Our fourth athlete in the Youth Bowling Spotlight is 12 years old Seb Lawrence of Dunstable YBC!
Twelve Years Old and Chasing an England Shirt
Seb Lawrence of Dunstable Dragons is 12, in his first year in the under-16s, and already finishing above England internationals. He spoke to us about the hours behind the scores, how he deals with a bad frame, and what he’d tell any young bowler with big ambitions.
A year of big jumps
Twelve months ago Seb’s average was around 165. Today it’s 187 to 188. He’s sixth in the youth tour rankings, with the tour finals within reach. This season he has also become one of the first names on the team sheet in the Midland Scratch League Premier.
The big numbers are arriving too. Last season he rolled an 805 four-game series on the PBA Viper pattern at Stroud. He has a 267 high game, and he has rolled it three times. He came close to beating it recently with a new ball in his bag. He shot his first 700 three-game series, a 703, in the Monday league at Acocks Green. This season he put together a 748 four-game series in the Thursday sport league at Stroud, on the PBA Bear pattern.
Holding his own against the best
His standout result this year came at an ESBT event at City Pavilion, Romford. He finished 20th out of 43 in an open adult field, was the top junior in the event, and finished ahead of three fully capped England internationals.
Seb is honest that his scores were up and down that weekend on the Brunswick Euro Challenge pattern, with a 248 sitting alongside games of 160 and 150. That’s what the step up looks like. You find out where your game stands against the best, and then you go and work on it.
At the Youth Nationals he averaged around 189 over nine games and finished 12th in the under-16s. It wasn’t his day to beat his average, unfortunately. It was a Nationals to remember for his friend Tula-May Henderson, who rolled a 263 high game and won the singles in her age category as the only bowler to top a 600 series.
The week behind the numbers
None of this comes from talent alone. A normal week for Seb looks like this:
On top of that he goes to the gym four days a week (or tries to!) and runs there and back. He’s at school on a rugby scholarship and captains the team on Saturdays. He tries to eat well and fits his homework around everything else. His diary sometimes means choosing between events: this season he picked the Heathrow Airport Doubles over the Mansfield Doubles so he wouldn’t miss Saturday rugby, and he couldn’t be in two places at the same time on the Sunday!
The setback that became fuel
This year Seb missed out on England selection for the Triple Crown. He took it as motivation, not as a setback, and his results since then show it.
The mental game
Every bowler throws bad shots, and Seb lets himself be frustrated for a moment before he moves on. As he puts it:
“You can’t go back and change what happened, so why let it affect your next shot.”
Seb’s advice to young bowlers
Travel Realities
In the last four weeks Seb has travelled: 335 miles, 294 miles, 449 miles and 480 miles. Punishment for the car, the wallet, and the driver (who has written this article of course!)
What’s next
English open squads this Saturday evening and next. Then Seb defends his tour points at the Heathrow Airport Doubles. After that he travels to the Irish Junior Open, which means missing the Stroud Accumulator. His short-term goal is a place in the under-16 England team. Longer term, he wants the full senior England team and perhaps a professional career in the United States.
The hours are already going in, and the results are following…
Article With thanks to Adam Lawrence!
