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Tommy Ryan was a Canadian sportsman and entrepreneur who is the father of five-pin bowling.

Born in Guelph, Ontario, Ryan moved to Toronto at age 18. A natural baseball pitcher, he received an offer from the Baltimore Orioles, but turned it down in favour of a steady job in Toronto.

Ryan had been running a pool hall on Yonge Street, and in November 1909 co-founded the Toronto Bowling Club (tenpin) above a store at Yonge and Temperance Street. The establishment resembled a southern plantation, with potted palm trees, ceiling fans, a string orchestra, piano and an immense lunch counter. Ryan insisted that his business was a very elite and private club, catering only to the well-to-do, carriage trade of Toronto society.

Ten-pin bowling had been growing in popularity, but some of Ryan’s customers complained that the ball was too heavy. It was at this time that he devised a new game with a smaller ball and only five pins, with a new method of scoring. After receiving complaints about the pins bouncing out the window to the street, he added a rubber ring around the pins.

Thus in 1909, the original sport of 5 pin Bowling was born. Even though many changes have taken place through the years as the game evolved into the sport we know and love today, the original concept remains and is enjoyed in the many bowling centres by millions of Canadian each year.

Ryan died in Toronto at age 89. He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame posthumously in 1971.

I ask you to join me now in recognition of a giant in the Canadian bowling industry. A gentleman whose creativity and innovation contnues to be appreciated and loved by the masses well over a century later.