Teams from all over came to 20th Century Lanes in Lima on Monday to honor a former Lima Senior High School bowling coach.
Rick Lee Sr. joined the Lima Senior Spartans Bowling team two years ago, becoming head coach for the girls’ team. He passed away in April 2020, leaving behind a legacy, and a hole in the program.
What was formerly called the Spartan Invitational has now been renamed the Rick Lee Memorial Invitational in his honor.
The head coach of the Spartans Bowling Teams, Mike Kirian, says this decision was made to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication Lee brought to the organization.
“He was an amazing father, coach, leader. Just left a benchmark of success for our women’s program the last two years," says Kirian. "It was unfortunate that he left us this off-season, but we wanted to make it special, about him and remembering everything that he brought to our program for two years. So, I felt that it was the appropriate time to make that change.”
Before beginning the matches, an honorary ball was bowled by Lee’s son Ricky, in honor of his father.
Also remembered at the tournament was Jack Hammill, a longtime bowling columnist for The Lima News. He passed away in December 2020.
