Rolling into a new season of bowling
December 7, 2018
The Neuqua Valley High School girls’ bowling team is hoping to strike out their opponents in this upcoming season. Katherine Lhotak,who has been the bowling coach for 10 ten years, explains that for the girls practices, they will normally just work on what they need to. So, if a player is struggling to perfect a certain technique during a meet, then that individual will work on that technique during practice — anything Lhotak notices needs improvement. They practice at Parkside Lanes in Aurora IL.
Lhotak shares how bowling meets work, explaining that “during dual meets against other teams, we roll our six [players] against their six and then drop the lowest score.” This prevents the team member on the lowest end of the average from drastically lowering a score. She also says that the team chemistry is excellent. She explains that all of the girls are “inclusive” and if there is someone being quiet the team will try their best to get them out of their shell.
Chloe Long, a senior at Neuqua Valley High School, explained that the “super chill” and inclusive environment of the bowling team is what drew her in to be a Neuqua Valley bowler. She started bowling in sixth grade, and her sister convinced her to try it out in high school. Long stated, “The highest I have bowled was a 279, which is one strike away from a perfect game.” She hopes to continue bowling in college.
Lhotak explains, “[bowling is] one of those sports that you can start … freshman year and get a scholarship to go bowl in college and not know how to bowl in the beginning.” Unlike other sports, bowling does not require many years of prior knowledge and practice before players are able to get a scholarship. Bowling scholarships can range from a $100 to $6,000. Lhotak shared that some Neuqua Valley bowling team members have decided to continue their bowling careers at colleges such as University of Pikesville, University of Central Missouri, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Arkansas State.
