Lincoln-Way West H.S. bowling coach honored for meritorious service

Scott Ullian of New Lenox was an accomplished bowler in his own right – but set aside competition to to train the next generation of bowlers.

And Ullian recently received recognition for it.

On Oct. 2, Scott Ullian was inducted into the Greater Joliet Area Bowling Hall of Fame for meritorious service. The Greater Joliet Area Bowling Hall of Fame is an organization within the Joliet Area USBC Youth Association, according to Jan Herrod, vice president of the Joliet Area USBC Youth Association.

“He’s just an all-around good guy,” Herrod said. “Everybody respects him. Everybody looks up to him. It’s incredible what he’s done for youth bowling in the area.”

Ullian is the youth management and vice president of the Joliet Area USBC Youth Association, a youth tournament director, a certified bowling coach at the bronze and silver levels, the head coach for the girls bowling team at Lincoln-Way West High School in New Lenox and volunteer coach for Team Illinois through the Illinois State Youth Leaders.

Scott Ullian also teaches private students and helps to run bowling clinics.

Herrod said that Ullian, senior financial analyst at Dober Chemical for 18 years and someone who has received numerous outstanding accolades for his dedication and work ethic, also manages all the financial aspects of the youth bowling program.

Kathy Ullian of New Lenox, Scott Ullian’s mother, said her son “eats, drinks, sleeps and breathes bowling” and “tirelessly puts a lot of time and energy into the spirit of bowling for the next generation.”

Ullian understands what the struggles kids may face on the lane. He was once that kid and he came from a family of accomplished bowlers.

‘I honestly didn’t like it at first.’

Shortly after 8-year-old Scott Ullian moved to New Lenox with his family, his parents Jim and Kathy Ullian of New Lenox, signed their shy son for a league at the bowling alley now known as Laraway Lanes, Scott Ullian said.

“I honestly didn’t like it at first,” Scott Ullian said. “I didn’t have a good first day and didn’t want to go back. But my parents said, ‘We signed you up. You’re doing it at least for the year.’ The rest is history.”

Scott Ullian said he enjoyed the league once his game improved and he “got to know” the other youth bowlers, some of whom attended his school. Scott Ullian eventually started competing – and winning – in tournaments.

He bowled with his grandfather John Ullian in some adult/youth tournaments, he said.

“I shot my first 300 with my dad bowling tournament,” Scott Ullian said.

Scott Ullian was 17, so he scored that perfect game as a youth bowler. That was 1990, he said.

Kathy Ullian started a family tradition on the Friday nights when Jim Ullian was working, Scott Ullian said.

“She would take me and my brother bowling and then go to dinner and then get groceries,” Scott Ullian said. “This was our Friday night thing to do.”

Scott Ullian said he later bowled with his parents on adult leagues. His maternal grandmother Matilda Tadey was also a good bowler, he said. But he didn’t bowl as a high school sport, he said.

“There wasn’t anything in high school for boys at the time,” Scott Ullian said. “So I never really had that opportunity like kids do now. But I just got better and better at it and found it was my thing to do. I played baseball for a while as well. But I was short. I enjoyed infield but I’m not a good hitter at all. So, I just really stuck with the bowling. It’s something you can do all the time.”

Scott Ullian has since accomplished a high average of 223, 15 300 games, and four 800 series, with a high of 819 in 1993, Herrod said. In addition, Ullian has earned six top five and three second place finishes in the Will County Open, Herrod said.

Fostering the ‘spirit of bowling for the next generation’

Scott Ullian said he started running bowling classes in the early 1990s three times a year with his now wife, Lisa Ullian, through the Manhattan Park District. And he continued competing in tournaments until his children Eric Ullian and Mackenzie Ullian were old enough to bowl.

“I shifted to helping them and focusing on them,” Scott Ullian said. “I enjoyed watching them. It just kind of blossomed from there.”

When Eric Ullian, then age 7, began bowling on a league at Town and Country Bowling in Joliet, Scott Ullian said. Scott Ullian’s he said started “walking around and helping everyone there.”

At some point Scott Ullian was asked to join the Joliet Area USBC Youth Association; he is now its vice president. Scott Ullian served as a volunteer coach when Eric Ullian began bowling at Lincoln-Way West High School, transitioning into head bowling coach for the boys and then for the girls when Mackenzie Ullian became a student bowler. Scott Ullian is currently still head bowling coach for the girls team, he said.

Eric Ullian is now married to Natalie and living in Springfield. Mackenzie Ullian bowls for Mount Mercy University in Iowa, Scott Ullian said.

Of course Scott Ullian wants the youth he coaches to do well with their games. But the best part of coaching for him is seeing the kids attain “personal growth” through bowling.

An example is the autistic child who “could not stand within 5 feet of me because he was so shy” and has now bowled multiple 300 games, Scott Ullian said.

“Those are the stories that make it all worthwhile,” Scott Ullian said. “Obviously, you want the kids to be successful on the lanes. But even with the high school kids – how can we use bowling as a way to help them deal with thing they’re going to encounter in their adult lives.”

Scott Ullian said he lets the young bowlers know that “some days will be great and other days your best is going to be not-so-great.” But he also tells them that, “at the end of the day, if you can say you did your best, that’s all that really matters.”

“I just try to have positive impact on everyone in life that I come across,” Scott Ullian said.

And this is why being inducted into the Joliet Area Bowling Hall of Fame for meritorious service means more to Scott Ullian than winning tournaments for himself.

“To further someone else’s life means more to me than me shooting a 300 game or being recognized for that,” Scott Ullian said.