Darnell R. Bell spent most of his childhood playing sports and watching his family bowl at Parkland, Bowl America Silver Hill, and Bowl America Kent. At 14, he started working at Parkland as a porter and in later years as a mechanic.
He never participated in youth leagues but started bowling as an adult at age 16 with his father, which made him want to get better. While in high school, he kept score for many of the area’s top bowlers in pot games at Silver Hill, and this inspired him to want to bowl on their level.
During the 1990s, he worked on his game under the guidance of the late Lamont Bush and rolled a perfect game in 1995 — the first of 25 in this area, along with 13 800 series. Bush, Gerry Flemming, and future Hall of Famer Glenn Callaway helped him understand various aspects of bowling, including layouts, ball surfaces, and lane play.
After winning a Team USA Qualifier in 2000, Darnell represented Virginia in the Team USA trials in Reno, Nev. That experience advanced his interest in the game.
In 2004, he signed his first advisory contract with Track (under Chuck Gardner), and in 2006, he moved to the Columbia 300 Amateur Staff (Chad Murphy). He currently is a Columbia 300 staff member (Brands of Brunswick).
He ran successful singles leagues in 2010 and 2011. The following year, while serving as tournament director for the The National Bowling Association’s (TNBA) Greater Washington Bowling Senate (GWBS) Doubles event, he opened the Str8bizness Pro Shop.
Darnell has appeared in the association’s “Top 10” rankings three times — 9th in 1998-1999 (212.18 composite average), 4th in 2007-2008 (223.622), and 9th in 2016-2017 (227.3216).
The NCAUSBCA Open Championship Tournament is always on his calendar, and in recent years, he’s been one of its top performers: In 2017, he tossed a perfect game in the Team event. In 2018, he rolled two 300s in an 847 series to capture the Scratch Singles title and place third in Singles. In 2019, he was runner-up in Scratch All-Events and third in Scratch Singles.
Darnell has a 190 average for 27 games on challenging USBC Open Championships lane conditions, and over the past 25 years, he has placed high in numerous tournaments and has emerged as champion in many different events, including: Maryland Handicap & Scratch Open (three times), Clash of the Titans Doubles (with Keni Lowe Jr. in Delaware), Vir-Mar Scratch Bowlers Tour (twice), TNBA Singles division of GWBS Doubles, TNBA Eastern Regional All-Events in New Jersey, Lilac Optional Singles (in Scratch Doubles), Bowl4Money.com Sport Shot, and the Roger Rowley Call-Out Tournament at Quantico.
Darnell R. Bell has demonstrated sustained excellence on the lanes. He is a most deserving addition to the NCAUSBCA Hall of Fame.
Back to Hall of Fame