Main Event Entertainment has signed on as an official sponsor of Special Olympics but the partnership has been underway in the Plano location for a while now.
"When they come right through the door, they know our names. We know their names,” said Main Event Plano general manager Keith Clark. “They come up to the desk. We give them high fives and fist bumps. We know their shoe sizes and you just see the smiles on their face."
The Special Olympics athletes are happy to be bowling in a place that’s warm and welcoming. It’s a place where keeping score isn’t the most important thing.
"Giving our athletes opportunity like this is once in a lifetime to experience these great things that they do in this community,” said Special Olympics Texas associate executive director Alex Hubbard.
Among the inspirations for Main Event's involvement with Special Olympics is one of the company's district managers who has a son and daughter who are competitors.
"The son and daughter competed recently in Seattle in the World Games and both of them won gold medals,” said Main Event Entertainment marketing director Corey Will.
Perhaps one day, one of the bowlers will follow in their footsteps. After all, the bulbs that light the lanes at Main Event aren’t the only things lighting up.
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"We have one Special Olympics athlete and he'll be bowling and he'll come run up to the bull desk and he'll be like, 'I just got two strikes in a row' and starts high fiving everybody,” said Clark.
It’s that kind of enthusiasm that has the staff at Main Event looking forward to the next time these bowlers return.
