An outstanding athlete, Don Betts of St. Catharines excelled in several sports in high school and actually accepted a basketball scholarship to St. Mary’s University in Halifax. While Don was a top student, he could not resist the high paying summer jobs in St. Catharines as well as the opportunity to pitch fastball in the most competitive leagues in the Niagara Region.

Don was able to transfer this baseball ability to the bowling lanes and, at sixteen, Don was already averaging 240 and bowling in the Inter-City League out of Latcham Lanes in Port Dalhousie.

This early involvement with the adult bowling ranks elevated Don into the company of the best bowlers in the area and many would play a role in leading Don to the elite of our sport. Jack Nichols first introduced Don to the adult ranks through Latcham, Don Walker, who later owned Latcham Lanes, taught Don "how" to win. Future teammates, and Hall of Famers, John Scholes and Mickey Pikor also played a role. John taught Don the importance of changing speeds and Mickey Pikor passed on his experience in "reading" lanes. Finally, and equally important, Don Dingman taught Don the final piece of the puzzle, the ability to control his temper. Armed with these skills which obviously improved over the years, Don was now ready to take on the bowling industry.

Don’s tournament accomplishments not only covered Ontario but stretched across Canada. In Saskatoon, where several Ontario bowlers annually tackle the best from the west, Don won the 1987 event and, at 38 years old, became the oldest bowler ever to win the $5,000 first prize. As well, Don bowled twenty-seven games on the final day to earn the top prize. Also, at the national level, Don was one of the first bowlers to appear on the CBC and TSN television series which are conducted by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Canada. In 1984, Don finished second on CBC, earning $5,000 and would also appear on the same series in 1987 and 1996. Don also lost his first match on TSN in 1984.

In the Open, Don has qualified twenty-six times and coached on two other occasions. Five times, Don led Niagara teams to a provincial championship and twice, in 1974 and 1986, these teams won national titles and, each time, Don was a key player. In the 1984 Open, Don won both the singles and team titles and, over 25 games, averaged 296. However, nationally, this team finished second and Don was fifth in the singles.

Don joined the Master Bowlers for one season in 1973-74 and returned in 1984 to bowl six of the next seven seasons. Moreover, despite bowling only 424 games, Don has four victories and the highest overall average, 264.56, of any bowler competing in over 300 games. Additionally, in only seven seasons, Don represented Ontario at three nationals, in the singles in 1985 and 1987, and on the men’s team in 1988. However, at the Canadian finals, Don won two bronze medals as a single and earned silver on the 1988 men’s team.

While Don starred provincially and nationally in the Open and the Masters, the foundation of his tournament excellence was his local achievements. In the Niagara Pro League, Don won the high average title five times with season totals ranging from 264 to 273. In all, Don has notched three perfect games, in 1968 at Pla Mor Lanes and in 1989 and 1990 at Fairview Lanes in St. Catharines.

Don triumphed in the Dick Adams in Oshawa, twice at the CNE and recorded a 3178 ten game score at Sherwood in a short-lived provincial tour in the mid-eighties. In the Top 90 Project conducted by the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association, Don ranked seventh overall.

Don and his wife, Anne, are married twenty-five years and have two sons, Robbie and Jamie. Both boys are bowlers and Don and Robbie were Provincial Family Twosome champions. Finally, as Don has now reached the personal half-century, he is returning to tournament play on the MBAO Senior Tour and, in a last minute decision, will try the regular tour as well.