Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to a central west sporting legend. I speak, of course, of a man widely regarded as the greatest tenpin bowler of all time: Jason Belmonte. Born in Orange in the eighties, Jason started perfecting how to split pins at the ripe old age of 18 months. That's right—at the same time he was taking his first steps, he was learning the lanes at Orange Tenpin Bowl, the alley owned and run by his parents, Aldo and Marisa, who still run the centre four decades later. It's a great local business.

With the bowling ball too heavy for the toddler to handle, young Jason decided to use both his hands to launch it down the lane. This unique two-handed technique would become the signature bowling style of the current number-one ranked PBA Tour player. It's a style that has revolutionised the sport. Through his glittering career, Jason has secured 30 Professional Bowlers Association tour titles and a record 14 major championships and has been named PBA Player of the Year six times. Today, Jason is lacing up his bowling shoes a little closer to home, taking on the inaugural Devil's Lair tournament in Hobart. Here's hoping he has an Aussie home-lane advantage.

Earlier this year, Jason was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for significant service to tenpin bowling at the elite level. Today, we honour the local Central West sporting icon that is Jason Belmonte, the young boy from Orange who became the best pin splitter on the planet.