Glow in the dark stars decorate the carpet, a rug sticky from countless sodas spilled on it. Pink and orange neon signs accent overhead fluorescent lighting. For junior Johnny Sheahan, the tacky comfort of bowling alleys is where he feels most at home.
His comfort in the bowling alley comes from years of practice there. Sheahan has been bowling since he was in seventh grade. At first, it was just for fun, but last year he became serious after the team went to state. This year, he’s broken three school records and bowled a near-perfect 297 out of 300 possible.
“You may not have to be as athletic, but in bowling you have to be just as focused as in any other sport,” Sheahan said. “It’s hard to keep your head in the game after you miss a few pins. You just have to keep your composure.”
The focus on his face is noticeable as he carefully selects a black ball with a green starburst on it and spins it in his hands a few times before stepping onto the shiny wooden floor of the bowling lane. The laid back side of his personality shows through as he misses two pins and shrugs to his teammate. But he comes back the next time to knock them down for a spare.
When Sheahan bowls, his right leg extends back and across his body in what looks like a difficult yoga pose. The ball is thrown and curves in a long arc across the waxed bowling lane. The majority of the time, pins are knocked over with the unmistakable sound of bowling pins falling, and Johnny returns back to his team with a slight smile on his face.
When Sheahan bowled his 297, he was just messing around when he noticed that he had bowled all strikes in his past throws.
“I was shaking,” Sheahan said. “It was so quiet in the bowling alley. I did okay, but I ended up losing my concentration on the last one.”
The East bowling team has practiced their technique so much that when they throw a ball down the lane, they know how it will hit without watching. Often, they head back to the bench before the ball ever hits the pins. Technique is the thing that they work on most.
“Practice is where we try to improve our consistency,” bowling coach Patti Kennedy said. “Johnny goofs around a lot like last year’s seniors did, but he works hard and contributes to the team most of the time.”
This team atmosphere is Sheahan’s favorite part about bowling. When either him or his teammate Brandon Chateau bowls well, high fives and fist shoulder punches are in order.
“Even though you bowl as an individual, your team makes a difference in how you feel,” Sheahan said. “We just kind of snuck in there. Everyone put in, and we ended up winning.”
For Sheahan, bowling is a passion that started out as just a hobby in seventh grade.
“It was just for fun back then,” Sheahan said. “But last year when the team went to state, I realized, ‘Whoa, I’m actually kinda good at this.”
What was a casual hobby turned into practice for two hours every day of the week. These practices are still filled with goofing off, much to the dismay of the coaches.
“We get yelled at a lot during practice,” Sheahan said. “I think the coaches are trying to get us ready to go to state as a team.”
Again, Shawnee Mission West will be their biggest roadblock on the way to going to state as a team. If the team as a whole doesn’t do well at regionals, Johnny could still make it as one of the top six individual bowlers.
There are regionals, state, next year, and beyond left for Sheahan in terms of bowling. While bowling isn’t an NCAA sanctioned sport, colleges often have bowling clubs that can get fairly competitive. But Johnny isn’t planning that far ahead. He lives for the moment and the sound of ten bowling pins being knocked over.
“ Johnny’s just a funny guy,” his friend Alex Carver said. “The way he acts, his jokes…But he’s pretty focused when it comes to his bowling meets.”
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