Photo by Kamp Fender.
Beau Reed bowls during the Alabama High School bowling state championships at Oak Mountain Lanes in Pelham on Jan. 25. Reed will be heading to Mobile in the fall to join Spring Hill College’s bowling team.
If someone had a conversation with Beau Reed a few years ago and asked about his future plans, his answer would have resembled nothing close to what has come to fruition.
Reed, a senior at Vestavia Hills High School, recently put a bow on a stellar high school bowling career that saw the Rebels capture their first state championship in program historyin January.
“I’m still kind of in awe and surprised with everything,” Reed said.
Reed helped lead Vestavia to the state title after back-to-back seasons of claiming runner-up finishes. And after four years of competing with his high school team, an opportunity arose.
He had never considered bowling as anything more than a hobby and a way to satiate his competitive desire. But a conversation with Todd Evans, the boys bowling coach,changed things.
“But then coach told me I had a few colleges looking at me, potentially trying to recruit me,” Reed recalled. “That piqued my interest alittle bit.”
Reed entertained advances from a small number of schools and accepted an offer from Spring Hill College in Mobile to join the men’s bowling team. Reed enjoyed his visit to campus, and the business department fit with what he plans on pursuing as a major.
“It was a tough decision because I kind of wanted to stay up here [in the Birmingham area], but I thought about this as such a big opportunity,” Reed said.
Evans has known Reed for a decade and has enjoyed watching his development within and away from competition. Reed’s willingness to pursue the sport at the college level makes him the type of student-athlete Evans lovesto coach.
“I want to be around guys that are driven to get to the next level, because I’m driven that way as well,” said Evans, who is also an assistant coach for the Rebels football team. “If you don’t have people aspiring to go onto the next level, how successful can you really be?”
Evans said Reed will be prepared to accept coaching at the college level because of how he was pushed to be his best on his high school team. Reed will also hold the distinction of becoming the first bowling signee from Vestavia.
“I don’t think Beau’s going to be the last signee, but he is the first, so that’s a special thing,” Evans said. “I do want us to create an environment that kids want to come out, because bowling’s something you can do when you’re my age. It’s going to be good to see how this affects the ripple.”
Reed fondly remembers his four years on the school bowling team, including his junior season, when he got to play on the same team with his younger brother Walter and stepbrother Barrett Blackwood, a2018 graduate.
He was disappointed in that 2018 second-place finish, but his team was able to seal the deal in his senior year. He still has to pinch himself at times.
“You’ll still catch me on my phone, on Facebook, on Instagram, looking at videos from the state championship, and photos,” Reed said. “It’s still so unreal.”
Reed thanked God for the opportunities presented to him and gave special thanks to Ryan and Angela Nance from Vestavia Bowl for their help in coaching and supporting him. His personal best game was a 299, bowled last year in a practice. Maybe he’ll save that perfect 300 for college competition.
“If anyone had told me six or seven years ago that I would be winning a bowling state championship in high school and going to bowl in college, I wouldn’t have believed them,” he said.
