‘America’s pastime’ might be baseball, but bowling has captured the hearts and spirits of our student body.
The auditorium erupts in applause during the team’s announcements,w and the students love the frequent bowling puns enthusiastically mentioned by the team. Fan favorite puns include “we gotta get our heads out of the gutter,” “these games are right up our alley” and “we struck up some wins.”
While the school adores the team, many do not know what’s happening with the bowling squad. If you ask anyone on the bowling team how the year is going, common responses are terms such as “bright future,” “potential” and “youth.”
“I am excited for this season because our team is getting better and has a lot of potential,” sophomore Jake Brodsky said.
The team is currently 2-3, trying to build off a tough, but promising season in 2015.
The bowling team should be looking to take a step forward this year under the capable hands of Susan Frederick and new coach John Gaines.
New coach Gaines is a promising addition to an already solidly coached group. Gaines has been bowling for 43 years and has coached for 30 years at high levels of bowling. However, this is his first time as a high school coach. He is a skilled professional bowler, winning four titles at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. He represented team USA in the Pan American games, and he has scored more than 50 perfect games in his career.
The team has a very young core and has potential for the future. Many think the bowling team is heading in the right direction under the tutelage of the coaches.
“The team has definitely improved from last year,” Brodsky said. “Most of our bowlers last year were new, and this year we have all gotten better.”
Many bowlers believe that a big part of the team’s improvement is due to the knowledgeable coaches.
“The team is improving because [the coaches] help us when we are all still developing, and they are able to spot our mistakes and correct them,” said Brodsky, a starter for the team.
“Gaines has helped me mostly by teaching me how to pick up spares more often and consistently,” sophomore Jake Senderowitz said.
Gaines is clearly excited about this young group.
“When you have a young team, it gives you the opportunity to grow and get better,” Gaines said. “Our goal is to get a little better every day.”
However, Gaines believes that the youth is both a strength and weakness of the team.
“Our strength is how young the team is. We are going to be together for a few years, and we are going to create some great team continuity,” Gaines said. “The weakness is patience, because of the young team. They want everything to be perfect right now, but it takes a lot of work, effort and patience.”
“I don’t like to lose,” Gaines said.
With this attitude, the rest of the team should surely succeed.
