By Dennis Bergendorf

      Soon after he completes his run in this year’s Junior Gold Championships in Indianapolis, Solomon Salama plans to take up residence in England, at the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science.

      Salama, who won the U-15 title the last time Junior Gold was in Indianapolis (as well the one after that, in Cleveland), has graduated to the U-18 division, and beat more than 1,100 competitors to reach Friday’s first advancers round.

      “I’ve been interested in economics for a while,” he says. “My parents are both lawyers and deal with economics. My mom has a degree in it.”

      When asked what his parents think of his decision, he says, “My folks are very supportive of me. They’ve always been supportive of my education. They’ve always made that a priority in my life. We’re very learned people. We have tons of books. It’s always been our focus. Bowling has always been secondary.”

      The still-teenager has little desire to go into finance or marketing. “I want to see real positive change. I don’t want to see profit for a few people. I want to see everyone prosper.”

      Hundreds of world leaders have attended LSE. Among the alumni are David Rockefeller, Pierre Trudeau, Paul Volcker and Elliott Abrams.

      There’s a chance Salama will stay in the States one more year, but if he does go to London, he’ll have the opportunity to continue bowling. “I know a few people on the British team and they all bowl together at the same alley basically, so I’ll be able to get an inroad there.”