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Hernando Today

Taking Bowling To Heart

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Despite several heart surgeries, NCT’s Eric Millican, continues to excel in the one sport he can participate at – bowling.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: September 22, 2008

For years, people have argued the legitimacy of bowling as a sport. It certainly doesn't carry the same respect as the more mainstream sports such as football, basketball and baseball.

Just don't tell Eric Millican that bowling isn't important. The 16-year-old Spring Hill resident, a junior at Nature Coast Technical, admits that bowling has "basically turned into my life."

Some might snicker at the idea of investing so much into bowling, but Millican has a unique appreciation for the game.

Millican can't play football or basketball or baseball, or any other outdoor, contact sports. A heart condition he has dealt with since birth limits the amount of stress his body can endure.

"It's the one thing that makes me feel like I can do something," Millican said. "It's the one thing I can do that's a challenge. I like a challenge. Bowling is the one thing that makes me strive to do better."

As normal as possible

Looking at Millican would never reveal what has gone on underneath. He looks like a perfectly normal, healthy teenager and said that only those close to him know of his condition.

Millican suffers from severe tetralogy of Fallot. In his words, the valves of his heart aren't properly connected.

A nurse detected this defect immediately, and Millican went through surgery at 3-days-old, 17-days-old and 13 months.

A fourth surgery came shortly before his 10th birthday, and Millican believes he'll need another one within the next five years.

Over the years he has made countless trips to the hospital and said he often must deal with chest pains and migraine headaches.

"It's something you've got to get used to but you go with the flow and learn to deal with a tolerance of pain," Millican said. "You learn to be about as close to normal as you can get to any other teenager. I'm definitely still far away but I try to keep it as close as I can."

Because of his health concerns, it was decided at his birth that Millican, originally from St. Petersburg, would be raised by his paternal grandparents, George and Suzanne Abell.

He refers to them as his parents, though he does still have contact with his biological father.

"I've got to give a lot of credit to my mom," said Millican, talking about his grandmother. "She's been pushing me to do these things. She's probably the main reason I'm alive."

It was his grandmother who got Millican into bowling roughly 11 years ago. By doctor's order he can only regularly participate in two sports, the other being golf during the winter months. He does not golf.

His average has improved in typical increments as he has gotten older. He averaged in the 190s in three different winter leagues last season, with a high of 198 in the Spring Hill Youth/Adult League at Spring Hill Lanes.

He also averaged 209 in 36 games of the Summer Trio Elite at Spring Hill Lanes this summer season, and at Mariner Lanes last Nov. 10 had 11 strikes in a row in a game, shooting 298.

Three days earlier he helped Nature Coast win a state title, carrying a late 10-pin on a pivotal strike that shifted momentum to the Sharks in the championship match.

He bowled for Nature Coast in both years of the program's existence and figured to take on an even bigger role this season. However, the team will not compete this year because the school failed to find a coach.

Still, he felt the experience of that state tournament tested his mental resolve. He knows because of his condition, he must remain calm.

"It's taken a lot of myself to grow up and learn to keep my head on straight," Millican said. "It (bowling) has helped me learn to control my emotions and control what I'm doing.

"It's helped my mentality grow overall. I'm learning patience. I can't always bowl a high score."

Millican works five days a week at Spring Hill Lanes and said he bowls every day he's there. He hopes to earn a scholarship.

His college of choice is the University of Florida. His own health issues have sparked an interest in medicine. He is in the medical program at Nature Coast, where he carries a 3.7 GPA.

"Basically the other half of my life I've been in a hospital or doctor's office," Millican said. "I know it's something I want to do. It's something I grew up around."

Despite everything he has endured during his childhood, Millican's life continues on, both on and off the lanes, just like anyone else.

"I do not use my heart problem as an advantage or disadvantage, to try to get out of anything," Millican said. "It's just something I deal with.

"...I don't see it stopping me from accomplishing what I want to do."

BY THE NUMBERS: ERIC MILLICAN 2007-08 SEASON
League Games Average House
Spring Hill Youth/Adult 94 198 Spring Hill
Young Adults 81 196 Mariner
Spring Hill Elite 96 194 Spring Hill
All-Stars* 50 168 Mariner
Summer Trio Elite 36 209 Spring Hill
* Sport shot league

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at (352) 544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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