Hi All,
First of all congrats to George Frilingos and Claire Johnson for winning the South Pacific Classic held at the weekend at AMF Moorabin, from what I could see it was a very tough condition. Well done to both of you.
But I just want to make a special mention of something that happened during the mens title match, when Jason Walsh pulled up on a shot because of some distracting noise. The noise was caused by a couple of young girls that had turned up for a birthday party and had started playing some video games. Jason Belmonte walked over to the girls and had a chat to them about keeping quiet until the tournament was finished, even though he had just been knocked out by Jason Walsh.
What was more impressive was the manner in which Belmo talked to these young girls. From what I could see from the grandstand, it wasn't a telling off by any means. Judging by the body language of all involved, it was a nice friendly face-to-face chat saying something along the lines of "Hey, there's a tournament on at the moment. Do you mind being just a bit quieter till it's finished." It was done in such a way that the girls didn't get scared about what they'd done, and they certainly weren't scared of Jason when he was talking to them.
For those of you who know Belmo well, this will no doubt come as no surprise at all. But for the rest of us who don't know him that well at a personal level, this is yet another example of why he is so well respected around the world - not just as a bowler but as a person as well - and why he is becoming such a wonderful ambassador for the sport of bowling, not just in Australia but world-wide.
If I was judging a sportsperson award for the SPC tournament, I'd give it to Belmo for this alone. But since I am not judging any awards, I'd just like to say well done Belmo, you are a good man.
David.
First of all congrats to George Frilingos and Claire Johnson for winning the South Pacific Classic held at the weekend at AMF Moorabin, from what I could see it was a very tough condition. Well done to both of you.
But I just want to make a special mention of something that happened during the mens title match, when Jason Walsh pulled up on a shot because of some distracting noise. The noise was caused by a couple of young girls that had turned up for a birthday party and had started playing some video games. Jason Belmonte walked over to the girls and had a chat to them about keeping quiet until the tournament was finished, even though he had just been knocked out by Jason Walsh.
What was more impressive was the manner in which Belmo talked to these young girls. From what I could see from the grandstand, it wasn't a telling off by any means. Judging by the body language of all involved, it was a nice friendly face-to-face chat saying something along the lines of "Hey, there's a tournament on at the moment. Do you mind being just a bit quieter till it's finished." It was done in such a way that the girls didn't get scared about what they'd done, and they certainly weren't scared of Jason when he was talking to them.
For those of you who know Belmo well, this will no doubt come as no surprise at all. But for the rest of us who don't know him that well at a personal level, this is yet another example of why he is so well respected around the world - not just as a bowler but as a person as well - and why he is becoming such a wonderful ambassador for the sport of bowling, not just in Australia but world-wide.
If I was judging a sportsperson award for the SPC tournament, I'd give it to Belmo for this alone. But since I am not judging any awards, I'd just like to say well done Belmo, you are a good man.
David.
Well done 
