Life Lessons Learned on the Bowling Lane

How James Reid overcame adversity and rose through the ranks of US bowlers

For many people, bowling is something we rarely think of outside of date nights and family outings, but for those who bowl seriously, it is a metaphor for life in the form of a sport. On the darkest day, you may only be able to knock down a pin or two, while on a good day, it may be four or five. Seguin native James Reid knows this better than anyone. For him, bowling is far more than a mere analogy. It is his saving grace toward renewal, sparing him from a life of uncertainty. 

 Reid currently tops the stats in the United States Bowling Congress National Championship in Reno, Nevada. Reid sits at #23. That’s 23 out of thousands of other bowlers from around the nation. Reid’s path to one day making it to the pro level has him already competing against the best. If he is not working, then he can be found practicing at Oak Hill Lanes in San Antonio or playing in a tournament, wherever the game takes him.

 While most athletes begin their success early on, Reid’s story is just getting started. Reid, 37, says his story evolves from what he describes as his darkest journeys, the most recent being the loss of his mother, Diana ‘Diane” Reid. 

“My mom was real sick,” Reid said. “She was in a nursing home, and I was spending a lot of my time there and unbeknownst to myself, I guess, I was getting in a real dark place and a friend of mine came over and said ‘hey look, I’m not really going to take no for an answer. I know she’s your mom, but you still need time away from the nursing home. So, after a while, I finally gave in and said, ‘okay whatever, we will just go and chug a couple of beers and have fun’ and I just really really fell in love with the sport really fast and after my mom passed away, it just felt like it was a way that I could still be close to her and still be able to bring some honor to her as well.” 

 Reid says the loss of a parent is always devastating but for him, the death of his mother was a much deeper void.

 “When she was in the nursing home, she was really starting to develop Dementia and it really really just went downhill,” he said. “We admitted her to the nursing home. I want to say we admitted her in, I want to say July, and then by November, she had passed. So, it was a very fast and rapid deterioration. Subconsciously maybe I felt like it was something I had with her still here, so I guess subconsciously that was a way for me to feel close to her. We didn’t really have that close of a relationship when I was growing up. I really didn’t know her that well. I was pretty much raised by grandparents. It’s really hard to explain but I guess towards the end, it was just a matter of I was finally developing that mother-son relationship and it was just something I wanted to hold onto.” 

 On top of losing his mother, the last few years had already been challenging for Reid. He says a difficult divorce compounded with some bad decisions led him to homelessness. Now as an athlete striving for pro level, Reid says it’s a past he is reminded of often – a past that now only fuels his future.

 “Sometimes, it’s very humbling just to kind of know more or less where I’ve been in my life as far as five years ago being homeless to where I am now,” Reid said. “It’s very humbling at times and it’s just something that I know life should never be taken for granted. It’s very humbling but yet at the same time, it’s constantly a reminder to  keep striving to be better and as a competitor that’s what all of us want.” 

Reid says a few months after being invited to what he thought were only a few beers at the bowling alley has now become a full-fledged passion for the sport.

“It started in the local bowling alley and then I finally decided that this was something that I really truly loved and I kind of wanted to dip my toes in a tournament and so the very first tournament I did was in August of the following year,” Reid said. “It was in Dallas. It was a tournament called the Iron Man Tournament where you bowl 16 games in one day. For that being my very first tournament, the competitive nature of me there bowling with guys who have been on TV in the past just really kind of stirred the pot if you would and I’m like ‘this is definitely something I want to do.” 

Of course, Reid says he has since competed in the national championship in Las Vegas and is currently competing in the 2023 national championship, which won’t hail winners until the summer. Literally picking up his “A” game after every tournament, Reid sees the results of what the game of bowling has taught him and that’s to never quit.

 “Never give up –– never take no for an answer,” he said. “When I was homeless, it was extremely hard to find a job and unfortunately, it’s one of those stereotypes that we face in this word – well you are homeless, we can’t hire you and you just keep knocking on doors until finally someone sees something in you and take a chance and I’m deep enough in my faith to know that that’s kind of what we are called to do is give everyone a chance and sometimes our first chances may not necessary be good enough and everybody makes mistakes. Sometimes, it’s the ability to oversee those mistakes and say ‘okay, you may have screwed up 15 years ago but who hasn’t? For me, it was just a matter of not quitting on myself, believing in myself, believing in my faith and knowing that it’s not over until I say it’s over.”

 Never in his wildest dreams would Reid have ever thought he’d be where he is in the sport. He says, let it serve as an example that life and all of its endless dreams, no matter your age or circumstances, are there for the taking.

 “It was really close there towards the end of her life that I didn’t realize how much of a dark hole I was going down and I guess it was becoming obvious to other people but it’s not so obvious to you and so I was just very fortunate that a friend of mine, Justin O’Neal says ‘hey, I’m not taking no as an answer,” Reid said.

 Today, Reid continues to apply the lessons learned to the game –– always tweaking to improve how he lives his life.

 “I guess the most important thing if I can tell the younger generation or even people my age or older than me, giving up is not an option,” Reid said. “Times do get tough, and I totally understand that. I truly believe in my heart that we have to surround ourselves with people who want us to succeed just as much as we want to have that success ourselves and even if that means cutting certain people out because they may be toxic – at the end of the day, we are in charge of our own journey and the ability to continue to keep growing and continue to keep trying to be a positive influence for anybody, I think is the most important thing and like I said, giving up is just not an option – at least not to me.”