THE SLS BOWLING TEAMS

Step up to lane, aim, release the ball…. Strike! The Rebels Bowling Team is having fun this season and encourages students to participate in the future. To those who are considering joining bowling, sophomore Alyssa Caffardo shares, “Bowling is a good way to get out there if you are more on the shy side. You meet a lot of people and you even make friends with your opponents from other schools. It is fun to play too.” 
The 10-week bowling season started in mid-November and will go until the end of January. Coached by former Seton LaSalle Guidance Counselor, Timothy Zugates, the Bowling Team is working hard this season to build-up the program. 
For readers who do not know much about bowling, I’ll describe a little bit about the team and how matches are set up with the help of senior Catherina Simon. Senior Simon explains, “The coach chooses five bowlers, and then decides where in the lineup each bowls. You would typically have a strong bowler in the #1 spot and the #5 spot. The 5th bowler is known as the “anchor” and is usually the best bowler on the team. The other three spots are up in the air, but typically you’d want to have your better bowlers towards the bottom.” 
In bowling, a match consists of three games with the opportunity of winning a total of seven points and each game won is worth two points. If a team wins two out of three games, they win the match. The top three teams are based off of the total of the three games bowled. Those teams will then bowl three more games to determine the winner. 
When it comes to singles, the top six6 bowlers will compete in a single game elimination bracket to determine the winner. There is also a bowling postseason that consists of both single events and team events where players have a chance to advance to Regional Championships and States. 
The bowling team typically practices once a week on Mondays with matches being held on Wednesdays. Senior Simon expresses, “Practice consists of three games, but they sometimes might not be standard games. Drills can be incorporated as well.”
Teamwork is the most important value when it comes to bowling. Simon continues saying, “Each team works together to try and outscore their opponents. The coach's job is to create a match day lineup based on who they think will score highest to try and win.” 
The biggest opponents for the boys are Baldwin and Carlynton, whereas the biggest opponents for the girls are Canon-Mac and Carlynton. Caffardo further illustrates, “When we play them it is important to not get in our heads. If we see that one of our teammates is down, we try to give them a pep talk.”  
So far this season, the girls’ team is currently in 3rd place with a record of 5-1 and the boys are in 5th with a record of 2-4. Based on league averages, Junior Jesse Fedorek is the lead scorer for the boys and Junior Emma Rethage is the lead scorer for the girls. We are looking forward to seeing all that our Rebel Bowlers accomplish the rest of the season!