nationals, which are under-22. After first attending at age 12 in 2015, he skipped 2016, and 2020 and 2021 were cancelled die to the pandemic.

Even so, he won about a dozen golds, with four in a row for all events, three in a row for singles plus team gold with Manitoba. That was the first time the province had won gold in a couple of decades.

Remarkably, at age 14 he decided to start over with his delivery despite winning a national silver medal the previous year.

Potter went to a two-handed delivery, which is why he missed the 2016 national events.

His new delivery isn’t the two-handed swing back through wide-open legs common to non-competitive bowlers.

Instead, for a right-handed bowler, the ball is held out front in both arms, the right arm draws back with the left arm cradling the ball and the left hand releases just before the ball is launched by the right hand.

The technique puts a lot of rotation on the ball, which creates extra movement down the lane. It also completely eliminates the thumb from the equation, adding even more velocity.

As a result, some of the top bowlers in the world now use it, and it’s certainly worked for Potter.

He’s now bowled 28 sanctioned perfect games.

“For me, 300 is cool but 300s don’t really mean anything to me,” Potter said. “The way I look at it, the first one I ever got was really special and the first one I ever got in a PBA was really special, but for me, when I’m bowling in tournaments and qualifying, a 299 or 298 really isn’t a whole lot different than 300.

“If I shoot a game and get a 300 out of it, that’s a bonus.”

He plays in two leagues at LaVérendrye Lanes, with an average around 230, although he’s quick to add that’s on an easier pattern than at big tournaments. (The pattern refers to how the floor is oiled, which is done to protect the floor and also affects how the ball reacts.)

His average in tournaments and PBA events is around 215 on the more difficult patterns.

PBA EXPERIENCE

He has played two big national tours stops on the PBA, the National Hockey League of the bowling world. He’s also played around 10 of the smaller-scale regional PBA events, where there are a handful of pros and lots of amateurs.

“It’s a little weird feeling like a rookie,” Potter said. “The first couple of times I played them, I had to calm myself down because I’m bowling with and alongside some of the best players in the world. The first regional I played didn’t go so well because I was so nervous, but now it feels almost normal.

“They’re all just regular people and we’re all out here to do our best. It’s a little more now but at the start it was mind boggling to be able to be competing alongside these guys.”

On May 1, he played in the PBA World Championship in Brooklyn Park, Minn., just two weeks after he fractured a rib

He hadn’t bowled in a couple of weeks due to the pain and had no intention of playing but was heading down to see the Minnesota Wild in the NHL playoffs with his father.

After the PBA announced international players didn’t have to pay to enter the PBA qualifier, he packed six balls in the car just in case.

With a dozen spots for 80 bowlers, Potter’s expectations weren’t very high after he arrived.

“I was like ‘I’ll go have some fun, throw a few shots, and whatever,’” Potter said. “I ended up starting off the tournament 267-300 to be in first by about 80 pins. I can tell you, my game felt awful but it was just my day. I wasn’t throwing it the best in the field but the pins were falling when I threw it.”

It was a 10-game qualifier, with five games on one pattern and after lunch, five games on another pattern.

He slowed down after his red-hot start but was still in third after the first block, although he wasn’t looking at the standings until he went for lunch and realized he was now playing for something.

With the knowledge that he had about a 100-pin gap on the cut line, he played a little defensively in the second block and finished sixth or seventh.

Unfortunately, his ribs were still vexing him.

“During the qualifier with not having bowled in a couple of weeks, it actually felt pretty good,” Potter said. “I had pretty minimal pain. Once the main event started, the first 12 games were OK. You bowl five-game blocks and then take an hour or two for lunch and then come back.

“I was doing two blocks a day, and by the time I was in the third day of bowling, resting, bowling and resting, I could barely even move outside the lanes.

“Once I got bowling and it loosened up it wasn’t so bad, but when I was releasing the ball and my body shifted upwards, I could really feel it. It didn’t affect my bowling but it definitely didn’t feel good between shots.”

The actual PBA event didn’t go as well as he hoped. It’s comprised of four tournaments, with a different event each day.

The top third of the field then advanced to the actual world championship.

“I ended up finishing 90th out of 120,” Potter said. “Definitely, bowling 70 games in a week was starting to show on how I was feeling. Each block that went by was worse and worse. My best finish in the tournaments was about 60th out of 120. I was just happy to finish on that high note with how I was feeling.

“Playing the best players in the world is hard enough, but when you’re not healthy, it makes it even harder.”

He took a few weeks off after to let them heal and is feeling good again now.

Playing on the PBA has also been a goal for Potter, although he notes it’s not the most welcoming environment.

After all, the bowlers are feeding their families with their results.

“Bowling is a very mental sport and it’s what people do for a living so it’s not always the most joyful, happiest environment,” Potter said. “Except for the fans, it’s very quiet and people are in their heads thinking shots through. There is not a whole lot of friendliness on the lanes but we’re all there to do a job.”

It has given him some insight into how big that next step is. As a result, he’s content to continue to build his way toward it without feeling compelled to rush in.

“Currently I’m happy with just playing the odd event here and there,” Potter said. “It’s a lot of money and a lot of travelling to be down there non-stop. It’s definitely a dream of mine to be out there full time but I feel like I have to improve a little bit more to be out there. You have to be able to put aside four or five months of your life just to be able to go out and compete.

“To make that your living, you definitely have to be competing at a very high level.”

But he has already had a taste of what could be in his future if he makes that far.

In 2025, he competed at a televised PBA event and stopped for gas in the middle of the night in Minnesota. For some reason, a kid was there and recognized Potter.

“When I walked past he said ‘I thought I saw you on TV today,’” Potter said. “I said ‘Oh, were you watching bowling?’ He said ‘Ya, why are you here?’ and I said ‘I could ask you the same thing.’

“I was just trying to get home but he said ‘It was super cool to watch you.’ It was definitely an experience. I wish I had been a little more awake.

“It’s very cool to meet people. Whenever I go to tournaments now, if the odd person asks me to sign something, it’s still in my head ‘Why me?’ I don’t know why you’re picking me for this.’

“It’s a very good experience for me and for them if I can brighten up somebody’s day.”

And while he may not get as much time on the lanes as he might hope, Potter is confident he’s continuing to move in the right direction.

Maybe one day he’ll be getting recognized a little bit more in the bowling community.

“There were tournaments I played in the past where I missed the cut years ago, and now when I go there and don’t finish in the top five, it feels like a waste of time,” Potter said. “Sometimes I look back and go ‘Wow, 18- or 19-year-old Israel would be really proud of where we are right now.

“It’s nice to be able to feel that way, that we made some really good progress, and I’m hoping there is much more to come. we’re going in the right direction.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com