Nicholas Mercer
The Central Voice
Grand Falls-Windsor, N.L. — With his arms raised and wearing a broad smile, Paul Connors shouts he just bowled a 195 as he proudly strolls into the Exploits Valley Curling Club.
The high score comes on one of the final training nights before he and others from this province head to the Special Olympic Winter Games in Thunder Bay Feb. 25-29.
“It is going to be fun to compete,” said Connors of heading to Ontario.
A relatively new person to Special Olympics, Connors only started bowling with the group in the last couple of years.
Then, his score was in the 80s. He started training two nights a week and eventually, that number started to rise.
Now, his average is some 50 points higher at about 135. It is an impressive number for someone who has only been training regularly for a short period of time.
It was also good enough to earn Connors a spot on Team Newfoundland and Labrador as one of the top-12 players in his sport in the province.
“That feels good,” he said of being selected.
While he is looking forward to heading to Thunder Bay, where he will be celebrating his 45th birthday, he isn’t that thrilled about how he has to get there.
Connors doesn’t like airplanes. They tend to make his ears hurt and he has yet to find a way to help alleviate the problem.
“I’m excited to be representing my province,” said Connors.
