Despite being one of our youngest Hall of Famers, Jim Fedorenko has certainly experienced all facets of the bowling industry. Only 51, Jim is a two-time Canadian champion and one of the very few five pin bowlers who have competed internationally. Also, as the owner of a bowling centre, Echo Bowl in Brantford, Jim has already served as president of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Ontario.

Born in Brantford in 1952, Jim, along with his boyhood friends, Brian Fenney and Jerry Kozak, enjoyed a game of pool or billiards before, at age seventeen, venturing into Mohawk Bowl to try a few games.

Jim picked up the game quickly and, by 1975, qualified for the first of seventeen provincial Open teams representing the Tri County Association. This zone, which began in 1972, has developed several Hall of Famers, such as Sue Wanklin and Ken Rohrer and, in 1979, the zone dominated the Open championships. Overall, Jim won the Men’s singles title, the men’s team was victorious and the zone also won the aggregate title. As such, Jim was a double winner in the singles and on the men’s team, but, due to scheduling conflicts, Jim could not bowl both events at the national championships in Victoria. Jim chose the singles and was replaced by Pierre Sampson on the men’s team. At Victoria, Jim won the gold medal and, with the victory, was ceded directly to the National championships the following year in Winnipeg. At Winnipeg, Jim was victorious again and, as such was ceded into the National singles final the following year in Hamilton. Jim took home a bronze medal this time and, due to his success, the Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association, actually changed the qualifying rule and eliminated the ceding process from the national singles participation.

In bowling as in life, timing is everything, and, for 1980, the C5PBA arranged the first International Small Ball Championships to be held in the Philippines and included local bowlers, along with Canada, the United States and Argentina. The games to be played were 5 pin bowling and duck pins. The Canadian teams would include the four top averages, male and female, from the 1980 Canadian championships in Winnipeg. Jim and Claudina Lista qualified from Ontario, Laura Mitchell from Northern Ontario along with Louise Paulhus, Don Eakin and Ron Sandes of British Columbia, Darian McConaghy of Alberta and Bruce Oige of Manitoba. On the international stage, Jim was a medalist as the highest ranking Canadian bowler in the event.

In 1981, Jim reached back into his pool playing days and his acquaintance with the owner of the billiard hall, a gentleman named Mike Macos. Coincidentally, Mike also owned the bowling centre, Echo Lanes, a twenty-four lane, non-BPAO member centre with no youth program, and, after owning it for nine years, he wanted to sell. Jim and his wife, Kim, were ready buyers and were cash poor but house rich. As such, Jim and Kim gave their home as a down payment and rented living quarters while heading off on a new career as bowling proprietors.

Despite his youth, Jim became an extremely progressive proprietor. He quickly built a youth program that became one of the largest and most successful in Canada and remodeled his centre to also become the number one centre, not only in Brantford but a showcase for bowling in Ontario. Moreover, Jim realized and believed in the importance of the Youth Bowling Council. As such, Jim and his wife Kim built into their youth program a legacy that included both a love of the game and also the thrill of competition. Both are evident at Echo Bowl and their centre has reached the Youth Bowling Council national finals nine years in a row and captured five Canadian championships, one as a single and four as a team. Also, through the YBC, Jim replaced Sam James as Youth Bowling Council Chairman on the BPAO board and, in 1989, assumed the provincial presidency for a two-year period.

While Jim was fast tracking through the BPAO, he was also starring on the lanes. In 1979, Jim joined the Master Bowlers’ Association as a tournament player and, in his second tournament, Jim bowled a 3069 ten game score to lead the qualifying round in the annual Grape and Wine Tournament in St. Catharines. Jim won his only event in 1986 as part of a triples team that included Hall of Famer Anna Swartzman and Mike Gorman. Jim appeared on a television twice, both times at the MBAO Grape and Wine Tournament in St. Catharines. Jim qualified for the MBAC nationals in 1991 and the team, which included coach Brian Kaye, Jim, Dale Strutt, Jordan Craner, David Michael and Hall of Famer Fraser Hambly, won a gold medal in Winnipeg.

Jim has been the dominant bowler in Brantford and Tri-County for many years. In the Intercity League, Jim was part of the championship team that won in 1977 and perennially leads his house league participation in the high average race. Overall Jim was selected thirty-third on the official O5PBA Top 90 List for bowlers of the millennium, an outstanding achievement.

Jim has always been an organizer. Prior to owning the bowling centre, Jim began as an accountant at Gates Rubber in 1974 and left as the head of the Finance Department. In the Master Bowlers, as well as playing, Jim joined the Board of Directors and served six years. In his bowling centre, he decentralized his bowlers and had over five hundred members for each year.

Today, Jim can look at his accomplishments, at all levels, with pride and this also includes recognition as a member of the Brantford Sports Hall of Fame. Moreover, Jim and his wife, Kim, have prospered in their bowling centre and contemplate a more leisurely lifestyle as they consider a retirement from the day-to-day activities.