Many Vermont Schools are working towards bowling as a varsity sport. Vermont is one of three states with­out bowling as a club or varsity sport. Six high schools now participate in club competition, South Royalton, Randolph, Brattleboro, Hartford, Oxbow and Lyndon. Other schools interested are Concord, Windsor, St. Johnsbury and Whitcomb High Schools

Bowling is a co-ed sport that anyone can do and 85% of the high school bowlers do not play another sport. There isn’t a need for officials and space is not a prob­lem. Cost is minimal and Vermont has approximately 17 bowling lanes. So far with the six schools participat­ing, there are 60-70 students involved in the competi­tions.

South Royalton School’s newly formed bowling team, with head coach Erica Audette, is comprised of 11 South Royalton students. The team members are Thomas Ingham, Dylan Stryker, Parker Audsley, Jes­sen Kumar, Lucian Pease, Greg Post, Cameron Kim­ball, Aaron Welch, Maggie Dakin, Callie Wutke, Hannah Post, and Mikayla Donahue.

The team participated in nine matches prior to the upcoming state championships. They won one match on January 28 against Oxbow and Randolph. Coach Audette added, “We also had an extremely close match, a loss by one pin, 116 to 117. Ingham is a very strong bowler and his highest score, during a practice, was 223. The bowlers’ overall scores have seen huge im­provements, with nearly every team member breaking 100 points. At the beginning of the season, some stu­dents barely received 40 points.”

The Vermont Principal’s Association requires that to be a varsity sport, there must be club competition for three years, with a minimum of nine schools participat­ing.

The clubs have made excellent progress towards achieving this goal. They started with three schools, now are at six, and potentially will be at nine or ten next year. This year there will be scheduled matches leading up to the concluding State tournament on Feb­ruary 18 at the Upper Valley Lanes and Games in White River at 3:30 p.m. The individual tourney will be Febru­ary 25, also in White River at 1 p.m. A system will be in place in the future for team and individual rankings.

Anyone interested in helping to grow bowling in Ver­mont can contact any of the high school athletic direc­tors or Mark Hamilton at Hartford High School (802) 295-8620 ext 134.