Gallery • 12 Photos

Sigrid Rossi

Kolby Ripperton ‘23 carefully calculating his arm swing.

Crash. Pins dance around as a ball rumbles through them, lights flashing as scores go up. A person stands posed, as if time had stopped as soon as they had let go of the ball. A few cheers went up and mixed with the bouncing sounds. Sounds of humming balls, idle chatter, and scuffed shoes. Stepping into a bowling meet at Colonial Lanes seemed gritty and dark turned into a live, fizzing show. However, the lack of a student audience is notable in this scene. 

Despite bowling being an Iowa high school sport for over a decade, it’s not recognized as such.

Bowling is a sport that is so overlooked that not all schools have one. Kaitlyn Trimpe, a senior at Clear Creek Amana high school, bowls for Iowa City West High because Clear Creek Amana doesn’t have a team. Iowa City Liberty also sends West High their bowlers; in fact, one bowler; Ryan Bys ’22. Now, you might think that it’s hard for people who go to different schools to bowl on the same team, but Alexa King ’23, said, “We leave that out of bowling. We don’t even think about it.”

West High has a varsity and a junior varsity team for the girls’ and the boys’ teams, but that’s not the case at other high schools. The West High JV teams occasionally have to bowl against themselves because other schools don’t have JV teams.

Bowling is a skill-based sport, but is viewed as merely a pastime. Something fun. And sure, the bowling team has fun at practice. It is a tradition on the girls’ bowling team to play UNO on the bus ride to a meet. It helps them destress and get ready to compete. However they work hard on their forms and perfect their techniques. The athletes on the bowling team work hard and should be recognized for it, like any other athlete. What may come as a surprise is the competitiveness within bowling. There are only a certain number of spots on the bowling team, so not everyone who tried out got to bowl this season. Around thirty boys tried out for the team but only a number got to bowl varsity this season.

The coverage isn’t great, either. As most sports do, they have a place in the Trojan Epic yearbook, but it’s not until students flip through the yearbook that they realize West has a bowling team. It’s hard to do a sport when there’s little support from the student body. The crowds at bowling meets consist mostly of parents, not a teenager in sight. If you compare the crowds at Colonial Lanes to the crowd in the north gym during basketball games, it’s staggering. “It would be more fun if people knew it was a thing. They say, ‘Oh, you do bowling, like as a club?’ They don’t even know it’s a sport,” said Whitney Noeller ’24. However bowlers also appreciate the low pressure that comes with low coverage. 

What may come as a surprise is the competitiveness within bowling. There are only a certain number of spots on the bowling team, so not everyone who tried out got to bowl this season. Around thirty boys tried out for the team but only a number got to bowl varsity this season. With the girl’s team, the difference is outstanding. In the past their team hasn’t had enough to make a complete junior varsity team.

All in all, bowling is a serious sport which may be overlooked. Bowlers on the West High Team wish more people knew about the sport. While hard work is required, bowlers feel that the sense of camaraderie and sport combined guarantee a great time. You never know, bowling might be right up your lane.