Here’s a story of one dad who went above and beyond to keep his son from being bored while staying at home due to Covid-19. He built a fully functional bowling alley in his backyard!

Heath Jones, a music professor at Oklahoma Christian University, is no stranger to innovation since he plays and teaches jazz music at OC just north of Oklahoma City. Jones is the chair of OC’s Department of Music, and he has spent his days in quarantine building a bowling lane for his son Eric, a 15-year-old elite bowler who needs to practice daily. Eric averages 12 games a day to keep sharp, but all alleys closed in March. Heath created a bowling lane complete with a pin setter, a ball return, and LED lights so his son can practice every day, even after dark. 

“I love my son, and I love helping him continue to be such a good bowler,” Jones said. “I thought it really wouldn’t take that much time to create one lane in our yard. Plus, he was starting to play more video games, so I had to make those less tempting!”

Below is a YouTube video Heath created to document his experience. 

You can also see 15 short videos of the progression of the project on Heath’s Facebook page here. Here's a short bio on Heath, and here is a photo of him at last summer's OC commencement.

Heath's OC colleagues at their nationally-ranked Gaming and Animation program can forgive him for the video game joke. They're just hoping Eric decides to attend OC and play on their competitive club-level team of elite bowlers.

About Oklahoma Christian University

OC is a higher learning community transforming lives for Christian faith, scholarship and service with a 14-to-one student-teacher ratio. Driven by missions - not just majors, OC believes everyone has an important significance in the world. Located at 2501 E. Memorial Road on a 200-acre residential campus, OC is home to an accomplished, faith-led Department of Music. To learn more, visit www.oc.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/music.