Bowling, Baseball
Favorite athletes: Chase Utley, Kyrie Irving, Norm Duke
Favorite teams: Philadelphia Phillies & Los Angeles Dodgers
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened has been when my pants ripped in the crotch area during a baseball game from sliding.
Music on playlist: Juice WRLD, Drake, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, etc.
Future plans: I plan to attend Midway University to study pre-med and continue my athletic career. I plan on getting my bachelor’s degree and then getting my doctorate.
Words to live by:
“It ain’t over til it’s over.” – Yogi Berra
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
One goal before turning 30: One goal before I turn 30 is to win a PBA Tour Title & Major
One thing people don’t know about me: One thing people don’t know about me is that I was born in 29 weeks.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Along Bristol Pike in Croydon, Bucks County -- in the shadow of a cemetery -- sits the legendary Bristol Pike Lanes.
The longstanding sights of scorecards and the sounds of the crashing pins, and the feel of bowling balls and the traditional tastes of the snack stand, are woven into the DNA of one Jackson Ryan.
“I’d say I’m probably here about five or the seven days of the week,” said Ryan, the youngest of four kids from the nest of Joyel and Jim Ryan II.
A senior at Harry S. Truman high school, Ryan can trace his roots – on both his father’s (Ryan) and mother’s (Blackburn) branches of the family tree – to bowling at Bristol Lanes the way others can to, say, Ellis Island.
“My grandparents used to bowl - I would say it’s been in our family for about 75-80 years,” he estimated.
That’s a lot of success in a lot of leagues, with a lot of trophies in the trophy case.
But Ryan has still broken the mold. Literally, he will be taking it to a new level by bowling for Midway University in Midway, Kentucky (it can be found on a map at the midway point between the Bluegrass State’s two largest cities, Louisville and Lexington).
“After talking to their captain, I feel like I’m leaving home to go home,” said Ryan. “When I first met the coach (Michael Hall), I had a niece who was just turning one at the time. When I first got back in touch with him this past year, the first thing he said was: ‘How is your family? How is your niece?’ I hadn’t talked to him in about a year. I thought it was surprising that he even remembered my name.”
The opportunity comes by virtue of stellar summertime performances on the Junior circuit, putting him on the radar of college coaches at a time when collegiate bowling is, as the kids say, “more of a thing.”
Added Ryan, who is certainly aware of his time and place: “Yes, being that bowling wasn’t really as big as it is now, there were never really opportunities back then for people to bowl collegiately. With how much the sport has grown in the last 10-20 years, opportunities began to arise for youth bowlers to take their game to the next level, which would be collegiately. Out of my family, I’ll be the first one to take that next step that my grandparents, even my parents, never had the chance to take.”
And the groundbreaking college commitment goes beyond his family. Truman has had several girls go on to bowl in college, but he will be the first boy from the school to make the leap.
It not only took bowling himself onto the radar of schools, but staying up until the pre-dawn hours to e-mail schools in a quest to find the right fit.
“It’s a blessing, in itself, to be completely honest,” said Ryan. “There have been many bowlers before me to come through Truman’s program that had the talent, physically and mentally, to make it to the collegiate level.
“To be the first one brings everything I’ve been working hard towards into perspective. It’s paying off. This really reminds me that everything comes full-circle, and for those like myself that really set their mind to accomplish goals and put the work in to get there eventually see the positive results.”
Growing Pains
Family history or not, he needed to be knocked down a few pegs – kind of like bowling pins – before growing up and into himself.
“Oh man, where do I even begin,” said Truman coach Jess Schulz. “I was a substitute teacher at his middle school, and would hang around bowling practice when his older brother was on the team many, many years ago.
“To see his growth and his leadership, and to see the type of young man he has grown into today, has been absolutely amazing to witness.”
According to Schulz, Ryan clearly had something growing up to do when he came in as a freshman.
“As a freshman, he came onto the team a little immature and a little cocky,” she said. “He said that he was going to make a spot for himself on varsity. At the time, while the squad was pretty set, he really had to show growth and maturity and he did. He became a varsity starter. From that point on, he showed leadership. He wasn’t caring about his own game, but the games of his teammates. He really has become the overall leader on this squad.”
Recalled Ryan of his metamorphosis:
“I told all the kids on varsity that I was taking their spot. Over the last three years, I’ve taken a role as almost an additional coach on the team. I try to help the team as much as I can.”
