BUTLER TWP — A longtime league bowler, Pat Byerly walked into Sherwood Lanes like she had many times before.

On that day in 1970, she began approaching the sport in a different way.

“Special Olympic athletes were bowling, and I enjoyed watching them,” Byerly said. “I found out they needed a coach and that was it.”

Byerly, 73, now is in her 40th year of coaching bowling for Butler County Special Olympics.

She works with 60-plus bowlers each Friday afternoon at Family Bowlaway.

“I love bowling and I love the attitude of those athletes,” Byerly said. “They’re a fantastic group of people to work with. They want to learn so badly and they genuinely enjoy their time on the lanes.

“It takes patience and understanding to work with them. An element of the game that might be picked up by you or I in an hour might take them up to a year to master. But they never stop working at it.”

Byerly hasn’t bowled in a league herself for 20 years. Her average was about 130, but she’s taught others to far exceed that.

“Some of the athletes can take steps on the approach, others can’t,” she said. “Releases are radically different. Just work with each as an individual and help them be the best they can be. That’s what a good coach does.”

Byerly works with bowlers from age 12 to 80. Two Special Olympians — 80-year-old Don Wimer and 72-year-old Debbie Double — have been with Byerly and the bowling team for all 40 years.

“I have a good relationship with all of them,” she said.

Byerly took two athletes to the Special Olympics Bowling World Championships at the University of Notre Dame in 1980-81.

Another Butler County Special Olympian bowled in the World Games in Ireland in 2002.

“I would have loved to have gone, but I wasn’t capable of doing the job required over there by that time,” Byerly said. “If I can’t do what the job calls for, I don’t do it. I don’t want to hold anybody back.”

And Byerly isn’t holding anybody back.

“She is a special person,” Mary Pitzer, county Special Olympic manager, said. “She and her husband will pick up some of the athletes, bring them to the lanes, then take them home afterward.

“Pat’s done work with our track and field and swim programs, too, but she’s really kept the bowling going.”

Byerly and her husband, Lawrence, have been married 55 years. They have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“When the kids were in school, I’d go over to the bowling alley around 2:15 p.m.,” Byerly said. “Somebody would have to get them after school, but I’d be home shortly thereafter. It never interfered with my family time.

“I used to put in more time with Special Olympics, but now I’m there for one or two hours every Friday. My husband and I are retired, so he helps me out, too.”

Lawrence Byerly used to manage his own retail business and his wife was one of his employees.

“I help him, he helps me,” Pat Byerly said. “And we love helping others.”

Byerly is in the process of looking for somebody to replace her as bowling coach, but doesn’t plan to leave the post any time soon.

“I’d like to work with someone for a couple of years, to train them,” she said. “Not everyone is cut out to work with these athletes. It takes a very understanding person.

“When I’m gone, I want to make sure they’re taken care of.”

Byerly was inducted into the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 2002 for her dedication to the program.

She is one of about 80 volunteers associated with the Butler County Special Olympics, which got started in 1972.

The organization, which has 289 athletes, operates on a $45,000 annual budget, the funds raised primarily through donations.

To volunteer for Butler County Special Olympics, write the organization at P.O. Box 2561, Butler, PA 16003 or call 724-285-4101.

The organization’s spring sports season is under way, with volunteers needed to help out with the basketball, swimming and track and field teams. Volunteers are also needed for the bowling program.

The Special Olympics spring track and swimming meet will be May 2 at Butler High School. Timers, line-holders, starters and recorders are needed for that event.

<B>Address: </B>P.O. Box 2561, Butler, PA 16003<B>People served: </B>About 290<B>Number of volunteers: </B>80<B>Annual budget: </B>$45,000<B>Telephone: </B>724-285-4101.