Cochrane Lanes

Bowling Bowling dates back to 5000BC, which makes it a very ancient sport. However the modern game of 5 pin bowling was orginated by Canadian Tommy Ryan a sportsman and art dealer in Toronto. It is a very Canadian game, celebrating it's 100th anniversay in 2009. Our sports founder passed away in 1961. The First league for 5 pin bowling began in 1910 at Ryan's own Toronto Bowling Club. The first Ladies League was started in 1921. Only three years after the conception of the sport the famous BLUE band was added to the pins. The First PERFECT GAME (450) was bowled in Toronto, by BIll Bromfeildin 1921. By 1935, bowling became a sport for everyone when the Blind Bowlers' League was founded in Western Canada. The youth of our nation joined the game officially in 1957 with the first youth bowling organization, Canadian Junior Bowling Congress. That was the same year the automatic pinsetter was introduced, however many centers still manually set the pins after each bowlers turn. While 5 pin bowling remains a Canadian past time, it has been succesfully introduced in the Bahamas, Scotland and the Philippines. Since it's inception, bowling has remained a proprietor driven sport which includes each centers involvement in the Bowlings Proprietors Association of Canada, known as Bowl Canada, the Bowling Proprietors Association of America, as well as many provincial and regional associations.