David Staines and the team have only returned from another successful European adventure
Local Faces: David Staines
TEN pin bowling is a game which dates back to the early 19th century and is played all over the world. It might seem to the uninitiated like a game of luck – you just fling the ball at the pins, writes Ken Doyle.
That would be a serious underestimation of the minutiae and nuances of the game. For some, it’s a game of extraordinary skill and precision.
This week’s ‘Face of the Community’ is David Staines, a man who has been bowling for more years than he’d care to remember and he spends his free time teaching younger bowlers how to turn their gutterballs into strikes.
David runs Tallaght Arrows Junior Tenpin Bowling Club who meet on Saturday morning at the Leisureplex in Tallaght.
The club comprises a gang of extremely enthusiastic youngsters who share David’s love of the game and recently we got a chance to speak to him about his passion project and a lot more besides.
Born in the Milltown area, David laid the template for Shamrock Rovers by moving from there to Tallaght some years ago. “I went straight into the upholstery business as soon as I left school and spent around 17 years there.”
“As far as the bowling goes, I really got into it through my dad Michael. I started bowling with him at the Dundrum Bowl but soon enough he was so good, he became Ireland Team Captain and was based in Stillorgan Bowl.
‘Believe it or not, he met my Mam there. Her name is Isabella but everyone knows her as Belle.
‘She’s a brilliant bowler too I might add. I went with Dad a lot and improved my own game while he played with the seniors.
‘There was a bit of a problem when I was about 15, Stillorgan Bowl flooded and the nearest place we could train was Leisureplex in Tallaght.
David Staines joined the Arrows in 2007 and went straight into coaching
‘We made many, many two-bus trips to Tallaght subsequently and I had my first taste of the game over this way.”
Michael Staines, David’s dad is a true legend in bowling circles and they still meet a lot of people from Michael’s glory days now.
And David was no slouch either. He tells me, “I played at a pretty good level and actually won a silver medal in London at the European Championships.
‘The bowling community is pretty tight and I now meet loads of people I bowled against.
‘Through talking about the game with these people, towards the end of my playing career I decided I fancied trying a bit of coaching. As soon as I did, I got the bug and I was hooked.”
“The game by itself is wonderful though. It’s completely inclusive, can be played by people of all ages and abilities and it’s actually really big in the Special Olympics. You really see the smile when they’ve got it right and that’s enormously fulfilling.”
David joined Tallaght Arrows in 2007 and got stuck straight in coaching the kids.
The club offers 2 hours training, 1 hour of which is coaching and the other is playing and hopefully improving with the things learnt.
This only costs 10 Euros per week and if you’re familiar with the pricing around bowling, you’ll know what a great deal that is.
The club has gone from strength to strength over the years and David and the team’s hard work was put to the test at the last European Championships in Helsinki in 2024.
“We sent six bowlers from Tallaght to the championships and we had some great success.
‘The highlights were a bronze medal for the girls’ team and a silver medal in the Masters Final for Hannah Masterson.
David Staines says the club is going from strength to strength
‘The team that went was Hannah, Anna and Ciara Lawlor, Laura Grant, Dylan McKeown and Colum Staines. They all performed brilliantly and helped put our club on the map internationally.”
In fact, when we spoke David and the team had just returned from another successful European adventure, this time in France.
David insists that the backing of the parents of these young people has played a huge part in their success and believes that the kind of positive reinforcement the parents provide is crucial to the kids success.
As far as his career goes, David is now a Service Engineer and Facility Manager with a company called Heat Design Wholesale. “They’ve been very good to me and I’m really happy with them,” David makes sure to add.
When he’s not coaching or at work, David is an avowed family man. He’s been with his wife Nicola for 28 years and together they’ve raised three boys, Lorcan, Seán and Colum.
As Ratty said to Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s classic The Wind in the Willows, ‘There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing as messing around in boats.
‘ David would no doubt agree as he’s the proud owner of a boat on which he and the family cruise up and down the Shannon every chance they get.
“It’s our great escape,” says David “and it’s called the Dragon.
‘It’s named after, well actually it’s not named after anyone in particular.”
On an unrelated note, David is a man very much lovingly devoted to his beautiful wife Nicola.
For more information on Tallaght Arrows Bowling Club, check out their Facebook page.
