The women’s bowling team will compete in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Sectionals for the first time in program history on March 8-9 in Smyrna, TN.
After the team placed second overall at the Scotty Classic on February 10, they knew getting a bit to the Intercollegiate Sectionals was a possibility.
The journey was not an easy one. From not being able to bowl on Sundays to a new head coach and personality conflicts, the team had an intense season.
“It honestly kind of sucks sometimes because if there is a two-day tournament from Saturday to Sunday, we have to forfeit for Sunday, and it just kind of feels like all of the hard work on Saturday was for nothing,” senior Carla Diamond said.
Diamond said that despite the challenges, the team worked past them, grew from them, and through the conflicts, the team needed to act as one.
“I think some of the biggest challenges is just the difference in coaching between (former head coach) Carl and I,” Chris Karlin, head coach of the bowling team, said. “And maybe my expectations of our bowlers were more than Carl’s expectations, or maybe just the level of accountability that I tried to hold my kids to.”
Karlin’s goal with his first season was to make bowling feel more collegiate than before.
“Before this, I would say it felt more like a club sport than an athletic, competitive sport,” junior Abby Shewan said.
Shewan said that with the new workouts and practicing outside of scheduled hours, the mindset switched from being casual to wanting to put in the effort to get better.
“Some of the girls on the team, we’ve had some conflict this season, with just being together all of the time. You know, living together and practicing together, sometimes we don’t get along,” Karlin said. “But I think the thing that we’ve learned as the season has gone on is, even though we might not always get along at the end of the day, we’re still family.”
While not perfect, the team has spent time together outside of practice, from going to church together to weekly dinners.
“Being able to get to know each other outside of a competitive format is something that really does just cultivate that kind of community that you want to have on a team that’s not just ‘hey, we’re on the same team,’ but it’s ‘Hey, I know you and you know I want to be around you,’ so that’s been really fun,” Shewan said.
The women’s bowling team is only four years old, and this is the first opportunity they have to compete at sectionals.
“I’m really just looking forward to seeing how our kids perform. They put in a lot of work this season. They put in a lot of time at the lanes. They’ve been practicing a lot, and just getting the opportunity to be on a national stage is really exciting,” Karlin said.
Shewan said she would like to go to Tennessee, saying that the state is absolutely beautiful.
“We do a lot of traveling outside the state for tournaments and such, but having a longer period of time, I think, would be interesting to spend with the team,” Shewan said. “Not just going to the hotel, going to sleep, bowling a tournament, coming back, but going having other times of fellowship throughout the time that we’re away.”
The team is prepping for sectionals now until March 8-9.
