I was given the astounding privilege of watching our high schools' bowling team win their group bowling championship. To see a group of young men of different grade levels work together to accomplish a single goal, each working for the betterment of the team. No one singling themselves out to be the best, the common goal was to make it as far as they could and do their cumulative best.
Watching this group of young men, four established players and a newcomer, a little awkward at first but accepting of one and other always. During the first week of bowling this newcomer, not only to the team but the high school itself, the Varsity team pulled him from Junior Varsity to take a place on the Varsity squad He retained his Varsity placement because of his overall performance and willingness to work hard. I know this because I am the parent of this newcomer.
Every day after school, when there was not a match, he would practice at the bowling alley. He wanted to improve himself and his scores. He wanted to not only be able to meet the expectations but exceed them. Working on his form and spare shooting every chance he could find. There were times when he would come home from a match and feel that he not only let himself down but his team as well that he did not do his personal best and he would go to the alley and work for a couple more hours on his skills.
With each bowling match you could see these young men become a true team. If one was not doing their best the others would work harder to give them a chance to get it together and get back in the game. Each with their own individual way of working with the rest to get the win they were seeking. When they did lose a game it was never a case of one persons' fault but rather a team fault. Their overall record for wins and loses was outstanding, two loses with two ties overall for the season.
The qualifying round for the entire state was the week prior to the Championship games. The coaches knew that their team was doing well but were not certain of anything more than the team getting the experience of being at this tournament. The first game was strong with each of them filling the frames with multiple strikes and/or spares. The second game started out a little weak but came back with some power. When the team found that they had a strong chance of making it to the next level and taking the win, they came back with a great last game, not only qualifying for the next level of competition but taking first in their group. The next level of competition would be for overall state championship the following week.
As they walked in to the bowling alley for the State Championship games they were quiet and mellow. Each of them knowing that they had come a long way and that to be in the position they were in was long hard work. Many of the teams had much more favoritism in the news than they had. They were not expected to be where they were, yet here they were. As I watched from the sidelines I was amazed at how far they had truly come. Other teams surrounding them were noisy and flashy; these young men were so subdued. Once the first ball was rolled they quietly cheered each other on amongst the noise and banter of others.
The first game they came on strong scoring over a thousand pins collectively, which put them in the front of the group. Their second game once again started out slowly but built to bring them once again over a thousand pins, making them the forerunners of their group. Still they kept to themselves knowing that anything could still happen and they needed to make that last game as strong as their first in order to secure first for their group. These young men knew what they wanted and they proved that even under pressure they could keep it together and achieve their goal. The last game they scored over a thousand pins, taking the win for the group and would now advance to one of the four key positions for overall State Champions.
The Championship games were done in Baker style bowling not individual games scored collectively. Each bowler would bowl according to their lineup in succession of one and other but only responsible for a frame position, such as first bowler was responsible for frames one and six, second bowler responsible for frames two and seven and so on and so forth. There would be the best of three games bowled this way to bring out the next level for state. Unfortunately, they did not take any of the Baker style games but they did come away with knowing they had won their group title in state competition and knowing they had given it their very best. With congratulatory hand shakes and pats on the backs for the team that bested them they moved to the back to watch the final outcome of the Championship round. The team that had rolled against did win the overall State Championship and it was a pleasure to see them win. They had come from behind and had a fantastic day of scores and bowling.
Even though they did not win the overall State Championship for their school, this group did win the Group division for their school, which was a great accomplishment in its self. It was so gratifying to see that they did not walk away sore losers but rather they took pride in the accomplishment that they did win the Group Championship. As a parent it has been a true pleasure to watch not only these young men but also the young ladies of the bowling team, work hard for their accomplishments. It is not always easy to gather a large group of students for a sport and have some of the nicest kids involved but I can tell you from my experience this past season, our schools bowling team was just that. Competition came from other schools not from within the team, not many sports can speak of that.
