12-year-old bowler takes second at Junior Gold Championships, eyes professional career
CHICAGO (CBS) — Eason Taylor is a 12-year-old of many talents. The seventh grader at Durkin Park Elementary has been competing in bowling tournaments across the country since he was little, and he has been winning scholarship money with his impressive performances, including one at the largest annual national youth bowling tournament in the country.
"I play bowling, baseball, flag football, basketball. Yeah, that's it," he said.
But Eason's favorite sport has always been bowling.
"My dad bought me these little toy pins, and every day, all the time, all I would do is roll the ball," he said.
"It got to the point when he would travel to our relatives' houses, he would take those pins with him. He would put them in a shopping bag and take them with him. Every relative would buy him a set of pins. If they didn't have pins, he would set up water bottles, anything cylindrical, and just start rolling."
Eason began playing in his first league at four years old and has been rolling ever since.
Most recently, he placed second at the Junior Gold Championships in Detroit. It's the largest youth tournament in the country.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "I was able to spend a lot of time with my friends and go out and eat with them and stuff."
"When I watched him on TV, I'm still just amazed, like anyone else. He continues to improve, set realistic goals, and achieves them," his dad, Curtis Taylor, said.
Eason wants to one day compete in the Professional Bowlers Association. That seems realistic, judging by how often he bowls strikes.
He's already well on the way to achieving another one of his goals because of it.
"Perfect game and 800 series across three games," he said
He has come close.
"Eleven in a row," he said. "I was one strike away from a perfect game."
Of course, success doesn't come without hard work, and Eason already calls the bowling alley his second home. But any time he plays against friends or family, they find a way to keep it fair.
"So there's this thing called a handicap where they get extra pins," he said. "I usually give them 100 pins handicap."
"Fifty pins at least," his dad said.
But Eason never shies away from helping others get better and is always offering advice to those around him.
"So a football spiral, you know how you throw a football spiral, you just have to throw it upside down with a flick of your wrist," he said.
The game can only be perfected in one way.
"Bowling over and over and over again. Practice," he said.
Practice is something Eason has loved to do since day one.
Last season, Eason competed in almost 40 tournaments and finished in first place 14 times.