The Optimist

David Tiwari

Sports Editor

For many, the game of bowling is simply considered a fun pastime. However, for eight South students, bowling is now being played competitively.
 The team was started this year by head coach Dale Pauly and his son, sophomore Zack Pauly. Zack said he has been bowling since he was 2 and a half and his dad initially got him started. It was mentioned that North was going to start up a team this year and coach Pauly, who has had experience coaching bowling collegiately, thought it would be great for South to start a team as well.
 Although the team is South based, it is not considered one of the schools 21 varsity sports making it a club sport similar to that of lacrosse and rugby. The team competes against other schools in southern Indiana including teams from Seymour, Columbus North and Madison during the regular season. Only in its first year, South has rolled to a 12-1 regular season record and was awarded the number one seed in its upcoming sectional.  The team consists of sophomores: Joey Peppertin, Zack Pauly, Tony Albanees, Micheal Lang, Luke Jefers, Austin Hayes and Trent Pepin along with senior Brad Branim.

In regular season matches, the team faces one other school, and matches up its five best bowlers vs. the other teams’ five best bowlers. Each team earns one point for every game won and an additional five points is given to the team with the most total points. The starting lineup has been rotated throughout the year based off of  previous game scores. The team practices every Thursday night and competes in tournaments on Sundays.
 One difference between competitive bowling and recreational bowling is that before matches, oil is added to the lanes to make them slicker. The tricky part of this is that the bowler doesn’t know where on the lane the oil is going to be added. “Some lanes will have a lot of oil and others none at all,” said Lang. He contrasted the uncertainty of the lanes to football, where every week the players know they will be playing on turf. Lang said, “The bowler’s job is to find where the oil is and make adjustments from there.”
 As many of you probably have experienced, bowling can be a frustrating game. This aspect of playing competitively is no different. “You’re not going to bowl the perfect ball every time and it’s easy to get frustrated,” said Lang. The frustration that occurs after a bad shot can often lead to a more bad shots and send one into a vicious cycle.
      Bowling is not known for being the most physically active sport and those who play, do it for reasons other than exercise. “I love being around friends” said Pembertin who recently set a personal record of 299 (The highest score one can get is 300). “It is just fun being in a friendly atmosphere,” said Lang.   
      Although bowling has not been super popular among teens, the sport seems to be on the rise in Indiana. Lang said that about 100 teams come out of the sectional every year so that means that the number of teams entering the sectional is considerably higher. Regardless, bowling at south seems to be here to stay. For members of the bowling team, bowling is a fun pastime and more. “It’s something to do,” said Albanees.