During the past 40 to 50 years, bowling has been a favored leisure-time activity for the younger set. This was first evident in the post-war years of the late 1940s and early 1950s, when suburban youths looking for action began flocking to the new bowling lanes popping up in their communities.
Despite a downturn noted in the last 10 years, the sport remains popular among adolescents, teenagers and young adults. In the past year, an estimated 675,000 people under the age of 18 played the sport in organized leagues nationwide.
So it comes as no surprise that bowling experts are targeting the younger generation to keep the sport going into the next century.
“Everyone wants to attract the younger player,” says Tom Sieffert, the executive director of the Chicago Metropolitan Bowling Association. “That’s why you see things like the `Rock and Bowl’ (a concept introduced by bowling facilities about 15 years ago, where rock music is blasted and lights are dimmed at arenas).”
Another way of attracting younger clientele to the sport is by introducing them to competitive bowling leagues. The Young American Bowling Alliance-consisting of the American Junior Bowling Congress, the Youth Bowling Association and the ABC/WIBC Collegiate Division-is the most notable group sponsoring youth leagues.
And, in the high schools, there’s girls’ bowling, which has been a popular sport since its introduction in 1973. During the past year, a total of 84 schools in the state had bowling, according to Susan K. Hinrichsen of the Illinois High School Association.
“The state finals are a matter of endurance more than skill,” says Don Bylut, the bowling coach for Reavis High School. “You have to be strong, because you play so many games.”
Bylut has coached bowling at Reavis since 1973. In his 20 years as head bowling coach at the Burbank school, Bylut has had his share of success: a 174-88 record, nine championships in the SICA North conference, six appearances in the state sectionals, one third-place finish in the state finals and a second-place finish in the state finals.
As a result, Bylut has almost foolproof ideas of what to look for when recruiting young players.
“She should be strong enough to throw the ball, and she should be able to adapt to coaching. I also tend to keep more freshmen and sophomores on the team because you should build a team around your younger players.”
There is a concern, however, about some of the younger players being seriously committed to the sport. Some area coaches say that bowling isn’t as popular as it was when bowling was first started by the IHSA 20 years ago.
“When some girls get to high school, they don’t want to bowl anymore,” said Richards bowling coach Carol Schaal. “That’s hurting a lot of coaches. I only had eight players combined (this year) on my frosh-soph and varsity teams.”
Schaal says that some of the better athletes who were committed to bowling are now taking their chances with basketball and volleyball. “I’ve seen more kids suddenly become interested in volleyball because it’s an Olympic sport,” Schaal said. “Bowling is just put on the back-burner.”
Still, there remains an interest in bowling at state high schools.
“Anyone can bowl because you don’t have to have tremendous strength or anything,” said Julia Giltmier, a senior on the Richards High School bowling team in Oak Lawn. “But it’s challenging. You realy have to practice and put your mind to it.”