The help is much appreciated.
As it stands now, with Schulz coaching the girls’ team, Ryan is not only the anchor (goes last, just like the anchor of a relay race) but also the rock she leans upon as almost a pseudo coach for the boys’ squad.
“Instead of a player, he is looked to almost as an operations manager, if you will,” she said. “I’ve been with the program for 10 years, but the boys’ program has fluctuated with coaches. We run the boys’ team now more like a community. He is very much a part of that leadership committee. I have final say, as the coach, but it’s always a discussion.
“He has been great, as a young adult, about being non-biased about the things that he sees. He’s an all-around great kid.”
When it comes to mentorship with his teammates, Ryan is as much about pep talks as anything else.
“Honestly, bowling is about 90 percent mental,” he said. “You have to keep your head in it, no matter what is going on. Even if you having one of your worst days, you have to keep your head in it and stay focused.
“You don’t always have to throw the ball the best to be the best bowler. It’s the ones who keep their heads the clearest who perform the best.”
Making Up for Lost Time
Now a full-time 7th grade ELA teacher at FDR Middle School, Schulz describes this season as “The Reunion Tour” for the boys’ team. A year ago, the Tigers won their division and qualified for the regional tournament before COVID shut everything down.
“We were, literally, in the van to leave on Thursday, March 12. The Truman girls’ team has a legacy. We’ve been to states multiple times. It was really exciting that the boys were joining us.”
And that’s when the call came from the athletic director.
“It was, literally, that ‘the world is going to shut down tomorrow, you’re not going,’” she said.
Hope was still in the air for a while, but then came the final word.
“We got the call in April that the state tournament was not going to be made up,” she said. “That was kind of hard. We had two key seniors graduate.”
Recalled Ryan: “Last year was a tough one when they took it away from us. The last Truman boys team to make states was in 2016 (with older brother, Jimmy), so being able to experience the same thing my brother and his team did would’ve been astonishing. But we held ourselves to a high level knowing that we are going to fight up until the end and we won’t give up with ease.”
The Homestretch
Ryan and some other seniors are using the experience as a rallying cry.
Said Schulz: “They are, like, ‘look, we got robbed last year, so we have to repeat.’ They are doing well but, as a coach, I’d like to see them strive for perfection.”
The Tigers are currently second in their division, and hope to make the regional cut.
“They certainly have the talent to make a comeback,” said Schulz, who added that there is “no wiggle room” because of a truncated season.
Ryan said the team is living in the moment, the last for himself for himself and some fellow seniors.
“Having states taken from us wasn’t really what we wanted, as it is an opportunity that doesn’t come very often,” he said. “However, being that it was stripped from us it fueled our energy and momentum for this year’s season. We are fully locked in mentally to advance to regionals and to push ourselves to highest extent to give us a chance to make states again.
“All of us have had countless hours in the bowling alley whether it’s during school practice or holding our own practices on off days, and we really are going to be a team that is tough to beat on the mental aspect of the game as we know what we’re capable of.”
More Than What Meets the Eye
As much as Ryan lives at Bristol Lanes, he finds time for baseball (plans to play second base or in the outfield this season), stands in as a parent for Senior Night and excels in the classroom.
“The academic portion of my life, is what I feel is my biggest strength,” he said. “I am a 4.0 student. Whenever I have an assignment, I don’t procrastinate. I just get right on it.”
Ryan, whose class rank after his junior year was 21st in a class of 346 students, did not take the SAT because of COVID but soared through all the other standardize testing with flying colors.
Ryan is also in the prestigious Varsity Club (above 3.8 and at least three years on a varsity team) and, outside of school, is a member of the USBC (United States Bowling Congress) as a youth director.
While older siblings Jimmy and Amber provided support, it was sister, Jocelynn, setting the bar.
“Honestly, being in the top 25 in my class means a lot to me,” said Ryan, who will major in Pre-Medical studies. “(Jocelynn) is the person I look up to the most, and she was top five. I was trying to push to be like her, but it’s very hard to (measure up to) my sister.”
Forest through the trees, the class rank in that quest was enough to impress the Midway coach.
“The first question after those about my family were about how my grades were,” said Ryan. “As soon as he saw how my grades were, that’s when he wanted me there.”
