The five-member Durham squad is one of 50 teams and 250 bowlers from across Ontario competing at the 5-pin bowling event at Oshawa's Neb's Funworld (North End Bowl) on May 30 and 31.

Teams will be divided into eight divisions, all named after Durham municipalities: Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, Uxbridge, Brock, Oshawa, Scugog and Whitby.

Fifty coaches will also be with their teams at the Spring Games.

The Durham High Rollers features Andrea Bartal of Brooklin, Amanda Gos of Ajax, John Antoniou of Pickering, Marc Turgeon of Whitby, Melissa Evans of Oshawa and Blake Feetham of Pickering.

Feetham, a bowler for the past 19 years, is happy to be competing in Durham Region along with his friends on the team.

"Yes, I'm very excited," says Feetham, 37, who also competes in several other Special Olympic sports, including swimming, track and field, speed skating and soccer.

But, he notes bowling is his favourite.

"I like to bowl and improve all the time," say Feetham, who practises with his High Rollers' teammates at the Ajax Bowling Centre each Friday night.

Walter Heeney, of Pickering, will act as the site co-ordinator for the 5-pin bowling. As someone who serves in numerous capacities within bowling, including executive director of the Master Bowlers Association of Ontario and the technical director of Ontario 5-Pin Bowlers Association, he was a natural fit.

He's also been involved in the Special Olympics since 1990 through the participation of his daughter, Jan, who competes in rhythmic gymnastics.

Heeney says he's glad to be involved in what is one of the more popular sports at the Special Olympics.

"It's the No. 1 participatory sports in the Special Olympics," says Heeney. "There are 30,000 Special Olympians in Canada and 11,000 are bowlers. It's the first sport an athlete touches because it's relatively accessible to everyone. Bowling is their first adventure."

Heeney predicts there will be "some reasonably good bowlers" among the Special Olympians assembled in Durham Region. In fact, he says the rules are no different that those in other leagues. Each bowler on each five-member team will bowl head-to-head against a member of the other team, with the winner awarded a point. There's five points up for grabs in each game, with three points awarded for a win for a total of eight points.

Each head-to-head matchup, says Heeney, will be decided on a points-over-average formula that allows bowlers with lower averages to compete on an even playing field with those possessing higher averages.

In addition to 5-pin bowling, there will also be 10-pin bowling contested during the Spring Games at Leisure Lanes in Oshawa.