Keith Spear enjoys his bowling lifestyle
Keith Spear didn't want people feeling sorry for him because of what might have been. Instead, he moved to Florida to carve out a new life for himself.
And in doing so, the aspiring pro bowler whose career was cut short by an accident has struck it rich in the bowling business as well as other endeavors.
Spear graduated from Charleroi Area High School in 1974.
While in college, he won the Brunswick National Amateur competition in 1977 and toured Europe, bowling and representing the U.S. He aspired to join the Pro Bowlers Association tour.
But in 1980, Spear suffered a serious back injury in an automobile accident, ending his professional career.
The assistant manager at the 51 Brunswick Lanes in Rostraver Township was offered a bowling lane operation in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and asked Spear to come along to help operate the facility.
In the Valley, Spear was known as a promising bowler whose career was cut short by the accident.
"I needed a change," Spear said. "After the accident, people kept saying 'Oh, that poor guy.' That next year was a pity party for me and I didn't want that.
"I moved to Florida for a fresh, new start."
In Florida, he opened a pro shop in Fort Lauderdale and within two years opened two more, one each in Boca Raton and Deltona.
He saw bowling as "a sleeping giant."
"I decided when I'm 40-years-old, I don't want to say, 'I work for a living,'" Spear recalled.
Spear said his success came because he ran the pro shop "like a business." Pro shops routinely close by 5 p.m. and thus were not open when evening bowlers needed to buy equipment.
At the same time, he began learning how to operate the equipment.
He did get his opportunity to join the pro bowlers tour because of his expertise at drilling balls and maintaining the lanes.
Eventually, he began selling souvenirs and even helping ESPN get its equipment to events.
By 1991, after seven years with the tour, Spear got off the road because of sheer exhaustion.
"I was working 80 to 90 hours a week," Spear said. "It was prestigious work, but the hours were relentless."
In 1991, he bought into a bowling lane in Daytona Beach and opened a pro shop.
Any money he made in the business he invested in other businesses, such as a strip mall, restaurant and seven retail outlets.
His father, Eugene, is a minister at the Char Belle Free Methodist Church. His parents, including his mother, Elaine, still live in Charleroi. His brother, Kevin, lives in Belle Vernon.
"We grew up not having a lot, so I was willing to go a little further to be successful," Spear said.
His upbringing instilled in him a sense of stewardship, thus causing him to become involved in various community ventures, such as Junior Achievement.
Recognizing the future success of the Internet, Spear said he "gobbled up a lot of domain names."
He sold the first bowling ball on-line. Today, his firm is the largest UPS customer in Daytona Beach, doing more than $10 million in annual sales.
"When I tell people I sell bowling balls on-line, they ask, 'Can you make any money doing that?,'" Spear recalls with a laugh.
He was also recently featured in Bowlers Journal, Bowlers Insider and The Wall Street Journal.
Spear gets back to the Valley when he can and brings his family to Florida when he can't.
Spear's future with bowling began at age 14 at the 51 Brunswick Lanes because of a rather odd request by his mother. Concerned that her son read too much, Elaine Spear sent him bowling - and he was hooked.
