Bowling team rolls on

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Tim OLeary

The west bowling team, like many other groups at West is recognized for its excellence in teamwork through acknowledging and appreciating its members.

Tim O'Leary

This past week the bowling team has proved their ability in the sport with 2 of the team’s bowlers, Zach Hainline and Erica Henderson qualifying for the all-district team. The team as a whole takes pride in their sport as well as the odd quirks and boons of it.

Bowling is a much different sport compared to football or basketball. The game itself is much more individually based which allows for things such as leagues to be formed among random people. Many students are involved with bowling, such as freshman Abigaile Paper.

“A league is mostly just people that you don’t know,” Paper said. “You play together and then usually you don’t see each other much after that. It’s a different experience.”

School teams typically have a reputation of being much more tight knit compared to public teams. With how frequently you see them outside of practice it’s to be expected that the team would likely be more familiar with one another. And to people like Sophomore Jasmine Otto, it’s part of what makes the school team experience worth it.

“I would say between the two the school team is a more enjoyable experience,” Otto said. ”It’s just more rewarding with people you know.”

Another key difference between leagues and school teams is the general difference in competitive atmosphere. Senior Jarrod Hulmes, while not playing on a league this year elaborates on the difference a bit more.

“Leagues, especially at this level are a lot more relaxed,” Hulmes said. “With school teams it’s more of a competition. You have more of a drive to improve.”

Improvement is a key part of bowling just as much as any other sport. Practices consists of bowling three games to test skill. After that the team will also practice various formations and ways of hitting them.

With that the team heads to one of its meets, the small scale competitions against a singular team. Each team is assigned a lane and plays two ten-frame games followed by a single bakers style game, five people are chosen on each team and play two frames of a ten-frame game each.

“When we’re done with the meeting it’s good to know coming out on top is a rewarding experience,” Paper said. “We all put in our part and even if we didn’t win we did well.”

For those who do come out on top, bowling offers scholarships that are comparable to those provided by basketball and football.

“USBC and BBa provide high level scholarships to those that are reaching for them,” Hulmes said. “And since there aren’t a lot of people they’re easy to claim.”

Though bowling might not be as well recognised a sport as football or baseball it provides unique opportunities and is plentiful in sportsmanship.

“There have been some meets where we talk smack but it’s all in good fun,” Hulmes said,.“When the other team does good we congratulate them and we do the same.”