Author Spotlight
Peyton Moore
Sophomore Brady Aebersold glanced at Coach Elliott, checking to see if he was being watched. When the coast was clear, Aebersold held the bowling ball in two hands and pendulum swung between his two legs — “granny style.” Just two lanes over, sophomore Victoria Leal gracefully sent the ball down the lane in perfect form, knocking all ten pins down.
Behind Leal, Aebersold’s friends gaped at her perfect form, paying no mind to Aebersold’s intentionally pathetic toss.
Some, like Aebersold, believe bowling to be a fun, nonchalant pastime, but for Leal and others, the team is competitive and cutthroat.
The team bowls against other schools in the Sunflower league and manage to maintain a generally even record. And the team is always looking for new talent — this year’s varsity team has over six sophomores and one freshman.
“I never look at age when deciding the team lineups,” Coach Elliott explained. “It is all about the scores, form and coachability.”
Freshman Anna Mitchell walked into the galactic-themed College Lanes during tryout week with no worries — she believed 15 years of occasional bowling alley trips with her nannies would prepare her for the East bowling team.
But after the warmup rounds, Mitchell stood in complete shock, gaping her fellow peers, unaware that they doubled as bowling prodigies. Mitchell got the expected “I’m sorry but you have not made the team” email later that night.
Tryout week is a way for the coaches to see what upcoming talent is looking at joining the bowling team. At tryouts the bowlers will be instructed to bowl three games, which mirrors the daily practice schedule.
“Practice is a way to mess around, but when it comes to meet time we are all business,” Sophomore Wally Workman explained.
A couple lanes over, freshman Jack Shelton cradles the emoji ball which swerved and spun on the bowling oil, assisting him to score a spare. Before he’s even turned around, Shelton hears the cheers from his teammates: “And that’s how you pick up a spare baby!”
Shelton never knew he would be a starting varsity bowler when he first tried out for the team. For him, casual bowling birthday parties and his sixth grade gym class experience would be more than enough practice before trying out for the team.
But bowling is not just pure luck — each individual bowler has a different strategy that aids their very own bowling style, according to Coach Elliott.
Boys, for example, tend to cradle the ball to bowl with more power. Some players use a simple four-step approach, which leads to more balance and no foul lines that cost players a round. The more inexperienced JV bowlers will play around with their approach, eyeing and mimicking the varsity boys and girls who practice down in lane 24.
Lauren Dierks | The Harbinger Online “We try to teach the newbies to aim for a certain board in the lane to hit your ball on because it will curve in depending on the oil,” Coach Elliott explains. “Every time you bowl it’s never the same oil. You can bowl in the same lane two days in a row and it will be a whole different game because of the oil.”
Elliott explains that bowling oil can make or break a bowler’s game. If the lane has a lot of oil then you must put spin the ball to lead the ball straight forward and if it is dry than you want to roll it straight with no spin. In some games, bowlers must wipe off the extra grease present on the ball to prevent unwanted spinning. The littlest object, such as oil, can make or break a bowler’s game
Bowling is not simply throwing a colorful, 12 to 14 lbs. ball down a slippery lane. It’s all about board placement, minor mechanics such as the spin put on the ball and the approach that helps keep balance after the powerful toss. Anyone can bowl, but it takes real talent to be an East bowler.
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