In the lanes

Bright lights. Intense pressure. A championship on the line.

When thinking of the combination of those three things, a few sports come to mind. Football, basketball, baseball — all would likely be at or near the top of that list.

That combination can also be used to describe bowling, a sport that just completed its first season as a sanctioned championship sport by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA). 

“You only get one chance to be the first, so that’s kind of cool,” said Todd Evans, the boys bowling coach at Vestavia Hills High School.

Technically, this is the second edition of the bowling team for the Rebels, but last year bowling was deemed an “emerging sport,” as schools across the state made necessary arrangements to prepare for the additional championship-level competition.

An interesting dynamic for the sport is the demographics found at the lanes. Take a look at the lineups for Vestavia Hills and the diversity is everywhere.

“There’s a certain segment of your population when you play football and other sports,” Evans said. “There’s no set parameter of what a bowler should look like.”

Out of the 23 students involved in bowling at VHHS, only four of them play another sport.

“That’s one of the great things about bowling coming into a championship sport,” said Debra Broome, the girls coach. “It gives kids another thing to do and get more people involved.”

Take, for example, E.J. Hardy. She is a former softball player, but is required to participate in a school sport as the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She took up bowling not knowing what to expect.

She found quickly that she could still find that adrenaline rush in crunch time as she bowls in the fifth slot for Vestavia, the pivotal bowler that takes on the fifth and 10th frames of each game. 

“I like it. It’s fun. I like having a little bit of pressure. It makes it easier to perform,” Hardy said.

On the flip side, Travis Saunders has been bowling competitively for nine years in various leagues outside of school. Once the school announced the formation of a bowling team, he jumped at the chance.

“I actually get to converse with the people I know. I get to be around my peers,” he said.

Saunders believes he is good enough to earn collegiate scholarship money from bowling. He is easily the most experienced bowler on the boys team and, like Hardy, relishes the fifth spot.

He doubles as a linebacker on the football team and has earned the nickname “King Pin” for his exploits at the bowling alley.

Saunders is the exception to the rule, however, as most of the team is comprised of students who have only recently picked up the sport.

Dawson Wade simply showed up to the interest meeting last year because he thought “it would be fun.”

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “Coming into it, I didn’t know what to expect. It’s been really fun to have success.”

Wade is the type of person that Angela Nance is trying to reach. Nance is the general manager of Vestavia Bowl, the home facility for the high school team. 

“What we hope is that with them bowling for their school teams, they’re going to become lifelong bowlers,” she said.

Because of this potential impact, the Rebels were allowed to begin using the facility at no cost to the school. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.

The potential quickly transformed to real impact, as a spike in interest in the sport has already been noticed around school.

“You used to not see anybody bowling in certain areas but now you even see teams out,” Saunders said.

The sudden increase in interest has others wondering what the fuss is about. Head football coach Buddy Anderson, head basketball coach George Hatchett and school principal Dr. Tyler Burgess have all attended matches.

Evans sees bowling as a teaching tool, much like the other sport he coaches, football.

“We teach them about succeeding and failing. We talk about success so much that sometimes we forget to teach them how to fail,” he said.

Other boys bowlers include Beau Reed, Carson Caple, Jacob Pilleteri, Kevin Zheng, Samuel Lawhon, Cameron Monistere, Rizwan Khan, Boris Lu and William Evans.

The girls team also includes Dalton Benefield, Tori Bachofer, Alexandria Ferguson, Sydney Kirk, Noora Mohiuddin, Alisha Budhwani, Haylee Jemison, Suha Mohiuddin, Mary Thomas and Sam Ferguson.

For most of them, technique is not as important as repetition at the young stage of their bowling careers.

But rest assured, when matches are on the line, people are watching. Pressure is mounting. Pins must be knocked out.

“It gives them a chance to feel the bright lights,” Evans said.

These characteristics leave no doubt that bowling is a competitive sport in Wade’s mind.

“Come face me in bowling and I’ll tell you if it’s a sport,” he said.