The ball rolls slowly down
the lane as the girls wait in anticipation.
Breaths held, their eyes do not move from the ball. The ball hits the pins; everyone cheers! A strike.
A new JV bowling team has
been started this year. There was a
bowling team eight years ago, but Mr. Michael Sporcic stopped the team after
the parents got too competitive. At the
time, Sporcic was the coach. Now, Mr.
Gary Anderson is the coach, Mrs. Laura Gelecki, assistant coach, and Sporcic is
the moderator.
Freshmen Rachel Anderson and
Beth Gelecki were the ones who got the bowling team started with the help of
Rachel Anderson’s father, Mr. Anderson.
They had heard Sporcic was the former coach, and asked him to be coach
again. However, he could no longer
bowl, due to his back, so Mr. Anderson volunteered to be the coach. When asked if he wanted to be coach next
year, Mr. Anderson said, “If they want me back, I would love to. I was hoping it would get publicity after
this so then we could get varsity and junior varsity teams going.”
To be accepted on the team,
the girls needed a score of at least 100.
Only five girls are allowed to bowl at one time, but Sporcic wanted six
in case anything happens. The six girls
on the team are: freshmen Rachel Anderson and Beth Gelecki, junior Alee Taylor,
and seniors Maria Scarpello, Terra Taylor, and Abby Vandenberg. Rachel Anderson and Terra Taylor are the
co-captains. Both girls had experience
on bowling leagues.
The team practices every
Sunday from 9:30 to 11 AM at Maplewood Lanes, and the games are usually on
Mondays for usually about half an hour long.
The girls are required to wear a blue polo shirt with the logo, “Marian
Crusaders Bowling Team.”
When asked what the main
thing is that he tries to teach the girls, Mr. Anderson said, “To support each other and have fun; and of
course techniques.
One day’s game consists of
two regular games and one baker’s round.
A baker’s round is when each of the five-team members bowl once. For the first game, five girls play. For the second game, the girl with the
lowest score sits down, and the sixth girl plays. Then the highest score of those two girls gets to bowl in the
baker’s round with the other five.
There are ten games in the league, and so far they have competed in and
won five different games.
All of the six girls bowl in
different ways. Scarpello said, “I use
the four step procedure- you just take four steps as you gradually start to
bowl.”
Sporcic said, “They have a
lot of fun. As long as it stays fun,
I’ll probably do it again. When it gets
cut-throat, I’ll probably quit.”