For as long as I can remember I have been bowling on Saturday mornings at league. When I was just three years old my dad put a bowling ball in my hand for the very first time. At first I had no idea what I was doing. I was only bowling because I knew my parents wanted me to. Then, as I got older and was bowling more often I went to my first State competition for bowling. It brought out my competitive side and showed me how much I really liked bowling. It became my second favorite sport. At the time my favorite sport was soccer. Honestly, I don't know why it was my favorite sport anymore. It just was.
When I started high school my Freshman year soccer was still my favorite sport. That is, at least until I tried out for my school's bowling team. The more I bowled with that team, the less I even thought about soccer. Bowling was becoming my favorite sport and I loved it. I loved it for so many reasons. The most important of which were the friends I was making and how much I loved competing against other bowlers. You may be thinking, "Why is this random girl telling me about how she fell in love with some sport?" Well, that is simply because you have to know my back story with bowling to be able to appreciate what happens when you bowl in high school. This list of 12 things that happen when you bowl in high school are things that will only happen if you truly love both the sport and the people you are bowling with. So without further adieu, I present to you the list of 12 Things That Happen When You Bowl In High School.
1. You spend so much time with your team that they become your family.
2. Your home bowling alley becomes your home away from home.
3. You spend so much time bowling against people from other schools that you end up knowing them better than you know your own classmates.
4. You protect your bowling hand at all odds.
What would your bowling life be if your hand got injured?!
5. You and your team end up making a chant for any and every possible scenario of pins.
Whether it be all the strikes you could get in a row in a 300 game to picking up a split.
6. No matter when you bowl you end up saying those chants all the time.
Even if you aren't at a match.
7. You end up permanently eating with your bad hand just so you don't get anything on your bowling hand that could make you drop your ball.
8. You end up constantly defending bowling as a sport to those who say differently.
9. You spend at least 4 nights a week in a bowling alley.
10. You put more miles on your parents cars during bowling season than you do in the rest of the year combined.
All thanks to the many matches you have to drive to.
11. Regionals becomes a bittersweet weekend.
Sweet because it is your teams big chance at making it to States. Bitter because if you don't make it to States it is the conclusion of that years bowling season.
12. You realize that bowling season never really ends, even if the high school season is over.
Anywhere you go you can find another league to join until high school season swings around again.
