For several years, Carson City's Gary Wood has served as an unofficial ambassador for Native American bowlers at the American Bowling Congress Championships Tournament held in Reno.
Wood organizes a large contingent of Native American teams each year from around the country to attend the ABC Tournament. This year, Wood coordinated 15 teams from various states including California, Washington, Nevada, Nevada, Montana, Utah and Oklahoma.
"The Native American bowlers are really a special group," Wood said. "I see a lot of the bowlers only once a year, so we bowl, visit and just have a lot of fun."
The 56-year-old retiree promotes bowling throughout the Native American community. His duties include taking care of the group's ABC Tournament applications, arranging transportation and making accomodations at the presenting city.
"In February, I mailed out 300 applications for next year's tournament," Wood said. "But nobody reall knows that I do those things."
Wood, who sung the Native American anthem before the team event, admits organizing the group is hard work.
"Before the tournament began I thought, 'Why did I do this? What a headache,'" Wood said. "But then to see everyone come together and have a good time really makes it worthwhile."
Wood shot 452 in team, 419 in doubles, 404 in singles and 1,275 for all-events.
