It is Monday morning and you are sitting in assembly, trying to stay awake. It’s the same boring announcements you hear every week, until, he walks up. He stops at the microphone, takes a pause and starts his announcement. When Joe Ginsberg says the words, “THE BOWLING TEAM,” everyone in assembly goes wild. You clap and cheer along with them, but don’t really know why. Maybe it’s the energetic tone in his voice; the way he is more excited to announce the team’s results from the last week than the football team is. It could be the bowling puns- the constant word play with “strike” and “spare.” These all are true, but the main reason that the tired assembly becomes alive for bowling is because it’s fun.
Bowling is not like most varsity sports here at Trinity. Practices are fun and easy-going, and the coach won’t make players run sprints for throwing a gutter ball. Bowlers can eat pizza and hang out with their friends while they play. However, bowling matches can actually get very intense. Freshman and first-year bowler Jake Brodsky still has nightmares about an experience earlier this year, when he stepped on a lane line, which resulted in a foul.
“I fouled on a strike coming off a spare, and we lost by six pins,” he said.
Ouch.
That is the equivalent of losing by two points in football because of a field goal attempt that your team made, then had to rekick and missed. Bowling has the perks of relaxation and the intensity of athletics that we all love.
Just like all other school athletics, bowling has a rivalry with none other than Lake Highland.
“We are suddenly better bowlers [when we play Lake Highland]!” head coach Mrs. Frederick said.
Brodsky agrees with her.
“We bowled really well against Lake Highland,” Brodsky said.
While LHP is certainly a big rival, the bowling team has a personal vendetta against Circle Christian. Trinity beat the school both times they played them in the year, which added major fuel to the fire of Circle Christian.
“There are three games I care about this season: The Lake Highland home game and the two games against Circle Christian,” Ginsburg said. “If we win those three games, I am 100% happy and satisfied with our season.”
Bowling has everything a sport like football has, from heated rivalries to fun and enjoyment. There are fans at nearly every match and sometimes they can get on the other team’s nerves.
“Some teams get upset by the amount of cheering that goes on” Frederick said.
The cheerleaders and the drum line even show up.
“We love when the cheerleaders come,” Frederick said.
The team is in the middle of a rebuilding year, as they lost some key senior bowlers from the past season. The majority of the team is young and inexperienced.
“As a starter team, I think we are doing very well and having a lot of fun,” Frederick said.
Despite this, leadership on the young team is not lacking. Ginsberg is a junior and is the oldest bowler on a team with zero seniors on its roster. He is a captain of the team after being a member for five years He has taken the role of leader to heart.
“I try to make sure that everyone else is becoming a good bowler also and try my best to be a captain even when I’m not bowling well,” Ginsberg said.
It has been a tough season for the bowling team. They have had some highlights, like when they upset Circle Christian. They were 5-7 as of October 12. However, Coach Frederick has high expectations for this team.
“I think we will end up even in the league because of the youth element in our team,” Frederick said.
This year is not going to be the bowling team’s historic run to States. However, they have pieces set in place to have a great future.
