By BILL SNIER
CANTON — Renae Shafer had always been a competitive bowler, whether in league or tournament play.
But, seven years ago, the now 41-year-old Perry Township right-hander walked away from the game. Part of it was being a mother to now 11-year-old Landel James. Another was a variety of injuries to her knee, ankle and wrist.
But there was another lingering reason.
“The other part is that I was competitive for so long that I just lost my love for the game,” said Shafer, a business development manager for Babcock and Wilcox Co. “I needed to take some time off … I needed a break.”
But, two years ago, her best friend, Dawn Altimore-Eckenrode, came calling.
“I had donated my shoes and all my equipment so I had nothing. I probably would have retired from bowling,” Shafer said. “But my forever friend, Dawn, and her husband, Bob, needed someone to fill a spot on their team at AMF Riviera and Dawn asked me if I wanted the spot.”
Altimore-Eckenrode took care of the equipment part with Christmas presents of bowling balls. But the mental part was another story.
“I had just come off three different injuries and I didn’t even know if I could throw a ball or even walk on the approach,” Shafer said. “She told me we would go practice for a couple of weeks before the league started and I really did better than I thought I would.
“The rest, as they say, is history.”
She averaged 201 her first year at Riviera in the league of four-player teams and 205 last season.
“When you have all those injuries you just don’t know how those are going to affect you when you get up there,” Shafer said. “When I was coming back, I was just off balance and my timing was really off.
“I said I would be happy if I could average 200 my first year back and that would be OK. So I was happy with the 201. Riviera is tougher and tighter than down here (Stark County).”
This season, Altimore-Eckenrode and Shafer are together again, but at at different place — Eastbury Bowling Center.
What a difference it has made.
Bowling in two leagues at Eastbury, Shafer is averaging 229 on Wednesday’s bowling with her BFF Altimore-Eckenrode in the Wednesday Night league and 215 on Friday in the Liberty Vending league. Already this season, she has posted series of 743, 713 and 709 while predominately using her 900 Global Zen.
“It was tough to come back. There were parts of my game that I actually did pretty well in like my speed and accuracy,” Shafer said. “I was pleasantly surprised.
“But my spare game is just atrocious to this day. On my good nights I’m covering my 10-pins, but when I’m off, I’m off. It was one of those things you worked on when I was still in it. You practiced, but I don’t practice a lot at all. I just show up and bowl and what you get, you get.
“My balance is getting better, but the timing of everything has been the hurdle for me.”
Her team topped the Riviera league a year ago, but the league was discussing moving to Station 300 for the 2024-25 season (it eventually did do that).
“We won the league last year, but we had heard that the league might split or move and we were waiting to hear because we wanted to stay,” Shafer said. “But Dawn mentioned that her brother (Joe Altimore III) was president of a Wednesday league at Eastbury that had a couple of openings.
“It was a five-person league, but it was closer to home and it was a chance for her to bowl with family. So we decided at the last minute to go with it.”
Joining the two women are Bob Eckenrode, Bryan Burns and Bryce Loeffler, with Matt Frock as the sixth man.
“Bob set the over-under for me in that league at 225 by the end of the season,” Shafer said. “I said at the beginning no way. But now, maybe.”
Some of her struggles on Friday she associates with learning new teammates and bowling against and with players she previously competed with in the Northeast Ohio Travel League.
“I’ve put a little more pressure on myself, bowling with all the travel league bowlers who are here,” Shafer said. “I averaged 220 as a sub in that league last year, but I have to get more comfortable with the team and the league.
“I’m not bowling with my BFF on Fridays, which is always more comfortable.”
And Shafer’s love of the sport has returned, although in a different way.
“I don’t know if it’s due to the bowling, bowling well or I get to bowl with my best friend and people I’ve missed,” Shafer added. “I think it’s now less about bowling and more about a night out with your friends and that’s just awesome.”