Like rolling bowls and chasing the jack, Coronado duo Javier and Angel Gomez are chasing the U.S National Championship this year as they try to overtake their second place win from two years ago.
The pair competed in doubles in 2024, clinching the silver and becoming the first father-son duo to reach the podium in the event’s 67-year history.
They secured one of only two Southwest Division spots when they won this year’s Southwest Men’s Pairs Playdowns in Laguna Beach, an official regional qualifying tournament for the National Championships. The pair will return to Laguna Beach for the championship in September.
We’re just going to take it one game at a time, one ball at a time, and see where it ends up … As much as we’d love to win it … for me, I’ve already won just by playing with my son.
Javier Gomez
“We’re just going to take it one game at a time, one ball at a time, and see where it ends up,” Javier, 55, told The Coronado News. “As much as we’d love to win it … for me, I’ve already won just by playing with my son.
“I don’t think there’s a father out there that would not love to play a sport with their own kids.”
Javier said he’s lived in Coronado for pretty much his entire life and he and his wife have raised their three kids on the island.
Separately, Javier will travel to England to play the Professional Bowls Association (PBA) tournament while Angel will go back to Hong Kong where he finished fourth at the 2024 World Bowls Junior Indoor Championship.
Angel, 21, is the youngest bowler on the U.S. national team.
Javier is hoping that their sport will make it to the Olympics in 2032.
The father and son started playing in pairs together a few years ago in local competitions, but, in singles, they sometimes end up bowling against each other. At the South Central Open in Arizona, where players draw a card to see who they’re playing against, Angel drew his father’s name.
Angel took the first set. Javier took the second, and ended up winning the match by a few millimeters.
There’s really nothing I can hide from Angel, and there’s nothing that he doesn’t know that I’m … going to do.
Javier Gomez
“I’ve been his coach this entire time,” Javier said. “There’s really nothing I can hide from Angel, and there’s nothing that he doesn’t know that I’m … going to do.”
Javier’s been lawn bowling since 2013 when the family was introduced to it at the Coronado Lawn Bowling Club, based at the John D. Spreckels Center.
Angel started seriously playing several years later, in 2020.
“A family that bowls together, stays together,” Javier said. His entire family plays the sport and although his two older children aren’t at home anymore, it’s something they all enjoy doing together when they can.
Javier and Angel also teach the sport at Christ Church on the island as part of a school elective for kids 6-8th grades, and Angel will be teaching young adults at the Coronado Community Center.
